November 23, 2023

As bad as the Titanic: The cruise ship disaster the world forgot

By Tim Richards
November 24, 2023 — 12.14am
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It was a night to remember – but strangely, no one seems to remember it.

On May 29, 1914, the ocean liner Empress of Ireland was steaming along the St Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, when unexpected thick fog descended and it collided with a Norwegian coal ship. It was a disaster reminiscent of the collision of the RMS Titanic with an iceberg just two years earlier, but with a major difference: while the Titanic took over two hours to sink, the Empress of Ireland went under in just 14 minutes. With more than 1000 fatalities, it was a huge disaster – but hardly anyone has heard of it today.

The Lighthouse near the site of the wreck.Credit: Mathieu Dupuis/Le Quebec Maritime

Why? Timing. Within a few weeks of the sinking, World War I broke out, and the world had bigger problems to worry about. So the wreck lay at rest beneath murky waters, forgotten, until 50 years later in 1964 when it was located by divers. Eventually, the Quebec government declared it a historic site and a dedicated museum was opened in 2017.

It’s that institution I’m looking at now, within the Pointe-au-Pere Maritime Historic Site near the city of Rimouski. It’s a blocky structure of silver and red, with projections that resemble ship’s funnels. Nearby is a high-and-dry submarine, the HMCS Onondaga, and an attractive lighthouse which belonged to the former pilot station here. The Empress lies offshore, 45 metres below the surface.

A model of the Empress of Ireland.Credit: Mathieu Dupuis/Le Quebec Maritime

I’m keen to learn more about its fate, and the museum’s exhibition begins with an entertaining film. Presented in a newsreel style, it combines old clips and new materials to tell the dramatic story of the sinking – even more startling since, unlike the Titanic, the ship was equipped with sufficient lifeboats.

The pride of the exhibition is a large detailed model of the Empress lying at the bottom of the river, depicting the decay of decades. Nearby plays a video of a dive to the wreck, a ghostly vessel encrusted with sea life. Also available are short interviews with the 1964 divers, and one, Claude Villeneuve, tells of the excitement when he retrieved a bell and cleaned it to discover the ship’s name engraved on its side.

The Empress of Ireland in 1914.Credit: Getty Images

A marvellous case of artefacts from the wreck is a reminder of an age when so much was made of wood and brass. Items include a tank for boiling eggs, the barrel of a water heater, a beautifully preserved porthole, and the ship’s wheel – still intact and in place when located on a dive in 1971.

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Inside the museum.Credit: Mathieu Dupuis/Le Quebec Maritime

There’s a human story to accompany these items, of course, explored in the following room. The commentary features various players in the drama, including the coal ship’s Captain Andersen, and nine-year-old Dolly Brooks who survived the death of her parents. A wealthy passenger, Ethel Paton, is described as making it into a lifeboat wearing her diamonds. I’m surprised to learn that Captain Kendall of the Empress also survived, living to the grand old age of 91.

There’s a lot more to take in, including newsreels of the aftermath, describing the grim task of collecting bodies. Along one wall is a dramatic exhibit which really captures the disaster for me: a series of 14 porthole-shaped display cases, one for each minute that elapsed from collision to sinking. Each portrays an action that took place at that minute, with an item that encapsulates it; for example, the Minute 2 window contains a section of the breached hull. Laid out this way, it brings the terrifyingly rapid event to vivid life.

Leaving the museum, I sit on a bench and look over the still river on this clear sunny day, images of that shocking night dancing in my mind. As with the Titanic, such disasters are a reminder that, for all our human cleverness, nature often has the final word.

THE DETAILS

Fly + rideAir Canada flies to Montreal. See aircanada.comFrom Montreal, Rimouski can be reached aboard the three-weekly Ocean sleeper train operated by VIA Rail. See viarail.ca

StayHotel Rimouski offers comfortable accommodation on the Rimouski waterfront. Rooms from $C167 ($185) a night. See hotelrimouski.com

TourEntry to the Empress of Ireland Museum $C12.50 adults, $C8.50 children ($14/$9.50). See shmp.qc.ca

Morequebecmaritime.ca

The writer travelled as a guest of Destination Canada, Québec Maritime, and VIA Rail.

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Tim Richards fell into travel writing after living and teaching in Egypt and Poland. He’s a light packing obsessive, and is especially drawn to the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe.Connect via Twitter.
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