Summary
The Empress of Ireland was a luxurious and beautiful steamship of the early 20th century, carrying passengers across the North Atlantic between Quebec City and Liverpool. She and her sister ship, the Empress of Britain, were an important cog during the peak of Canadian immigration. In the early morning hours of May 29, 1914, the Empress of Ireland collided with the Norwegian ship Storstad in dense fog on the St. Lawrence River. Over 1000 people on the Empress of Ireland perished, and more passengers died than on the Titanic just two years prior. Because of the massive loss of life, she has been called “Canada’s Titanic.”
Dan Conlin, Curator of the Canadian Immigration Museum at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia joins me to share his knowledge.
Recommended Reading:
Sources
- Conlin, Dan, Curator at The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Personal interview. 9 Nov 2022.
- “The Tragic Story of the Empress of Ireland, an Authentic Account of the Most Horrible Disaster in Canadian History Constructed from the Real Facts Obtained from Those on Board Who Survived and Other Great Sea Disasters – Google Play.” Google.com, 2022, play.google.com/books/reader?id=XrPuHIo7vlYC&pg=GBS.PA14&hl=en.
- “The Empress of Ireland Disaster.” National Museums Liverpool, 2022, www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/merseyside-maritime-museum/maritime-museum-floor-plan/lifelines-gallery/empress-of-ireland.
- “The Collision between the S/S Empress of Ireland and the S/S Storstad.” Norwayheritage.com, 2022, www.norwayheritage.com/articles/templates/great-disasters.asp?articleid=99&zoneid=1.
- “Canadian Pacific Line.” Theshipslist.com, 2022, www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/cp.shtml.
- https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/voyaging/the-tragic-story-of-the-empress-of-ireland
- https://www.pbs.org/lostliners/empress.html
- https://empressofireland.wordpress.com/
- Crossland, Harvey. “The Last Voyage of the Empress.” IMDb, 20 Sept. 2005, www.imdb.com/title/tt0484277/. Accessed 29 Sept. 2022.
- https://www.empress2014.ca/
- https://janmeecham.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/the-forgotten-tragedy-of-the-ss-empress-of-ireland/
- https://www.cruiselinehistory.com/the-rms-empress-of-ireland-112-years-ago-the-other-titanic/
- https://titanicfacts.net
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