On this day in 1914, the RMS Empress of Ireland sank near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River following a collision in thick fog with the Norwegian collier Storstad. Although the ship was equipped with watertight compartments and, in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster two years earlier, carried more than enough lifeboats for all aboard, she foundered in only 14 minutes. Of the 1,477 people on board, 1,012 died, making it the worst peacetime maritime disaster in Canadian history.
Empress of Ireland departed Quebec for Liverpool and eached Pointe-au-Père in the early hours of 29 May 1914, where the pilot disembarked. She soon sighted the masthead lights of SS Storstad, a Norwegian collier, on her starboard bow at a distance of several miles. Likewise, Storstad sighted Empress of Ireland‘s masthead lights. These first sightings were made in clear weather conditions, but fog soon enveloped the ships. The ships resorted to repeated use of their fog whistles. At 01:56 local time, Storstad crashed into Empress of Ireland‘s starboard side at around midships.
Empress of Ireland lurched heavily to starboard and began settling by the stern. There was no time to shut the watertight doors. Water entered through open portholes, some only a few feet above the water line, and inundated passageways and cabins. Most of the passengers and crew located in the lower decks drowned quickly. Those berthed in the upper decks were awakened by the collision and immediately boarded lifeboats on the boat deck. Within a few minutes, the ship’s list was so severe that the port lifeboats could not be launched.
Ten minutes after the collision, the ship rolled violently over her starboard side, allowing as many as 700 passengers and crew to crawl out of the portholes and decks onto her port side. The ship lay upon her side for a minute or two, having seemingly run aground. Shortly afterwards at 02:10, about 14 minutes after the collision, the bow rose briefly out of the water and the ship finally sank.
Today is the birthday, in 1955, of Mike Porcaro, bassist with American rock band Toto who had the 1980s Top 5 hits ‘Hold the Line’, ‘Rosanna’, and ‘Africa’. The band has released 17 studio albums, and has sold over 40 million records worldwide. Porcaro died on 15th March 2015 following a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTQbiNvZqaY
