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Rindfan β The Forgotten Empress
Published: 2008-07-08 21:10:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 4878; Favourites: 33; Downloads: 91
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Description
The Empress of Ireland was built for Canadian Pacific Steamships by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. in Govan near Glasgow, Scotland.Launched on January 26, 1906 she sailed the Liverpool - Quebec run commencing her maiden voyage on June 26, 1906.
On May 19, 1914, the Empress of Ireland was proceeding down the St. Lawrence through the channel near Pointe-au-Père, Quebec. There was heavy fog resulting in severely limited visibility.
At 02:00 the Norwegian collier Storstad collided with the Empress of Ireland causing catastrophic damage.
Taking on water rapidly, the Empress of Ireland rolled over onto her starboard side and sank in 14 minutes.
495 survived the sinking, but 1,012 men, women and children perished with her.
The sinking of the Empress of Ireland is one of the worst maritime disasters in history, and the worst in Canada's history. The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 and the sinking of the Lusitania by U-20 in May 1915 have overshadowed the loss of this great liner, resulting in her story being forgotten.
The disaster is often mentioned in the same breath as the loss of the Titanic and the Lusitania, and yet she is 'The Forgotten Empress.'
Tonnage: 14,191 gross register tons (GRT)
Length: 570 feet (174.1 m)
Beam: 65.6 feet (19.99 m)
Installed power: Quadruple expansion steam engines
Propulsion: Twin Screws
Speed: 18 knots
Capacity: 1,580
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Comments: 23
Today is the 100 year centennial of the tragedy.Β The "Empress" and her passengers and crew are not totally forgotten.
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She certainly isn't to me, and she hasn't been forgotten in Canada, or here in Liverpool. I was at a memorial service for the Empress today and it was well attended by relatives of the crew, veterans of the British Merchant Navy and all sorts. The Canadian Pacific flag, Canada's national flag and the British Blue Ensign were all draped across the altar of the church. The service was solemn and rather wonderful. I hope the 1,012 lost would have appreciated it.
That said, most of the world is still probably unaware that not only did this happen, it happened 100 years ago today. You'd have to have been under a stone to have missed the Titanic's centenary, on the other hand...and it's going to be interesting how much coverage the Lusitania will get next year.
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The most interesting thing about the Lusitania anniversary is that the writer , Eric Larson, is writing a book about the Lusitania (at least so I read last year).Β It will be coming out for the centennial.Β
I am glad that they had such a fine memorial service for the victims that you attended.
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No, the most interesting thing about the Lusy centennial is that - apparantly - they'll be sounding her whistle at the Old Head of Kinsale. THAT will be something.
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This is a pretty good drawing! I love the story of the Empress, so sad.
I made a 1/700 model of the Empress once, but my brother broke it x_x
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The curse of siblings, huh? 
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I know right xD And I had a look at your Serenity series. Really good
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Ironically more passengers were lost on the Empress than on Titanic or Lusitania. The other two had more crew members lost.
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I've heard that the captain of the ship may have been "cursed".
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empress of ireland is defintally a forgotten liner wreck but not truely forgotten
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Both Empress of Ireland and Empress of Britain were lovely ships.
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I've known about her sinking as well. "Fourteen Minutes" by James Croall is the best account of the disaster I have read so far.
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I'll have to keep an eye out for that one.
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It's out of print, but I'm pretty sure it's available used on amazon or abebooks.com.
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Indeed, I may have managed to source a copy...fingers crossed!
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I am probably one of the few people who actually know about this ship. I actually read about it in a book by Robert Ballard.
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Oh yeah... the Empress of Ireland is a forgotten ship. Everybody knows about the Titanic and the Lusitania, but only people that interesting in ships know what happened with the Empress (and that she existed indeed)...
Too bad, but I like the Empress of Ireland and her history.
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Sheβs not too forgotten. People know of her alright, she as famous as Titanic and Lusitania, I've read billons of books that have her mentioned (as well as Books about her!) I've herd songs about her, read fanfiction about her, and seen art about her. Sad yes, forgotten, No.
Now, you want a ship thatβs forgotten to time, Look up the Cornelia B Wendeate, Sultana, or Leopoldville. Oh wait, theres not much about either!
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