Rewind: The Empress of Ireland - Canada's Titanic

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Hi everyone, and happy New Year 
to all of you. 

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I'm taking a final week of my 
holiday break, but don't worry, 

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a new episode is coming next 
week, History's deadliest 

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shipwreck, the s s Wilhelm 
Gustloff. 

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It will also be my 100th regular
episode. 

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Over 150 counting bonus 
episodes. 

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But who's counting? 
Today I'm bringing you a replay 

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of a classic episode 9 of 
Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs from 

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November of 2022. 
The Empress of Ireland, Canada's

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Titanic. 
This tragic wreck on the Saint 

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Lawrence River resulted in more 
passenger deaths than occurred 

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on the Titanic and remains the 
worst shipwreck in Canadian 

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history. 
My guest for this episode was 

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Dan Conlon, curator at the 
Canadian Immigration Museum at 

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Pier 21 in Halifax, NS. 
So enjoy the episode and I'll be

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back next week with a new one. 
I saw visions of doomsday, but 

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looking out through the skylight
I saw frantic seamen rushing to 

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the ship's side, sliding down, 
and as often as not, being 

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dashed head first into the sea. 
In a flash I saw what had 

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happened. 
Literally tearing my wife from 

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her berth. 
I dashed onto the deck and we 

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both slid down the deck and were
projected into the. 

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Water then followed moments that
no man could ever describe. 

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Half drunk as I was with sleep, 
the sudden and terrible 

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awakening produced an 
indescribable effect on me. 

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For a moment I saw nothing but 
dirty Gray. 

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I struggled wildly for the 
surface, and the time seemed 

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like years. 
As soon as I got to the surface 

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I saw my wife struggling beside 
me. 

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Right at our side was a deserted
lifeboat which must have been 

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broken from its davits. 
I managed to push my wife into 

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it but was unable to follow 
myself, so I shouted to my wife 

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to sit tight and that I would 
swim until I was picked up. 

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The last lifeboat was only a few
yards. 

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Away from me, passing by the 
side of the sinking Empress, 

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when suddenly a huge heavy 
superstructure broke from the 

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steamer side, falling with a 
terrible crash into the boat. 

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I shut my eyes in horror. 
When I looked up again, all that

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was left of the lifeboat and her
45 occupants were a few stumps 

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of wreckage. 
Poor people, they had gone to 

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their dune. 
Fortunately, death was sudden 

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and merciful. 
A few minutes afterwards I was 

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picked up. 
By one of the. 

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Boats from the store stand. 
I cannot express the joy and 

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relief. 
This was the. 

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Account of survivor John W Black
of Ottawa, ON Canada The Empress

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of Ireland today on shipwrecks 
and sea dogs. 

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The Empress of Ireland was a 
passenger steamship built for 

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the Canadian Pacific Railway in 
Glasgow, Scotland. 

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She would operate under the 
subsidiary company Canadian 

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Pacific Steamship Company. 
She and her sister ship, the 

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Empress of Britain, were built 
specifically. 

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To meet the. 
Increasing demand of immigration

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to Canada in the early 20th 
century, providing weekly 

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service across the Atlantic. 
Dan Conlon, curator of the 

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Canadian Immigration Museum at 
Pier 21 in Halifax, NS. 

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Well, they represented really 
the the maturity and the 

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potential of Canada, you know, a
newly created country. 

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And the Canadian Pacific Railway
was a real national kind of 

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landmark. 
It had to build a 

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transcontinental railway in 1885
that brought in the western 

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provinces to Canada and opened 
up millions and millions of 

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square kilometers to settlement 
in the West, also displacing 

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large numbers of Indigenous 
people. 

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But such was the nation of the 
nature of colonization at the 

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time and. 
CPR was a very ambitious. 

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Company They were far more than 
a railway, they also owned 

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millions of acres of land. 
They hotel chains and they saw 

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that sort of the long game in 
terms of if they could promote 

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immigration, they could sell 
land to immigrants. 

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They could then get the business
of immigrants exporting their 

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their wheat and and cattle for 
the rest of the life of the 

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immigrants. 
And then they get all that 

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railway business as well as get 
their steamship tickets to come 

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to Canada. 
So it was a very horizontally 

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integrated company building the 
two Empresses ships in 1904 was 

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kind of a major acceleration of 
the company. 

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They had this. 
Transcontinental railway. 

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They had amazing steamship. 
Connections on the Pacific and 

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then in 19 O four they just said
decided well, let's take on the 

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transatlantic. 
The you know the most. 

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Lucrative passenger market in 
the shipping world and so that 

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would put them in competition, 
you know with, you know, big 

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players like Canard and waste 
our line. 

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But CPR was part of their kind 
of plan to become a global 

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transportation company and and 
they knew that immigration was 

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key that those, you know, those 
big glorious floating palaces 

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like a Mauritania, Lusitania, 
Titanic, you think of the 

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clamorous first class 
passengers, but the money making

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was in 3rd class where you could
sell a large number of tickets. 

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And CPR knew that their role in 
promoting immigration was really

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key to Canada. 
This was an era, the peak years 

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of immigration. 
We think we have a lot of 

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immigrants coming to North 
America now. 

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It's nothing compared to that 
turn of the century land boom in

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western North America and CPR 
was an enormous part of that. 

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And these two ships would allow 
them to compete and bring large 

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numbers of immigrants back and 
forth across the Atlantic. 

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So it was a big investment for 
the company and it was a 

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prestige thing for a lot of 
Canadian. 

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The idea that the Canadian 
company would be a big player 

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with the American owned and the 
British liners and the French 

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and the German liners that were 
the amazing technology of their 

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day and you can also see that in
places like Halifax and St. 

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John, NB who were competing. 
To be the. 

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Winter port for the Empress 
ships. 

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Come summertime they were going 
up the Saint Lawrence River to 

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Quebec City in the winter time, 
both my home port of Halifax and

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then the rival port, they they 
all wanted the Empress to come. 

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So they were great status ships 
and marked a major investment 

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for, you know, corporate but 
also in national Canada at that 

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time period. 
The two ships were launched a 

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month apart in 19 O 6, both 
setting speed records and the 

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ships generated much publicity. 
Both were 167 meters long with a

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beam or width of 20 meters. 
There's seven decks reached 14 

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meters above the waterline and 
both could reach speeds up to 20

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knots. 
The ships were inspected by 

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Lloyd's of London from the 
laying down of the keel 

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throughout the entire 
construction and were in 

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compliance with all regulations 
for passenger ships. 

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Safety was much considered in 
the design of the Empress. 

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After the sinking of the Titanic
in 1912, safety regulations were

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changed for passenger ships, 
including mandating enough 

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lifeboats for all on board. 
The Empress of Ireland was 

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equipped with 40 lifeboats, 
enough for 1686 people, room for

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280 more than the ship's maximum
capacity. 

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Additionally, the ship carried 
24 life buoys with 2212 life 

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jackets, including 150 
children's life jackets. 

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The ships were also designed 
with 11 watertight bulkheads and

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could stay afloat even if two of
the bulkheads were damaged. 

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The Empress was equipped with 
modern technology as well, 

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including a Marconi wireless 
Telegraph system and underwater 

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iceberg detecting sonar. 24 
watertight doors allowed passage

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throughout the ship and could be
closed to prevent flooding from 

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spreading throughout the ship. 
However, these doors had to be 

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manually operated, a weakness 
that will prove to be critical. 

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Henry George Kendall began his 
career as a mariner at age 14 

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and by age 20 was an officer on 
board the s s Lusitania when it 

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was wrecked off the coast of 
Newfoundland. 

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Now this was not the better 
known RMS Lusitania, which was 

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torpedoed by a German submarine 
in 1915. 

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Kendall then spent time working 
directly with Guillermo Marconi 

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to develop the first ever ship 
to shore Radio. 

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In 1910, Kendall was promoted to
captain of the S S Montrose, and

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during his time on the Montrose 
he achieved a bit of fame. 

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During a voyage aboard the 
Montrose, Kendall recognized 

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Doctor Holly Harvey Crippen, 
also known as the London Cellar 

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Murderer, despite Crippen having
shaved his mustache and grown a 

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beard. 
Crippen was joined by his 

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mistress Ethel Lenev, also 
disguised as a young boy. 

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Kendall saw right through these 
disguises and used as Marconi 

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radio to notify British 
authorities that Crippen was on 

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board the Montrose, which was 
headed to Canada. 

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Chief Inspector Walter Do 
pursued the Montrose on the 

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faster s s Lorentic of the White
Star Line, arriving in Quebec 

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ahead of the Montrose. 
Posing as a harbor pilot, the 

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Chief Inspector boarded the 
Montrose and arrested the 

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couple. 
Lenev was acquitted of being an 

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accessory to murder, but Crippen
was convicted and hanged in 

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November of 1910. 
It was the first instance of a 

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radio being used to capture a 
wanted criminal. 

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Henry George Kendall was made 
Captain of the Empress of 

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Ireland in 1914 and later the 
same year, on May 28th, Kendall 

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embarked on his very first 
Atlantic crossing as a ship's 

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master for the Empress of 
Ireland. 

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It was her 96th Atlantic 
crossing. 

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It's six day journey included 
two days on the Saint Lawrence 

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River before heading east for 
Liverpool. 

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She left Quebec City at 4:30 PM 
on May 28th with 1477 people on 

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board and 1100 tons of cargo, 
including 252 ingots of silver 

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and 2600 tons of coal. 
Well, they were really well 

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planned and carefully planned. 
You know, they weren't as big as

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the BIG4 stackers. 
So Empress of Ireland comes in 

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about 550 feet long, and you 
know, Mauritania, the same 

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period is 780 feet long. 
So they're a bit smaller and two

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stacks instead of four stacks, 
but carefully designed to give 

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you all that floating palace 
luxury you would have on a 

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bigger ship, but on a smaller, 
more economical ship. 

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And the CPR, you know, worked 
with a shipbuilders on the Clyde

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in Scotland to carefully design 
a ship that had, you know, 

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everything you you would expect 
to see on and in the BIG4 

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stackers, You know, a 
sensational dining room with, 

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you know, A2 story balcony and 
an amazing Oval decorative, the 

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skylight. 
And, you know, the the 500 and 

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560 volume library and an in 
house band and a music room and,

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you know, kind of the film 
trajecting theaters and health 

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spa, all that sort of out 
floating palacy stuff on a sort 

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of a slightly smaller vessel. 
But they also they carefully 

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looked at steam powered plants. 
I mean, steam turbines were the 

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wonder of the age for fast ships
like Mauritania, Lucidania. 

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But CPR wanted them to make 
money and so they they went 

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with, you know, just some 
quadruple of expansion engines, 

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which, you know, would deliver a
very respectable 20 knots. 

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Not as as fast to say the 23 
knots that you are getting from 

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the four sackers like Mauritania
and Lusitania, but burned a lot 

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less coal. 
So these ships would be much 

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more efficient. 
Immediately after departing, 

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Quebec City crew members 
carefully instructed all 

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passengers to the locations of 
the lifeboats and informed every

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passenger of the life belt 
stored in their cabins. 

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Earlier that morning, before the
ship's departure, the crew of 

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the Empress were put through 
lifeboat launching exercises, 

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fire drills and other drills to 
close the watertight hatches. 

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These exercises were performed 
before every transatlantic 

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crossing, and the crew performed
these duties in just three 

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minutes. 
It took 10 crew members to 

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00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,200
launch each lifeboat, and each 
of the ship's 24 watertight 

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00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,960
doors was assigned to a specific
crew member who was responsible 

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for manually closing it when the
alarm was sounded. 

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On board the Empress of Ireland 
were Lawrence Irving and Mabel 

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Hackney, famous British actors 
who were also husband and wife. 

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They travelled in first class, 
of course, and their cabin was 

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one deck below the lifeboats. 
Irving was very much looking 

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forward to the trip, but Hackney
disliked ocean travel and 

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suffered from sea sickness. 
Also on board was Frank Ernest 

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Abbott, a successful businessman
and a British immigrant to 

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Canada. 
With his brother Arthur Abbott 

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Co owned a Toronto based 
millinery company designing and 

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manufacturing women's hats. 
He often traveled to London to 

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discover new fashion trends and 
fabrics. 

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00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,440
Second class passengers enjoyed 
accommodations almost as nice as

222
00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,000
first class. 
Among the second class 

223
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,160
passengers were Bill and Emma 
Hart and their two children, 

224
00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:03,120
Edith and Bill. 
They were a working class family

225
00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:04,960
traveling from rural 
Saskatchewan. 

226
00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,599
Bill ran a butcher shop back 
home and he and his family were 

227
00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:13,480
taking a pleasure trip on the 
Empress. 171 members of the 

228
00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:15,400
Salvation Army were also on 
board. 

229
00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:18,000
The group was travelling to 
London to attend the 

230
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,079
organization's international 
Congress. 

231
00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,599
The Salvation Army band happily 
played as other passengers 

232
00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:28,119
boarded. 
The 717 third class passengers 

233
00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,320
were largely laid off workers 
from the Ford plant in Detroit. 

234
00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,840
Left without jobs, many of these
passengers were heading back 

235
00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:36,400
home to Europe in search of 
work. 

236
00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,480
CPR really knew that immigration
was your money maker and they 

237
00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:42,880
put a lot of thought into the 
third class immigration 

238
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,440
accommodation aboard the ship. 
The two emperor ships were kind 

239
00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:48,720
of a bit of breakthrough in 
terms of almost all the third 

240
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,280
class accommodation was cabins 
in an era when there were a lot 

241
00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,440
of North Atlantic liners still 
had these open deck dormitory 

242
00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:59,240
styles with no privacy. 
CPR wanted to attract, you know,

243
00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,680
the the top immigrant traffic. 
So they had they had a third 

244
00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,000
class cabins. 
They were clever enough though 

245
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,640
to have sort of modular cabins. 
If there was a real rush, they 

246
00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,440
could, they could convert cabins
to open deck space. 

247
00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,400
And they even had some quick, 
they had one deck of third class

248
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,320
cabins that could be converted 
to cargo space instead of cabins

249
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,760
during the winter months when 
when passenger traffic was was 

250
00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:23,680
kind of slower. 
The first evening aboard the 

251
00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:25,440
Empress was very pleasant and 
calm. 

252
00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,600
Passengers mingled while 
children explored the ship and 

253
00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,320
played. 
Later, the passengers filled the

254
00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,840
dining halls with Third class 
dining at 5:00 PM and 2nd and 

255
00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:39,880
1st class Dining at 7:00 PM. 
By 10:00 PM, most of the 

256
00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,560
passengers had retired to their 
cabins, expecting only a 

257
00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:46,600
peaceful first night. 
Despite the late hour, Captain 

258
00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,200
Kendall remained on the bridge 
to guide the Empress out of the 

259
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:54,360
port and out into open water. 
At 1:20 AM on May 29th, the 

260
00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:58,080
Empress dropped off its river 
pilot at a yard Bernier at Point

261
00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:00,440
au Pair along the Eastern Shore 
of the river. 

262
00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,840
As the Empress pulled away, 
First Officer Edward John Jones 

263
00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,440
spotted another ship about 8 
miles north and informed Captain

264
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,840
Kendall. 
This was the S S Storstad, a 

265
00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:15,600
Norwegian Collier or cool 
carrier, which was inbound to 

266
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,040
Montreal. 
Yes, this is very much a Saint 

267
00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,240
Lawrence River story. 
The Saint Lawrence has its own 

268
00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:21,640
hazards. 
It's a long river. 

269
00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,080
It has some serious sandbars. 
It has dangerous currents and 

270
00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,520
especially it has a lot of fog. 
You got a mixture of warm air, 

271
00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:30,720
cold air. 
Fog is a real killer in this era

272
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:34,120
before radar and and also vessel
to vessel communication. 

273
00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,240
Ships are just groping in the 
darkness, making assumptions 

274
00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:41,040
about where other vessels are. 
And that was the key factor in 

275
00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,480
this terrible tragedy. 
Empress of Ireland was was 

276
00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,360
outbound going down the river 
and had just dropped off the 

277
00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:50,560
mail and was kind of nearing the
coming into the Gulf of Saint 

278
00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,120
Lawrence, where the river widens
dramatically, but she was still 

279
00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:55,920
in the narrow section. 
It was up till then a clear, 

280
00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,440
warm night, warm enough that a 
lot of people had portholes 

281
00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:00,160
open. 
It was clear and they could see 

282
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,040
the lights of another ship 
inbound coming up the river. 

283
00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:07,080
And then the fog comes in and 
shuts both ships off from each 

284
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,560
other. 
Storstad was heading for point, 

285
00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:13,400
a pair to take on the pilot who 
would guide the ship to the port

286
00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,040
in Montreal. 
Captain of the Storstad, Thomas 

287
00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,560
Anderson, had retired for the 
night at 11:00 PM. 

288
00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,840
His second officer remained on 
duty until midnight when First 

289
00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:25,960
Officer Alfred Toftanis took 
over. 

290
00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:30,120
The inbound Storstad and the 
outbound Empress of Ireland were

291
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:32,920
approaching each other head on, 
although still a good distance 

292
00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:36,160
apart. 
The rules of the road dictated a

293
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,800
port to port passing for ships 
approaching each other. 

294
00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:42,520
In this situation, however, 
Captain Kendall determined there

295
00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:45,120
was plenty of distance between 
the Empress and the store stud, 

296
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,720
so we ordered to turn to port to
head for open waters which would

297
00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:50,640
cut across the path of the store
stud. 

298
00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:54,280
While the ships could have 
potentially passed port to port,

299
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:57,360
it would have put the Empress 
very close to shore for Captain 

300
00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:00,520
Kendall's liking, not to mention
off his intended course. 

301
00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,040
The Empress gained speed and 
headed NW, intending for a 

302
00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:09,120
starboard to starboard passing 
just as Kendall ordered this 

303
00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:11,560
changing course. 
A heavy fog blanketed both 

304
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,600
ships, reducing visibility to 
virtually 0. 

305
00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,760
Because of this, Kendall was not
confident of the Storstad's 

306
00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:22,200
position, but believed it was 
safe to continue on The 

307
00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:24,840
Storstad. 
First Officer Toftenis was 

308
00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:28,000
unaware of the new course taken 
by the Empress and did not know 

309
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,440
her exact position. 
As far as he knew, the Empress 

310
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,120
had stayed on course closer to 
shore for a port to port 

311
00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:37,320
passing. 
Concerned about the fog, Kendall

312
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,640
ordered the Empress to slow and 
then full astern in order to 

313
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,480
stop the ship and the Empress 
sounded 3 blasts of the ship's 

314
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:46,560
whistle. 
He then ordered full stop and 

315
00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,440
gave 2 blasts of the ship's 
whistle to indicate to the store

316
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,880
stat that the Empress was dead 
in the water. 

317
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,680
This was standard procedure for 
ships operating in limited 

318
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,000
visibility conditions. 
The crew of the Empress of 

319
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,880
Ireland claimed to have heard a 
whistle from the Storstad in 

320
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:05,560
acknowledgement. 
First Officer Toftanis on the 

321
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,640
Storstad was also concerned 
about passing too close to the 

322
00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,320
Empress of Ireland, which he 
assumed was still hugging the 

323
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,240
coast. 
The fog eliminated any visual 

324
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,240
contact, so in order to put some
space between his ship and the 

325
00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,160
Empress, he ordered a slight 
course change to starboard 

326
00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:22,600
toward the West, away from the 
coast. 

327
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,320
Unknowingly, he was now headed 
directly for the new course of 

328
00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,200
the Empress of Ireland. 
The two captains made different 

329
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:33,240
choices about what course to to 
pursue. 

330
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:35,920
They thought they were pulling 
further away from each other, 

331
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,520
but they actually made separate 
choices that brought them closer

332
00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:40,840
and closer together. 
But they didn't know this until 

333
00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:42,800
they were just meters away in 
the fog. 

334
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:46,600
And Storstad looms up in front 
of, of, of Empress of Ireland. 

335
00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:50,360
So it was really the the fog 
that led to this disaster. 

336
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,640
And I'm always reminding people 
this, this is an era where you, 

337
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,080
you don't have vessel to vessel 
communication. 

338
00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:57,920
You know, Empress had a 
wonderful state-of-the-art 

339
00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:00,400
wireless set, but Storstad was a
cargo ship, didn't have 

340
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:01,880
wireless. 
So you couldn't talk to the 

341
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:03,240
other ship. 
You could only communicate 

342
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:07,320
through whistle blast and, and 
they provide a limited amount of

343
00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:08,880
information. 
I'm, you know, I'm turning to 

344
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:10,800
port, I'm turning to starboard, 
I'm reversing. 

345
00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:14,760
Get out of the way, you know, 
so, so the the two vessels had a

346
00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,200
very little capacity to to 
reverse that ominous drawing 

347
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,760
together that happens in the fog
that early morning of May the 

348
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,840
29th. 
Minutes later, Kendall saw two 

349
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,720
masthead lights off his 
starboard bow through the thick 

350
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,240
haze about 100 meters away. 
He quickly came to the 

351
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:36,000
realization that a collision was
imminent and unavoidable. 

352
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,560
He ordered engines full and a 
hard turn to starboard, hoping 

353
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,320
the angle of the collision would
produce only a glancing blow. 

354
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:48,480
But the size of the ships and 
the momentum eliminated any hope

355
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:53,400
of avoiding a collision. 
The Storstad smashed into the 

356
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,160
starboard side of the Empress, 
slicing through the hull of the 

357
00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,320
ship with ease. 
The Storstad had a reinforced 

358
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,040
hull meant for breaking through 
the ice in the North Atlantic. 

359
00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,520
The Storstad cut an enormous 
gash into the Empress, about 5 

360
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:11,680
meters wide and 14 meters high. 
60,000 gallons of cold water per

361
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:15,520
second gushed into the Empress. 
Most aboard were already sound 

362
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,600
asleep in their cabins when the 
collision occurred. 

363
00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:21,360
A distress call using the 
Marconi radio was immediately 

364
00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:24,200
sent by the Empress following 
the collision, and it was picked

365
00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:28,040
up by the Port Au Pair station, 
Sergeant Benjamin John Fowler, 

366
00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,680
member of the Salvation Army 
band in Toronto, later said. 

367
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:36,120
I was in my cabin at the center 
of the boat down below in 3rd 

368
00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:39,520
class. 
I couldn't sleep, still too 

369
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,200
excited about the trip. 
I was looking out the porthole, 

370
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,520
trying to make out the lights on
the shore, but it was foggy. 

371
00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,680
Suddenly I saw emerging from the
darkness and even darker mass. 

372
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,880
It was a few feet from the hole.
This is what I believed at 

373
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,120
first, but with the mist it was 
hard to say. 

374
00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,480
Then there was a jolt. 
Not a crashing noise, no, like a

375
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,640
kind of creaking. 
There was hardly time to take in

376
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,640
what had just happened. 
When the water started to come 

377
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:08,120
into my cabin. 
There wasn't a minute to lose. 

378
00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,000
I rushed outside toward the main
staircase. 

379
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,120
I ran into a woman who was 
holding a baby in her arms. 

380
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:16,920
Next to her was a child of about
6. 

381
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,240
She begged me to help her 
inflate a life vest. 

382
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:21,520
I stopped and took the time to 
help her. 

383
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:26,080
Another passenger, Walter 
Erzinger from Winnipeg, was a 

384
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:30,040
second class passenger. 
It must have been about 2:00 in 

385
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,000
the morning. 
I was awoken by a loud noise and

386
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,400
a violent impact. 
I suddenly thought we have just 

387
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,040
hit an iceberg. 
It felt like the boat was 

388
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,800
leaning on its side. 
I jumped out of my berth. 

389
00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:44,840
I pulled on my pants. 
I picked up two life vests. 

390
00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:48,520
I did this because with the 
angle on the floor, I could see 

391
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,440
very clearly that something was 
going wrong. 

392
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,240
I threw a life vest to my cabin 
mate and rushed into the 

393
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,840
passageway. 
Other passengers were running 

394
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,080
around the outside. 
Some of them had forgotten their

395
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:00,480
life belts. 
I shouted. 

396
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,320
Bring your life belts. 
The water was coming in through 

397
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,600
the portholes. 
The boat was listing more and 

398
00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,160
more. 
The passageways quickly filled 

399
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,240
up. 
The passengers had to fight 

400
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,640
against the current, Several 
were not able to get to the deck

401
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,680
in time. 
We heard women and children 

402
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:18,480
screaming. 
It was terrible. 

403
00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:22,320
Men, as courageous as they were 
generous, tried to help them. 

404
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,320
But it all happened so fast, it 
was impossible to do anymore. 

405
00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:31,240
Suddenly an officer cried out. 
Everyone must do what he can to 

406
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:33,840
save himself. 
I will never forget this order. 

407
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:44,880
It was the last. 
So good, so good, so good. 

408
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,040
The alarm on the Empress was 
sounded, and all crew members 

409
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,640
assigned to closing the 
watertight doors immediately ran

410
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:56,160
to their posts. 
Many of those areas were already

411
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,600
flooded, making it impossible to
access the watertight doors. 

412
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,440
The collision occurred so 
suddenly and unpredictably that 

413
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,360
the crew had almost no time to 
close them before the oncoming 

414
00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:10,880
water overtook the ship. 
The Storstad cut through the 

415
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,560
Empress so easily and deeply 
that it broke through the 

416
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,240
watertight bulkhead between two 
boiler rooms. 

417
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:20,600
The boilers were already on 
fire, but were overcome by water

418
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:22,880
within two minutes extinguishing
those fires. 

419
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:26,880
As pressure dropped in the 
boilers, the ship lost power and

420
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,560
its ability to maneuver. 
The Empress of Ireland had a 

421
00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:35,160
wireless Marconi radio, however 
the Storstad did not, so Captain

422
00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:37,960
Kendall attempted to communicate
with the Storstad using a 

423
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,640
megaphone, requesting the 
Storstad stay lodged inside the 

424
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,120
Empress in order to prevent more
water from gushing in, but 

425
00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,360
Captain Kendall was not able to 
reach the Storstad. 

426
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,760
The strong current of the Saint 
Lawrence and the momentum of the

427
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,800
Storstad forced the ship to 
rotate from its bow to face the 

428
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,040
opposite direction before being 
pushed out of and away from the 

429
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,960
Empress. 
With the hole now unplugged, the

430
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:04,440
frigid water of the Saint 
Lawrence River gushed into the 

431
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,640
Empress. 
She listed badly to starboard, 

432
00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,880
making it nearly impossible to 
launch the port side lifeboats. 

433
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,880
Only 5 lifeboats on the 
starboard side were able to be 

434
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:17,680
launched, and only a small 
number of people found their way

435
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,880
into them. 
Those in the lower deck simply 

436
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,920
had no chance. 
Others flung themselves 

437
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:25,840
overboard to get away from the 
sinking ship. 

438
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:30,320
Most without life jackets. 
Lawrence Irving, Mabel Hackney 

439
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,600
and Frank Ernest Abbott, our 
first class passengers mentioned

440
00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:36,840
earlier, darted out of their 
suites and into the passageway. 

441
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:40,320
The three decide to make a break
for the top deck, but there was 

442
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:42,920
much panic and confusion among 
all the passengers. 

443
00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:46,640
Lawrence Irving was thrown 
violently down in the fray and 

444
00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,760
he broke his nose. 
Frank Abbott then assisted him 

445
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,720
and helped he and his wife Mabel
into their life jackets. 

446
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,400
He watched as the two of them 
scrambled desperately to the top

447
00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,600
deck. 
The second class Hart family 

448
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,240
found themselves up to their 
knees in water in almost no 

449
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,680
time. 
In the dark confines of their 

450
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:06,760
flooded cabin, they didn't know 
what to do. 

451
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,040
Some of the third class 
passengers were able to climb up

452
00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:11,880
the slippery stairs and make it 
to the deck. 

453
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:15,360
By that time, the ship was 
listing so badly it was 

454
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,240
difficult to find footing. 
Frank Abbott finally made it to 

455
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,280
the deck himself, but once there
he was forced to jump into the 

456
00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,840
freezing river. 
He was pulled under multiple 

457
00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,880
times trying to reach the 
lifeboats until he was finally 

458
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:29,800
able to grab on to some floating
debris. 

459
00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:34,200
On the Storstad, the crew 
quickly assessed the damage of 

460
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,600
their ship. 
It was determined that while the

461
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,760
bow was badly damaged, the ship 
was in no danger of sinking. 

462
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:42,960
The Storstad's crew then 
immediately launched their four 

463
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,680
lifeboats and began pulling 
people out of the frigid water. 

464
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,640
10 minutes after the collision, 
the Empress suddenly jolted and 

465
00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:54,240
rolled on its starboard side, 
floating helplessly and half 

466
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,480
submerged. 
Those who were struggling on the

467
00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:01,280
deck were hurled into the water,
including Captain Kendall, who 

468
00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,600
made it to a lifeboat and 
eventually on board the 

469
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,160
Storstad. 
He immediately began blaming the

470
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:11,160
captain of the Storstad, 
shouting You sunk my ship, an 

471
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,160
accusation that will be repeated
later. 

472
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,560
Several 100 desperate people 
scrambled up out of the 

473
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,280
portholes, seeking refuge on the
hull of the ship, where they 

474
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,360
waited for rescue. 
But just a few minutes later, 

475
00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:26,800
the Empress could stay afloat no
more and sank to the bottom of 

476
00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,400
the Saint Lawrence River. 
Captain Kendall watched in 

477
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:34,000
despair as his ship, his first 
ever command, slipped under the 

478
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,640
surface. 
The RMS Titanic took 3 hours to 

479
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,320
sink the elapsed. 
Time from the collision with the

480
00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:44,520
Storstad to the sinking of the 
Empress of Ireland was just 14 

481
00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:48,920
minutes. 
Frank Abbott was plucked out of 

482
00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,200
the river by the Storstad. 
He later said that he saw 

483
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,040
Lawrence Irving and Mabel 
Hackney on the deck of the ship 

484
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,640
hugging each other. 
The bodies of the famous couple 

485
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:02,520
were never found. 
The body of a young girl was 

486
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,800
found on the banks of the Saint 
Lawrence, 18 miles away from the

487
00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:09,080
collision site. 
The girl turned out to be 4 year

488
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,320
old Edith Hart. 
Edith's grandfather traveled to 

489
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,480
Quebec to find his family where 
he provided a positive 

490
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:19,000
identification. 
Edith was the only member of the

491
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:21,120
Hart family whose body was 
recovered. 

492
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:27,520
Another child survivor, Grace 
Hannigan, was seven years old at

493
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,640
the time and traveling with her 
parents, Edward James Hannigan 

494
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,520
and Edith Hannigan, with the 
Salvation Army group, Grace 

495
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,920
later recalled. 
Father and I saw a flash of 

496
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,720
bright light through the 
porthole and felt the ship 

497
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,760
shake. 
Father said the boat is sinking 

498
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:46,680
and we ran with Mother dressed 
just as we were. 

499
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:49,920
We climbed the stairs and went 
with Father to the railing. 

500
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:52,560
Then we were thrown into the 
water. 

501
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,480
I lost Mother and Father and 
never saw them again. 

502
00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,320
I sank deep into the water. 
When I came back up, there was a

503
00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,040
piece of wood nearby. 
I hung on to it. 

504
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,160
Then I saw a man in a lifeboat 
and called to him to take me 

505
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:07,720
aboard. 
He grabbed me and pulled me into

506
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,360
the lifeboat. 
There was also a woman hanging 

507
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,280
on to the piece of wood, but I 
did not see her after that. 

508
00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:17,520
Survivors later reported that 
many of the Salvation Army 

509
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,400
passengers gave up their life 
jackets to other passengers, 

510
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:24,520
including Grace's father, Edward
James Hannigan, whose body was 

511
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:28,240
later recovered and identified. 
His wife, Edith, sadly, was 

512
00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:32,080
never recovered. 
Grace Hannigan was one of only 

513
00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:35,800
four children to survive out of 
the 138 on board. 

514
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:40,440
Second Officer Rodger Williams 
assisted passengers into 

515
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:42,240
lifeboats as the ship was 
sinking. 

516
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,920
At the end, he was forced into 
the water as the ship finally 

517
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:48,720
went down. 
His body was recovered and is 

518
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:51,960
buried at the Canadian Pacific 
Memorial in Point Alpair, 

519
00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,960
Quebec. 
Crew member William Clark worked

520
00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:58,600
in the engine room as a Stoker. 
Just two years earlier, he 

521
00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:00,920
performed the same duties on the
Titanic. 

522
00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:05,640
Clark miraculously survived both
of these devastating shipwrecks.

523
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,920
Clark recalled. 
I was firemen on both the ships.

524
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,120
It was my luck to be on duty at 
the time of both accidents. 

525
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,880
The Titanic disaster was much 
the worst of the two. 

526
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:19,239
I mean, it was much the most 
awful. 

527
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:21,679
The waiting was the terrible 
thing. 

528
00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,239
There was no waiting with the 
Empress of Ireland. 

529
00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:26,639
You just saw what you had to do 
and did it. 

530
00:34:27,639 --> 00:34:30,600
The Titanic went down straight 
like a baby goes to sleep. 

531
00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:34,520
The Empress of Ireland rolled 
over like a hog in a ditch. 

532
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:39,159
Captain Henry George Kendall 
survived the wreck, however he 

533
00:34:39,159 --> 00:34:41,920
was deeply emotionally affected 
for the rest of his life. 

534
00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:45,960
Most likely he had what we would
now call Post Traumatic Stress 

535
00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:48,760
Disorder. 
Following an investigation, 

536
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,840
Kendall returned to England and 
rejoined the Royal Navy as 

537
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:56,400
senior officer on the Calgarian,
and the Calgarian was torpedoed 

538
00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,960
in 1918 during World War One, 
but Kendall survived that as 

539
00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:03,160
well. 
After the war, he served as the 

540
00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,800
marine Superintendent in England
for Canadian Pacific until his 

541
00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:11,200
retirement in 1939. 
He lived a quiet life in London 

542
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:25,110
and died in 1965 at age 91. 
This message may be shocking to 

543
00:35:25,110 --> 00:35:27,110
many millennials. 
If you are one, you might want 

544
00:35:27,110 --> 00:35:30,880
to sit down right now. 
Loads of people are searching 

545
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,720
the following on Depop. 
Low rise jeans, halter top, 

546
00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:39,600
velour tracksuit, puka shell 
necklace, disc belt. 

547
00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:43,160
You likely place these in the 
dark of your closet in 2004, 

548
00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:46,160
never to be seen again. 
But if you can find it in 

549
00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:49,240
yourself to dust them off, there
are a lot of people who will 

550
00:35:49,240 --> 00:35:52,120
give you money for them. 
Sell on Depop where taste 

551
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:56,120
recognizes taste. 
This episode is brought to you 

552
00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:59,080
by State Farm listening to this 
podcast. 

553
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:01,800
Smart move being financially 
savvy. 

554
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,960
Smart move. 
Another smart move, having State

555
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:07,240
Farm help you create a 
competitive price when you 

556
00:36:07,240 --> 00:36:09,760
choose to bundle home and auto 
bundling. 

557
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:13,280
Just another way to save with a 
personal price plan like a good 

558
00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:14,880
neighbor. 
State Farm is there. 

559
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,280
Prices are based on rating plans
that vary by state. 

560
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:19,240
Coverage options are selected by
the customer. 

561
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,520
Availability, amount of 
discounts and savings, and 

562
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:33,120
eligibility vary by state. 
Survivors were taken to the 

563
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:36,280
nearby city of Ramooski where 
they received medical attention.

564
00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:40,080
News of the ship sinking began 
making its way across the 

565
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:46,320
country and the whole world. 
1477 people left Quebec City on 

566
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:52,720
the Empress of Ireland. 1012 
lost their lives including 840 

567
00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:56,120
passengers. 
That is 8 more passengers than 

568
00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,360
died on the Titanic. 
Here's Dan Conlin. 

569
00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:03,280
Now losing 840 passengers, a 
high high proportion of her 

570
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,240
passengers more than died aboard
Titanic. 

571
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:09,680
Titanic had enough time to at 
least get a lot of the 

572
00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:13,120
passengers off, whereas Empress 
so many people just died in 

573
00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:14,840
their cabins or were trapped 
below deck. 

574
00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:17,720
The crew who were on duty had a 
better shot because they were 

575
00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:21,480
already awakened on deck on on 
managing to get over the side. 

576
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:24,400
Titanic has more deaths, but 
Empress has more passenger 

577
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,840
deaths and and Empress is right 
up there in the the league of 

578
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:29,720
kind of great ocean liner 
disasters. 

579
00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:34,000
Because of the massive loss of 
life, the Empress of Ireland is 

580
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,240
called Canada's Titanic. 
A public inquiry was launched 3 

581
00:37:38,240 --> 00:37:41,880
weeks later in Quebec City, 
headed by Lord Mercy, who also 

582
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:44,560
led the Commission for the 
Titanic and the Lusitania. 

583
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,120
Officers from both ships 
testified, with each side 

584
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:50,480
accusing the other of wrongdoing
and negligence. 

585
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:53,680
A Canadian newspaper wrote of 
the testimony. 

586
00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:57,160
If the evidence is to be 
believed, the Empress and the 

587
00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:00,600
Storstad collided violently 
while lying motionless 2 miles 

588
00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:03,120
apart. 
The Canadian public clearly put 

589
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:06,520
the blame on the Norwegian ship,
and Captain Kendall's testimony 

590
00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:10,000
echoed that sentiment. 
He testified that he ordered a 

591
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,040
full stop in the fog and the 
Storestad made the mistake of 

592
00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:15,120
changing its course while in 
dense fog. 

593
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:20,280
First Officer on duty Alfred 
Toftanis testified he had first 

594
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,800
seen the green navigation light 
of the Empress indicating its 

595
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:28,240
starboard side. 
However, as Toftanis claims, he 

596
00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:31,960
then saw the green and the red 
lights and then just the red of 

597
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,760
the Empress indicating a course 
change. 

598
00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:38,760
It was at this point the fog 
enveloped both ships and he and 

599
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,800
the other officers on the bridge
believe the Empress intended a 

600
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,800
port to port passing. 
It is important to note that 

601
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:49,040
Captain Anderson still had not 
been notified of fog or an 

602
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:53,120
approaching ship. 
Taftanus went on to say because 

603
00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:56,080
of the fog he ordered a turn to 
starboard to allow more space 

604
00:38:56,080 --> 00:39:00,200
between the two ships, then 
ordered slow and then ordered 

605
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:02,880
slow ahead. 
He continued slowly through the 

606
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:05,760
fog when the Empress came 
speeding out of the fog as he 

607
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:08,320
claims across the bow of the 
store style. 

608
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:11,720
The Commission of Inquiry had to
weigh conflicting testimonies. 

609
00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:15,920
If the testimony by Alfred 
Toftiness is to be believed, the

610
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:18,520
Empress of Ireland would have 
changed course three times 

611
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:21,880
within a short duration while 
very close to shore while in 

612
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:24,640
dense fog. 
This would explain the 

613
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:27,880
observation of the navigation 
lights, but an experienced 

614
00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:29,920
captain would never make such 
maneuvers. 

615
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,680
While Captain Kendall was 
certainly experienced, this was 

616
00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:35,680
his first voyage as captain of 
his own ship. 

617
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:39,280
Could he have made such a 
disastrous mistake? 

618
00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:43,480
Possibly, but there was no other
evidence of this other than the 

619
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:45,880
testimony of First Officer 
toftiness. 

620
00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:50,040
Many on board died in the wreck,
and many of the survivors had no

621
00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:52,680
idea what happened. 
The Commission ultimately 

622
00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:55,400
decided to believe Captain 
Kendall's version of the story, 

623
00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:58,800
perhaps because it was simply 
more likely, and placed the 

624
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:04,240
blame on the store stud. 
In the 2005 documentary The Last

625
00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:07,560
Voyage of the Empress of 
Ireland, investigator Dave 

626
00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:11,080
Greener, along with marine 
engineer Bob McNair, Professor 

627
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:14,520
of Subsea Engineering Colin 
McFarlane and Director of 

628
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:18,000
Maritime Studies at the 
University of Glasgow Olaf 

629
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,160
Olsen, performed a simulation of
the accident. 

630
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:24,760
Their results indicated a 
problem with Kendall's claim 

631
00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:26,560
that the Empress was at a dead 
stop. 

632
00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:31,320
Their simulation showed it would
not be possible for the Storstad

633
00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:33,960
to be rotated in the reverse 
direction following the 

634
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,600
collision if the Empress wasn't 
moving. 

635
00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:40,880
They concluded the force of the 
Empress in motion is what caused

636
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:44,600
the rotation of the Storstad. 
The tragedy of the Empress of 

637
00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:48,000
Ireland is underscored by the 
speed at which she sank and the 

638
00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:51,400
high death toll. 
A number of factors contributed 

639
00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:54,280
to these. 
The Storstad was built with 

640
00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:58,400
longitudinal bracing, making the
ship very strong lengthwise in 

641
00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:01,480
order to breakthrough ice. 
These reinforcements made the 

642
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:04,720
store stop of virtual battering 
ram and punctured right through 

643
00:41:04,720 --> 00:41:08,040
the Empress of Ireland to a 
depth of 25 feet and ripped a 

644
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:10,480
hole 14 feet wide below the 
waterline. 

645
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,560
The water flooded the ship so 
quickly that it prevented the 

646
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:16,960
crew of the Empress from 
engaging any of the ship's 

647
00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:20,120
emergency measures. 
The manual watertight doors 

648
00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:23,400
couldn't be closed in time and 
the ship listed to starboard too

649
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:25,360
quickly for the lifeboats to be 
launched. 

650
00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:29,960
Despite happening just two years
after the Titanic, the sinking 

651
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,920
of the Empress of Ireland never 
achieved the same notoriety or 

652
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:35,120
fame, despite the massive loss 
of life. 

653
00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,440
Empress of Ireland sinks just 
before the commencement of World

654
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:40,720
War 1, so it's pushed from the 
headlines. 

655
00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:42,720
It was huge news at the time, 
but it's pushed from the 

656
00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:46,600
headlines by the guns of August 
and and, you know, the nations 

657
00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:49,160
of Europe and the world 
fluttering each other in the 

658
00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:51,440
trenches. 
So it's overshadowed by that on 

659
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:52,920
one end. 
And then it's overshadowed on 

660
00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:55,600
the other end by the big ship 
wrecked two years earlier, 

661
00:41:55,600 --> 00:42:00,080
Titanic, which is this great, 
highly symbolic, biggest ship in

662
00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:02,520
the world sinking on its maiden 
voyage, full of celebrities. 

663
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:05,160
And Empress is kind of 
overshadowed by those two 

664
00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:08,560
events. 
And so she was big news at the 

665
00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:10,080
time. 
She's kind of pushed away from 

666
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:13,920
public memory, doesn't get the 
focus of books and feature films

667
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:17,400
that Titanic. 
Is it also it it it the fact 

668
00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:20,840
that Empress sank so quickly in 
50 minutes, you didn't have the 

669
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:24,960
kind of epic stories of chivalry
or cowardice or, you know, hard 

670
00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:26,880
decisions to how to load the 
lifeboats. 

671
00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:30,400
It was just as desperate 
struggle for survival that that 

672
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:31,960
doesn't quite make for the big 
narrative. 

673
00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:36,400
And, you know, it was a ship 
that also didn't have the Anglo 

674
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:39,320
American sort of celebrity crowd
that Titanic had. 

675
00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:41,760
So you you didn't have the 
richest man in the world. 

676
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:43,360
You didn't have a presidential 
aide. 

677
00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:45,920
You know, you know, you had some
couple important authors and 

678
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:49,160
actors aboard returning from 
North American tours, but you 

679
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:51,760
didn't have the the big 
celebrity power that, you know, 

680
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:56,560
makes a shipwreck iconic. 
So Empress really faded from the

681
00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:00,760
memories fairly quickly and 
became kind of a regional event 

682
00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:03,760
remembered in Quebec and 
remembered by the survivors of 

683
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:05,600
the grieving families of those 
who died. 

684
00:43:05,720 --> 00:43:08,720
It was kind of really was kind 
of in more recent years when the

685
00:43:08,720 --> 00:43:12,360
wreck was protected and it's 
story started to be told a bit 

686
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:15,200
more that the wreck has become 
better known. 

687
00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:17,960
You know, there's now a lovely 
museum in Rimouski that is just 

688
00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:20,760
dedicated at point au pair to 
the story of the Empress of 

689
00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:22,760
Ireland. 
The Canadian Museum of History, 

690
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:25,080
you know, has these this amazing
collection, including the ships 

691
00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:27,480
and bells and they integrate 
parts of that in the permanent 

692
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:29,520
exhibit. 
And we talk about Empress Moore 

693
00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:32,400
at the, at the Canadian Museum 
of Immigration, Pier 21 because 

694
00:43:32,680 --> 00:43:35,480
she played such a big pivotal 
role, you know, over 90 

695
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:40,680
successful voyages, thousands 
and thousands of, of, of 

696
00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:43,960
Canadian citizens came to Canada
on that vessel, especially in 

697
00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:46,320
Western Canada. 
Empress is remembered in like 

698
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:49,480
the provinces of Saskatchewan 
and Alberta a lot because there 

699
00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:51,960
are so many people who have an 
ancestor came on that ship. 

700
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:54,480
Some people are projected 
there's as many as a million 

701
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:57,600
people who have a family 
connections to somebody across 

702
00:43:57,600 --> 00:43:59,920
an Empress of Ireland because 
she was such a busy and 

703
00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:04,000
successful ship for her years of
operation in that peak period of

704
00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:06,600
North American migration just 
before World War One. 

705
00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:09,240
The wreck of the Empress of 
Ireland lies in the Saint 

706
00:44:09,240 --> 00:44:11,680
Lawrence River in about 40 
meters of water. 

707
00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:15,360
It rests on the bottom at a 
sharp angle on its starboard 

708
00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:18,680
side, so much so that all the 
rooms on the starboard side are 

709
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:22,880
buried in the river bottom. 
The Empress rested undisturbed 

710
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:26,080
until she was rediscovered by 
divers in 1964. 

711
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:29,840
Like the Andrea Doria, diving 
the wreck of the Empress of 

712
00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:32,160
Ireland is both difficult and 
dangerous. 

713
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:36,280
The waters of the Saint Lawrence
River are extremely cold even in

714
00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:38,840
the summer, and the tidal 
currents of up to five knots 

715
00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:43,240
often result in low visibility. 
Only expert diver should ever 

716
00:44:43,240 --> 00:44:47,080
attempt this dive. 
However, those who have the 

717
00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:50,320
training and expertise to make 
the dive will be treated to a 

718
00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:52,720
large opening right through the 
middle of the ship. 

719
00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:56,480
It was created by the salvage 
company hired by Canadian 

720
00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:59,880
Pacific Railway to retrieve as 
much as possible from its 

721
00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:03,440
investment, specifically the 
mail that was on board the ship 

722
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:07,280
safe and silver bullion worth 
about $2,000,000 in today's 

723
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:10,160
money. 
Still visible on the wreck are 

724
00:45:10,160 --> 00:45:14,600
the ship's dining room tables, 
chairs, light fixtures and 

725
00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:16,680
scattered personal items such as
luggage. 

726
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:20,040
We will never know exactly what 
happened. 

727
00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:23,400
However, we do know that Captain
Kendall did not order the 

728
00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:27,240
portholes closed upon departure 
from Quebec City, as regulations

729
00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:29,800
dictated. 
He also did not order the 

730
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:32,080
watertight doors closed until it
was too late. 

731
00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:36,480
And on the store stack, we have 
Captain Anderson asleep in bed 

732
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:38,840
while his ship was navigating 
through dense fog. 

733
00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:41,680
With an approaching ship in 
relatively narrow waters. 

734
00:45:42,720 --> 00:45:45,120
There were mistakes. 
Made by the crews of both the 

735
00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:47,240
Empress of Ireland and the Store
Stud. 

736
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:50,320
It is fair to assume this 
collision would never have 

737
00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:54,080
happened in clear weather. 
The heavy fog which suddenly 

738
00:45:54,080 --> 00:45:57,520
came upon the ships at that 
exact moment in time was the 

739
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:00,160
true culprit which took the 
lives of so many. 

740
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:05,480
That's going to do it for this 
classic rewind. 

741
00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:07,960
The Empress of Ireland, Canada's
Titanic. 

742
00:46:08,240 --> 00:46:11,120
Thank you so much for listening.
Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs is 

743
00:46:11,120 --> 00:46:12,960
written, edited and produced by 
me. 

744
00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:16,080
Rich Napolitano. 
Original theme music is by Sean 

745
00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:19,160
Siegfried and you can find him 
at seansiegfried.com. 

746
00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:22,040
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747
00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:26,560
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748
00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:30,960
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749
00:46:30,960 --> 00:46:34,000
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750
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753
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756
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757
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:01,560
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758
00:47:01,560 --> 00:47:03,480
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759
00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:06,680
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760
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761
00:47:10,200 --> 00:47:14,720
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and as always, don't forget to 

762
00:47:14,720 --> 00:47:17,440
wear your life jackets.