RMS Empress of Ireland (1906)
Profile drawing of Empress of Ireland
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Empress of Ireland |
| Owner: |
 Canadian Pacific Steamship Company
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| Port of registry: | Liverpool |
| Builder: | Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Scotland |
| Yard number: | 443 |
| Laid down: | 10 April 1905 |
| Launched: | 27 January 1906 |
| Christened: | 27 January 1906 |
| Maiden voyage: | 29 June 1906 |
| In service: | 27 January 1906 |
| Out of service: | 29 May 1914 |
| Fate: | Sank after being rammed by Storstad on 29 May 1914 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 14,191 gross register tons (GRT); 8,028 net register tons (NRT) |
| Length: | 570 ft (170 m) oa; 550 ft (170 m) pp |
| Beam: | 65 ft 7.2 in (19.995 m) |
| Depth: | 40 ft (12 m) |
| Decks: | 4 steel decks |
| Propulsion: | |
| Speed: | 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h) |
| Capacity: |
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| Crew: | 373 in 1906 |
| Designated | 2009 |
RMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner that sank in the Saint Lawrence River following a collision with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad in the early hours of 29 May 1914. Of the 1,477 people on board, 1,012 died. The number of deaths is the largest of any Canadian maritime accident in peacetime.
Empress of Ireland was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland and was launched in 1906. The liner, along with her sister ship Empress of Britain, was commissioned by Canadian Pacific Steamships (at that time part of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) conglomerate) for the North Atlantic route between Quebec and Liverpool in England. (The transcontinental CPR and its fleet of ocean liners constituted CPR's self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Transportation System".) Empress of Ireland had just begun her 96th voyage when she sank.
The wreck lies in 40 metres (130 ft) of water, making it accessible to most divers. Many artifacts from the wreckage have been retrieved, some of which are on display in the Empress of Ireland Pavilion at the Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père in Rimouski, Quebec and at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. The Canadian government has passed legislation to protect the site.
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Wikipedia