It was an evening to recollect – however unusually, nobody appears to recollect it.
On Might 29, 1914, the ocean liner Empress of Eire was steaming alongside the St Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, when surprising thick fog descended and it collided with a Norwegian coal ship. It was a catastrophe harking back to the collision of the RMS Titanic with an iceberg simply two years earlier, however with a significant distinction: whereas the Titanic took over two hours to sink, the Empress of Eire went underneath in simply 14 minutes. With greater than 1000 fatalities, it was an enormous catastrophe – however hardly anybody has heard of it at the moment.
The Lighthouse close to the location of the wreck.Credit score: Mathieu Dupuis/Le Quebec Maritime
Why? Timing. Inside a number of weeks of the sinking, World Warfare I broke out, and the world had greater issues to fret about. So the wreck lay at relaxation beneath murky waters, forgotten, till 50 years later in 1964 when it was positioned by divers. Finally, the Quebec authorities declared it a historic website and a devoted museum was opened in 2017.
It’s that establishment I’m now, throughout the Pointe-au-Pere Maritime Historic Website close to the town of Rimouski. It’s a blocky construction of silver and pink, with projections that resemble ship’s funnels. Close by is a high-and-dry submarine, the HMCS Onondaga, and a lovely lighthouse which belonged to the previous pilot station right here. The Empress lies offshore, 45 metres beneath the floor.
A mannequin of the Empress of Eire.Credit score: Mathieu Dupuis/Le Quebec Maritime
I’m eager to be taught extra about its destiny, and the museum’s exhibition begins with an entertaining movie. Introduced in a newsreel fashion, it combines previous clips and new supplies to inform the dramatic story of the sinking – much more startling since, in contrast to the Titanic, the ship was outfitted with enough lifeboats.
The pleasure of the exhibition is a big detailed mannequin of the Empress mendacity on the backside of the river, depicting the decay of many years. Close by performs a video of a dive to the wreck, a ghostly vessel encrusted with sea life. Additionally out there are quick interviews with the 1964 divers, and one, Claude Villeneuve, tells of the thrill when he retrieved a bell and cleaned it to find the ship’s title engraved on its aspect.
The Empress of Eire in 1914.Credit score: Getty Pictures
A marvellous case of artefacts from the wreck is a reminder of an age when a lot was product of wooden and brass. Objects embody a tank for boiling eggs, the barrel of a water heater, a superbly preserved porthole, and the ship’s wheel – nonetheless intact and in place when positioned on a dive in 1971.