Empress of Ireland (1906)

Owners:
Canadian Pacific Railway Company

Builder:
Fairfield Shipbuilding &
Engineering Co. Ltd.
Govan, Scotland
Ordered:
1905
Keel Laid:
N/A
Year Built:
1906
Launched:
January 27, 1906
Sister Ships:
Empress of Britain
Maiden Voyage:
June 29, 1906
Fate:
Sunk May 29, 1914 after being rammed by the Norwegian collier Storstad.

Location: St Lawrence River, 5 miles off Fathers Point (Pointe-au-Pere) near the town of
Rimouski, Canada.
(48.37.18N - 68.24.23W)

1,012 passengers and crew killed, 465 survivors.
*Sources differ on these numbers.


Dimensions, machinery and performance

Length:
570'
Engines:
2 quadruple expansion
Beam:
65' 6"
Boilers:
N/A (coal fired)
Draft:
36' 7" (depth)
Shafts:
2
Gross Tons:
14,191
HP:
18,500
Displacement:
N/A
Speed:
18 knots
Crew:
400
Funnels:
2
Passengers:
1,580
Masts:
2


Captains:
From
To
Name
May 29, 1914
Henry G. Kendall, R.N.R.



Notes:
Christened by Mrs. Alexander Gracie.
  Completed 95 transatlantic crossings between Liverpool and Quebec.
  Present at the Mersey Royal Review in July 1913.
Only 4 of the 138 children on board survived the sinking.
More passengers died on the Empress of Ireland than on the Titanic.
Capt. Henry G. Kendall had earlier been master of the Montrose on which he identified a
passenger as the wanted murdered Dr. Harvey Crippen. Kendall alerted authorities and
Crippen was arrested and later hanged. (read the daily event story)
Later he was master of the Calgarian which was torpedoed and sunk on March 1, 1918 by the U-19.

The Storstad was seized and given to Canadian Pacific after the later filed a $2,000,000
lawsuit for damages. It was sold for $175.000 and was ultimately torpedoed and sunk on
March 8, 1917 by the U-62.





Builder's Data
Page published Aug. 8, 2007