Lost in the mists of time between the loss of the "Titanic" and the even greater tragedy of the First World War, is the "Empress of Ireland." In the afternoon of 28 May, 1914, the 550 ft "Empress of Ireland" set sail from Quebec bound for Liverpool. After a stop at Rimouski to pick up mail, Captain Henry Kendall set the Canadian Pacific Railway Company liner's course down the St. Lawrence River. On board were 1475 passengers and crew. All was well until 0130 a.m. when Capt. Kendall spotted the lights of a ship approaching from down river. The mystery ship was just off the starboard bow and about 2 miles away. Then, the ship disappeared as a fog bank settled over the river; prudently, Kendall ordered full astern and sound three blasts on his whistle, indicating to the other ship that he was going astern. When stopped, Kendall sound two long blasts, the signal that he had stopped. In both cases the other ship answered understanding by sounding one blast. Shipping rules dictate that when ships approach each other, each is to pass 'port to port,' meaning each places the other ship on their port side.
Two minutes passed, when to Kendall's shock, the other ship's lights appeared on his starboard side and bearing down fast! Kendall signaled "Full ahead," but to no avail. The 6000 ton Norwegian Collier (coal ship) "Storstad" slashed into the "Empress" amidships, cutting a large whole in her side. As the water poured in, Kendall kept going, hoping to run the "Empress" aground in shallow water. It was too late, the water soon flooded the boilers, damping the fires. As "Empress" lost steam, and with it electrical power, the radio man sent out a frantic call for help and Kendall ordered the women to the boats. The ship began listing heavily as frightened passengers swarmed on deck, some jumping into the frigid water in only their night clothes. Although she carried enough lifeboats for all her passengers and crew, the ship was too badly crippled to launch most of them, the crew only managed to launch nine boats before the "Empress" capsized only 14 minutes after the collision. Captain Kendall was hurled into the river as his ship capsized and was picked up by one of the lifeboats.
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