Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber's Note

Spelling errors and other inaccuracies in the lists of survivors and rolls of the dead are preserved as printed.

The Tragic Story
======Of The======
Empress of Ireland

An Authentic Account of the Most
Horrible Disaster in Canadian History,
Constructed from the Real
Facts Obtained from Those on
Board Who Survived

And Other Great Sea Disasters

BY
LOGAN MARSHALL
Author of "The Story of Polar Conquest," "The
Story of the Panama Canal," Etc.

Containing the Statements of
CAPTAIN HENRY GEORGE KENDALL
Commanding the Empress of Ireland

----And----

CAPTAIN THOMAS ANDERSEN
Commanding the Storstad

ILLUSTRATED
With Numerous Authentic Photographs and Drawings

Copyright, 1914, by
L. T. MYERS

One of the finest ships of the Canadian line. Soon after leaving
Quebec on her voyage to Liverpool with over 1,300 souls on board,
she was struck by the Norwegian collier "Storstad" off Father
Point, Quebec, on May 29, 1914, at 2.10 A. M., and sank about
fifteen minutes later, carrying a thousand of her passengers down
with her.]

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

Introduction 9

I. The Empress of Ireland Sails to Her Doom 13

II. Captain Kendall Blames the Storstad 29

III. Captain Andersen's Defense 33

IV. Miraculous Escape of the Few 37

V. The Stricken Survivors Return 44

VI. Heroes of the Empress Disaster 64

VII. The Surgeon's Thrilling Story 71

VIII. Ship of Death Reaches Quebec 74

IX. Solemn Services for the Dead 83

X. Crippling Loss to the Salvation Army 92

XI. Notable Passengers Aboard 110

XII. List of Survivors and Roll of the Dead 118

XIII. The Storstad Reaches Port 125

XIV. Parliament Shocked by the Calamity 132

XV. Messages of Sympathy and Help 134

XVI. Placing the Blame 140

XVII. Empress in Fact, as in Name 156

XVIII. The Norwegian Collier Storstad 161

XIX. The St. Lawrence: A Beautiful River 163

XX. The Tragic Story of the Titanic Disaster 175

XXI. The Most Sumptuous Palace Afloat 178

XXII. The Titanic Strikes an Iceberg 186

XXIII. "Women and Children First" 197

XXIV. Left to Their Fate 221

XXV. The Call for Help Heard 231

XXVI. In the Drifting Life-Boats 235

XXVII. The Tragic Home-Coming 254

XXVIII. Other Great Marine Disasters 284

XXIX. Development of Shipbuilding 292

XXX. Safety and Life-Saving Devices 300

XXXI. Seeking Safety at Sea 307

FACTS ABOUT THE WRECK OF THE EMPRESS OF IRELAND

NUMBER of persons aboard, 1,475.

Number of persons saved, 397.

Number of persons dead, 1,078.

Total number of first-class passengers, 87.

Total number of second-class passengers, 256.

Total number of third-class passengers, 717.

Total number of crew, 415.

The Salvation Army Delegation numbered 150; of these 124 were lost.

The Empress of Ireland was a twin-screw vessel of 14,500 tons.

The vessel was built in Glasgow in 1906 by the Fairfield Company, Ltd., and was owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway.

The Storstad is a single-screw vessel, registering 6,028 tons.

The vessel was built by the Armstrong, Whitworth Company at Newcastle in 1911, and is owned by the Dampsk Aktieselk Maritime of Christiania, Norway.