108th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland

[Enceladus828]

In the early morning hours of May 29th 1914, Canada suffered its worst maritime disaster. Hours after leaving Quebec City for Liverpool, the RMS Empress of Ireland was struck by the Norwegian collier S.S. Storstad while in dense fog. 14 minutes later the Empress slipped beneath the waves of the St. Lawrence River, taking 1,012 men, women and children out of the 1,477 people onboard down with her.

This tragedy remains largely unknown due to the outbreak of World War 1 two months later.