DID NOT BACK OUT
It has been said that the Storstad should not have backed out of the hole made by the collision. She did not do so. As the vessels came together, the Storstad’s engines were ordered ahead for the purpose of holding her bow against the side of the Empress and thus preventing the entrance of water into the vessel.
The headway of the Empress, however, swung the Storstad around in such a way as to twist the Storstad’s bow out of the hole, and to bend the bow itself over to port.
The Empress at once disappeared in the fog. The Storstad sounded her whistle repeatedly in an effort to locate the Empress of Ireland, but could obtain no indication of her whereabouts until cries were heard. The Storstad was then maneuvered as close to the Empress as was safe, in view of the danger of injury to the persons who were already in the water.