THE EMPRESS GOES DOWN
While these frantic attempts at rescue were going on, the doomed ship was rapidly settling. Her decks were awash, and then, with a spasmodic heave, as if giant hands from below were pulling her down, the massive sea castle tilted to the bottom. Wreckage, spars and bobbing heads, and the few small boats trying to escape the vortex—with the slow heaving bulk of the collier in the background—alone marked the scene of the catastrophe.
SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY, PRESIDENT OF CANADIAN PACIFIC, DEPLORES LOSS OF LIFE
SIR THOMAS SHAUGHNESSY, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, issued the following statement on the morning of the Empress accident:
“The catastrophe because of the great loss of life is the most serious in the history of the St. Lawrence route. Owing to the distance to the nearest telegraph or telephone station from the scene of the wreck there is unavoidable delay in obtaining official details, but we expect a report from Captain Kendall in the course of the afternoon.
“From the facts as we have them, it is apparent that about two o’clock this morning the Empress of Ireland when off Rimouski and stopped in a dense fog was rammed by the Norwegian collier Storstad in such a manner as to tear the ship from the middle to the screw, thus making the water-tight bulkheads with which she was provided useless. The vessel settled down in fourteen minutes.
“The accident occurred at a time when the passengers were in bed and the interval before the steamship went down was not sufficient to enable the officers to rouse the passengers and get them into the boats, of which there were sufficient to accommodate a very much larger number of people than those on board, including passengers and crew. That such an accident should be possible in the river St. Lawrence to a vessel of the class of the Empress of Ireland and with every possible precaution taken by the owners to insure the safety of the passengers and the vessel is deplorable.
“The saddest feature of the disaster is, of course, the great loss of life, and the heartfelt sympathy of everybody connected with the company goes out to the relatives and friends of all those who met death on the ill-fated steamship.”
CHAPTER II
Captain Kendall Blames the Storstad
(Statement of Captain Kendall, Commander of the Empress of Ireland, Made at the Coroner’s Inquest at Rimouski)
SLIGHT FOG BANK—NEARNESS OF STORSTAD—SIGNAL GIVEN AND ANSWERED—SHOUTED TO COLLIER—SHIP BEGAN TO FILL—LIFE-BOATS OUT—DISTRESS SIGNALS—SHIP FOUNDERED QUICKLY—CAPTAIN SHOT INTO THE SEA—RESCUED—WORK TO SAVE OTHERS—NO PANIC ABOARD
AFTER passing Rock Point gas buoy, I sighted the steamship Storstad, it then being clear.
The Storstad was then about one point on my starboard bow. At that time I saw a slight fog bank coming gradually from the land and knew it was going to pass between the Storstad and myself. The Storstad was about two miles away at that time. Then the fog came and the Storstad’s lights disappeared. I rang full speed astern on my engines and stopped my ship.
At the same time I blew three short blasts on the steamer’s whistle, meaning “I am going full speed astern.” The Storstad answered with the whistle, giving me one prolonged blast.
I then looked over the side of my ship into the water and saw my ship was stopped. I stopped my engines and blew two long blasts, meaning “my ship was under way, but stopped and has no way upon her.”
He answered me again with one prolonged blast. The sound was then about four points upon my starboard bow.