RMS Empress of Ireland

RMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner that sank in the Saint Lawrence River following a collision with a Norwegian collier in the early hours of 29 May 1914. Of the 1,477 persons on board the ship, the accident claimed the lives of 1,012 (840 passengers, 172 crew).The number of deaths is the largest of any Canadian maritime accident in peacetime.
The Empress was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland and was launched in 1906. The liner, along with her sister ship Empress of Britain, was commissioned by Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP) for the North Atlantic route between Quebec and Liverpool in England. The ship had just begun her 96th sailing when she sank.

The ship's cat on the Empress was named Emmy. She was said to have been a loyal orange tabby who had never once missed a voyage. But shortly before the liner's final voyage, the cat repeatedly tried to leave the ship before its departure on 28 May 1914. The crew could not coax her aboard and the Empress departed without her. It was reported that Emmy watched the ship sail away from Quebec City sitting on the roof of the shed at Pier 27, which would later become a place for the dead pulled from the river after the Empress went down. Ship cats were believed to bring luck to the ship and keep it from sinking.

Theme Song "Dante's Prayer" By: Loreena McKennitt [link]

Breathe life into this feeble heart
Lift this mortal veil of fear
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
We'll rise above these earthly cares

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me