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The RMS Empress of Ireland sank in 1914 in the St Lawrence River, with the loss of 1,012 lives. The wreck was designated a national historic site of Canada in 2009.
The RMS Empress of Ireland was a Canadian Pacific oceangoing passenger ship that sank in the St Lawrence River near Pointe-au-Père (Rimouski), Quebec, on 29 May 1914. She was rammed in dense fog by the Norwegian collier Storstad and sank in only 14 minutes. Of 1,477 passengers and crew on the Empress, only 465 managed to abandon ship. In total, 1,012 died, including most of the 138 children onboard. Bodies recovered from the Empress were gathered in the village of Sainte-Luce; many were buried near Pointe-au-Père in Rimouski, where a monument stands to their memory. Captain Anderson of the Storstad was later held responsible for the disaster.
