Ninety years on

[Jason D. Tiller]

It's almost ninety years to the day, that the Canadian Pacific Liner the Empress of Ireland, while traveling up the Saint Lawrence river bound for Liverpool was rammed by a Collier ship called the Storstad in the early morning hours of May 29, 1914.

In fourteen shocking and horrifying minutes, she was gone, along with 1,012 lives that perished in the freezing cold water. It still stands as the worst maritime disaster in Canadian history.

I'll be attending a memorial service on Sunday, which will be held next to a memorial that commemorates the sinking. On either side of the memorial, are several passenger graves.

Lest we forget.

 

[John Clifford]

Hi Jason.

I will offer a Prayer of Remembrance, this weekend.

 

[Alex McLean]

I took a prayer of rememberence last night to those who lost their lives in the Saint Lawrence that night.
May God remember and look after them, and may the Empress of Ireland never be forgotten.

 

[Gavin Murphy]

J,

I would love to hear more about the events you have attended in this regard.

BTW, the Empress was not sailing up river, it was sailing down river to L'pool.......people always get that wrong.

Hey, I was a Cub Scout, etc. many moons ago......

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Hi Gavin!

The memorial service was beautiful, very emotional and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was very well attended, at least thirty or forty people were there. The Salvation Army Band was there, we sang hymns and the names of all the Salvation Army Officers that did not survive were read out. Also, there was a speaker there that talked about the disaster, which was quite interesting.

I had the pleasure of meeting a descendant whose grandfather was on board as one of the Salvation Army band members, and did not survive. A few wreaths were laid at the memorial, so it was very well done. I took a picture of the memorial with the wreaths in front of it, so as soon as it's developed, I'll post it here.

Thank you for pointing out that the Empress was traveling down river, good to know.

Best regards,

Jason

 

[Alex McLean]

Jason,
The service sounds beautiful. I look forward to seeing the photos you've taken, too.
My best,

Alex