Newcommen Society - The sinking of the Empress of Ireland

In the early hours of 29th May 1914, the British-built ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland, on route from Quebec to Liverpool, was struck by a Norwegian collier near the mouth of the St Lawrence river, and sank within fourteen minutes. More than 1000 of the nearly 1500 people on board died – including 840 passengers, which was more than on the Titanic two years earlier or on the Lusitania a year later. This was one of the world’s worst peacetime maritime disasters, yet it has been largely forgotten.

Hugh Ferguson will relate the events leading up to the disaster, the event itself, and its aftermath – largely through the words of his father Ronald Ferguson, the young Chief Wireless Operator on the Empress, who sent out the SOS which alerted rescue ships, and who was the last to leave the sinking ship.

The talk will touch on several aspects of engineering, including early wireless and contemporary design of ocean liners. But it is primarily a dramatic story of human courage, tragedy and survival.