100 Years Ago: Canada's worst marine disaster

On the night of May 28-29, 1914 Canada suffered the worst marine disaster in its history when the ocean liner Empress of Ireland, outbound from Montreal to Liverpool, was rammed by a Norwegian coal ship in heavy fog on the St. Lawrence River. The damage was so extreme that the Empress sank in just 15 minutes taking more than a thousand passengers and crew with her. Among the dead were a large contingent from the Salvation Army on their way to Britain and the vast majority of the women and children on board.

The circumstances surrounding the accident remain highly controversial to this day.