While the Titanic sinking may be one of the most famous Maritime disasters, it’s not the biggest or the one that touches Canada the most. A few years after the Titanic had it’s ill-fated meeting with an iceberg The Empress of Ireland had a collision with another ship on the St Lawrence in Canada where only 465 out of almost 1500 on board survived.
Why is the moment in history mostly forgotten? Well the Empress of Ireland sank on May 28 1914 and just a few short months later World War 1 broke out which overshadowed the tragedy of death on the water.
The sinking was brought on by fog, and likely a bit of error on the part of both ships involved. In Beneath Dark Waters author Eve Lazarus explores the Empress of Ireland, and all the stories that happened aboard the ship then follows some of the survivors after into World War 1.
I enjoyed finding out a bit more of Canadian history in a world dominated by the history of my neighbour to the south.
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