Facts Regarding Sinking of RMS Empress of Ireland

Mr. Newcombe.—My Lord, the commission has been read and the purpose of the inquiry has been made known. It is a commission constituted under statutory powers to investigate the causes of a shipping casualty which most deplorably reaches the dimensions of an appalling disaster. The steamship Empress of Ireland left Québec at about twenty-seven minutes past four on the afternoon of the 28th of May in charge of the Québec pilot Camille Bernier with a crew of 420 hands and 1,057 passengers of whom 87 were First Class, 253 Second Class and 717 Third Class, and carrying some general cargo bound for Liverpool.

She put down her pilot at Father Point at about half past one in the morning of the 29th of May and proceeded to sea. She arrived off Cock Point buoy, which is the next point marked upon the chart shortly below Father Point on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, at, or about, two o'clock, and at that time, apparently, as far as I understand the case, she was still on her course to make the offing usual or necessary before directing her course down the river to the sea.

At that place she came into collision with the Norwegian steamer Storstad, which was bound from Sydney, Nova Scotia, up the river to Montréal with a full cargo of coal. On board the Empress of Ireland there were 1,477 persons; 463 were saved and 1,014 lost their lives. The catastrophe was very sudden; the Empress of Ireland received a very severe blow on her starboard side struck by the starboard bow of the Storstad. She began to fill, turned over on her “beam ends and sank almost immediately”; according to the estimate she remained afloat not more than fifteen or twenty minutes at the outside from the time of the contact.

As to the classification and rating of the passengers and crew, there were 87 First Class passengers of whom 36 were saved and 51 lost; of the 253 Second Class passengers, 48 were saved and 205 lost; of the 717 Third Class passengers, 133 were saved and 584 lost. Of the crew of 420 hands, 246 were saved and 174 lost. These figures have been supplied by the owners of the ship and are subject to correction in the inquiry.

I am informed that they have experienced very great difficulty in getting out an exact list owing to the discrepancies in the names of the passengers, particularly in regard to the continentals, shown on the manifest, and the names given by the survivors. The figures, therefore, must be accepted subject to such further information as may be obtained in the inquiry. This dreadful catastrophe was the subject of very earnest consideration by His Majesty's Government and by the Government of this country, and the sympathy of both Governments, no doubt, goes out in the largest measure to the survivors and to the relatives and friends of those who so unfortunately perished. It was felt that the case invited the most searching inquiry, not only to ascertain the immediate cause of such an extraordinary and disastrous occurrence, but also that the investigation might extend to the more remote causes, if any, connected with the structure, equipment or mechanism of the ship so that it might be known whether any lesson could be learned for future guidance in the projecting, preparation and outfitting of passenger ships in order to see to their preservation in case of similar accidents. Communications were exchanged between the two Governments.

It was considered that the case should properly be investigated in Canada where the accident occurred and that the best talent, skill and experience should be made available upon the Commission of Inquiry. Special legislation was obtained at the Session of Parliament which has just closed. Your Lordship yielded to an invitation to preside at the inquiry, two distinguished Canadian Judges have loaned their services, technical officers and assessors in various branches of the sciences, arts and crafts involved, architecture, structure and navigation, have been named; and so, as this has been the most dreadful shipping disaster in the history of the country, the most important Board ever constituted here to consider a shipping casualty has been named to investigate and inquire.

The causes, present and remote, contributing to the accident will doubtless be ascertained. I am not quite, at the moment, in a position, unfortunately, to outline or indicate to the Court the rival contentions of the two ships. They had apparently sighted each other and come into such relations as would require their navigating officers to determine the application of the rules for safe crossing at a time and under conditions which not only made possible but should have facilitated the execution of any proper manoeuvre and it would seem to be impossible to suppose that such an accident could have occurred without fault on the part of one or perhaps both of the ships concerned.

It will be realized that the force of the collision was very great and that immense damage must have been done to the hull of the Empress of Ireland considering that she remained afloat for only a few minutes. This is a very great shock to the confidence which people were beginning to feel in the floating capacity of these large passenger ships and to their belief that no collision, no matter how severe, could have the effect of sinking a ship of the size and equipment of the Empress of Ireland in such a short space of time. The nature of the damage which the Empress of Ireland received cannot be proved. She disappeared immediately.

Divers have been there but I am informed that it is impossible for divers, owing to the fact that she is lying on her wounded side in the mud, to ascertain what the condition of the starboard side of the ship is unless the ship can be raised which, I anticipate, is impossible. Plans and details of the ship will be produced and witnesses will be called to explain and comment on these phases of the case.

Explanations will be called for as to the boats, life preservers and such life-saving furniture as were provided. Moreover, it is intended to afford the fullest opportunity, and an invitation is extended to all persons who can give any useful information or make any material inquiries or statements, to come forward and assist the Tribunal with testimony or suggestions.

By reference to the chart it will be seen that the accident happened 700 miles or more from the point where the St. Lawrence expands into the gulf, and yet the Empress of Ireland was only at the beginning of the great waterway which forms such a magnificent entrance to .this country. The St. Lawrence route is, of course, not free from those perils which are incident to all navigation in touch with the land, but the Government has taken care to provide an adequate system of lights and the channel has been well buoyed and marked where requisite in order to make safe, as far as may be artificially possible, the unequalled natural advantages which have been provided by this magnificent system of river and lake navigation.

It is anticipated with confidence that those who desire to disparage the St. Lawrence route cannot propound or suggest a reason for attributing this disaster to any peril especially incidental to the St. Lawrence route or even to the river navigation. The question of pilotage is not involved. The ship had passed the pilotage district. She was in sea-way of upwards of 30 miles in breadth. She lies upwards of two miles from the south shore from which she was making her offing, so that the difficulties of navigation, whatever they may have been, were not due to the proximity of the land or to the lack of sea room.

The pilotage district extends from Québec to Father Point. That was the place where the pilot was put down, and the Empress of Ireland was at that time opposite that point. The vessels were practically in such a position that they were at sea and the regulations for preventing collisions at sea applied to the case.

In accordance with the requirements of the general rules for formal investigating shipping casualties under the Merchant Shipping Act, and having regard to the provisions of the Canada Shipping Act, part 10, sections 788 and 795, the surviving officers of the Empress of Ireland, and the officers of the Norwegian vessel, have been served with notice and questions. Section 788 of the Canada Shipping Act, and there is a similar section in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, provides that “whenever a formal investigation is likely to involve a question as to cancelling or suspending of the certificate of competency or service of any master, mate, pilot, or engineer, he shall be furnished with a copy of the report or statement of the case upon which the investigation has been ordered.” And every “formal investigation shall be conducted in such manner that, if a charge is made against any person, such person shall have an opportunity of making a defence.”