Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
The poignant and very human drama of a 1914 maritime disaster that claimed the lives of more passengers than the Titanic
On May 28, 1914, the RMS Empress of Ireland began her 192nd trip across the Atlantic from Quebec City, Canada, en route to Liverpool, England, carrying 1,056 passengers and a crew of 423. In the early hours of May 29, fog descended on the St. Lawrence River, and the ocean liner was rammed by the Storstad, a Norwegian coal ship. In the fourteen minutes it took for the Empress of Ireland to sink, there was time to launch only four of the forty lifeboats, and rather than women and children first, it was everyone for themselves.
Over a thousand people died that night, claiming the lives of more passengers than either the Titanic or the Lusitania, and the tragedy stands as the worst maritime disaster during peacetime in Canadian history.
Investigative journalist and author Eve Lazarus draws on a trove of historical documents, including small-town newspaper reports, the Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry, and first-hand accounts passed down through personal letters and family lore, to tell the story of the wreck and its aftermath through the eyes of the survivors. Through these records, as well as interviews with experts and descendants of the passengers, Lazarus recounts the story from both a Canadian and a Norwegian perspective and investigates why many of the accounts regurgitated in newspapers and books for over a hundred years are wrong. The result is an absorbing and utterly stirring narrative that uncovers tales of heroism and sacrifice, human endurance, and modern-day shipwreck hunters.
Beneath Dark Waters is an epic chronicle that restores the Empress of Ireland—largely forgotten in the shadow of the Titanic disaster—as well as its survivors and victims to their rightful place in maritime history.
With black-and-white photos.
This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. A book with many images, which is defined with accessible structural markup. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order and semantic structure.
"Eve Lazarus's book centres around some of the life stories that were changed forever by the Empress of Ireland's tragic sinking, which has long been overshadowed by other sea disasters. A very interesting read and a significant contribution to this ship's history."
—David Saint-Pierre, author of In the Wake of the Empress of Ireland
"Lazarus's name is apt given her aim here: to resurrect the disaster's heroes and survivors, and to correct historical inaccuracies through firsthand accounts and expert insights."
—The Globe and Mail
"In spellbinding prose, Lazarus reconstructs the events leading up to and after that fateful foggy night on May 28, 1914, when the Empress collided with the Storstad (a Norwegian coal ship), dispelling myths and centering the incredible true stories of those who survived and those who were lost."
—The Tyee
"Lazarus's book reads less like a disaster story—the sinking took just 14 minutes after the Empress collided with a Norwegian collier in thick fog—than a careful reconstruction of the lives of passengers and crew, some of who are rendered in moving mini-biographies. The volume brims with fascinating images—so many that it feels almost like a scrapbook—including newspaper clippings, photos of the ship's interior and letters."
—The Globe and Mail
Eve Lazarus is a reporter, author, and the host and producer of the Cold Case Canada true crime podcast. Her books include the BC bestsellers Cold Case BC; Murder by Milkshake; Blood, Sweat, and Fear; Cold Case Vancouver; and Vancouver Exposed. She lives in North Vancouver, BC.