Emprise of Ireland at Liverpool, England
Illustrated London News

R.M.S. Empress of Ireland

OFFICIAL NUMBER: 123972. 

OWNER: Canadian Pacific Railway Company.

REGISTRY: United  Kingdom, Liverpool..

BUILT: at Govan, Scotland by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Hull 443.

DIMENSIONS: 548.9' [167.3m] Length x 65.8' [20.0m] beam x 36.7' [11.2m] Draft.

TYPE: Shelter Deck Type Ocean Liner. 4 visible decks. 

POWER: Twin 18,000 HP [13422 kw], quadruple expansion, reciprocating Steam Engines. (6) double ended, (3) single ended coal/bituminous fired boilers.

LAUNCHED: January 27,1906 

MAIDEN VOYAGE: June 29, 1906 Liverpool to Quebec City.

LOST: just past 2 AM, May 29, 1914. Fourteen minutes after being struck starboard, amidships by the steam collier, Storstad in heavy fog. 1,012 of her 1,477 passengers and crew perished in the freezing water (2). 

The Empress of Ireland sailed for 8 years . Although many VIP's, wealthily industrialist, and upper middle class citizens occupied her first and second class cabins, her primary source of income was transporting Immigrants to and from Canada. It was these folks, below decks in third class, who paid the highest price the night of her sinking, accounting for 584 of the 1,012 vicums (2).