Lot 1280 in the auction in Tring, Hertfordshire last weekend was a needlework picture of an ocean liner. Above the rather primitive portrait of a two-funnelled ship was sewn the poignant message: “In memory of the poor souls that perished on the Empress of Ireland on 29th day of May, 1914. As the ship was sinking the Salvationists sang the farewell hymn God Be With You Till We Meet Again.”
Unlike the Titanic, lost two years earlier after hitting an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic, the Empress of Ireland had just left Quebec bound for Liverpool and was still in the St Lawrence River when it was hit amidships by a Norwegian collier, Storsted. This carved such a hole in the liner’s side that despite having watertight compartments, the Empress sank in 14 minutes.
The collision took place in darkness and thick fog and 1,012 of the 1,477 people onboard died.
Among the passengers were 167 members of the Salvation Army who were due to attend the organisation’s third annual congress in London. Only five of them were rescued. Perhaps the tragedy is so little known because it took place only months before the carnage of the first world war began.
Fortunately, modern navigation aids prevent fog, however thick, from causing another such disaster.
The picture was sold for £45.