Canada’s Titanic – The Empress of Ireland

November 23, 2015 to November 13, 2016

Painting of a sunken ship, the water is very murky.
Original painting by Ken Marschall © 1996.

Canada’s Titanic – The Empress of Ireland is a dramatic exhibition that takes visitors to the heart of the one of the greatest maritime disasters in Canada’s history. Artifacts from this once-splendid ocean liner, historical documents and witness accounts help bring to life stories of loss and rescue, despair and bravery. As well, learn the storied history of the Empress of Ireland including the role it played in immigration and development of Canada.

Considered one of the finest ships in the Canadian Pacific Railway fleet, the Empress of Ireland carried tens of thousands of passengers between Canada and Great Britain in the early years of the 20th century. But in the early morning of May 29, 1914, on the fog-bound St. Lawrence River, the Empress was hit broadside by a coal ship, the Storstad. The ocean liner went down in less than 15 minutes. More than a thousand people lost their lives.

An exhibition created by the Canadian Museum of History and co-presented by the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.