Journey to Oblivion: The Empress of Ireland Story (Abridged Version)

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On the night of May 29, 1914, the St. Lawrence River became the site of a terrible tragedy: the luxury liner Empress of Ireland, carrying 1477 people to Liverpool, collided with the Norwegian ship Storstad.

In only fourteen minutes, the Empress, a Canadian Pacific ship, slipped beneath the waves. At the final count, 1012 passengers and crewmembers drowned or froze to death, in icy waters only a few miles from shore. Most attempts at evacuation failed, due to the vessel's extreme list, which also made it nearly impossible to launch any lifeboats. William Clark, stoker, remembered: "The Empress rolled over like a hog in a ditch."

The sinking of the Titanic had occurred two years before, but the Empress of Ireland tragedy was soon forgotten. What happened in the dense fog of that night?

Interviews, animation, archival photos and stunning underwater photography document the story of the Empress of Ireland, from the construction of the ship in 1906 to the Quebec government's decision in 1998 to declare the wreck a protected historic site.