Coming nautical disaster centennial?

[Mayerling]

Most of last year was taken up by the discussions of the sinking of RMS Titanic on April 14/15, 1912 - it being the centennial of what I suppose (for want of better phrasing for a well known tragic event) is the best "loved" sea disaster. The first thing I noted at the time of the centennial is that Erik Larson is doing a book on the torpedoing of the RMS Lusitania in May 1915. I am curious (especially from any Canadians on this board) if next year there will be any serious effort to remember the tragedy in May 1914 of RMS Empress of Ireland, sunk in a collision with a Norwegian ship in the St. Lawrence River. Although less people were killed on the "Empress" than on either of the other two vessels, it was still over 1,000 dead, and more of the passengers died in the "Empress" than on either "Titanic" or "Lusitania". The proximity of the disaster to the start of World War I prevented it having a lasting world impact like the other two disasters, but it was the worst disaster ever to hit the Salvation Army (a large contingent of members were on board to attend a conference in London. It also had connections with one notorious murder case, as Captain Henry Kendall was in command of the "Empress" when she sank (he survived), and his quick witted actions in 1910 enabled the British police to sail a faster liner to Canada to arrest Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen and Ethel Le Neve, disguised as "Mr. and Master Robinson", on board Kendall's then command, RMS Montrose. Also, two of the casualties of the "Empress" were the actor Laurence Irving and his wife.
Laurence was the younger son of the great Victorian actor Sir Henry Irving, but his brother (also Henry Irving) was a noted actor, barrister, and true crime writer - one of the founders of "Our Society", the noted crime club.

Jeff

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi Jeff

Worth bringing up these questions. Here's a period postcard that I bought on ebay showing the Lusitania before her sinking. In many ways of course as major a disaster as the sinking of the Titanic, as much as the latter incident gets all the attention in terms of romance and movie depictions.

All the best

Chris

[Mayerling]

Hi Jeff

Worth bringing up these questions. Here's a period postcard that I bought on ebay showing the Lusitania before her sinking. In many ways of course as major a disaster as the sinking of the Titanic, as much as the latter incident gets all the attention in terms of romance and movie depictions.

All the best

Chris

Hi Chris,

Interestingly, the photo of the "Lucy" on the front of the card is the same as the photo that was on the New York Times on May 8, 1915, except that "x" and "xx" marks were put on it to show where two torpedoes supposedly hit her (the U-Boat Commander Walter Schweiger always insisted he fired only once and there was an internal detonation as a result). There is a German post card after her sinking showing her getting torpedoed.

There have been dramatizations of the "Lusitania" disaster on the history channel and there was even a full television movie (I believe in Britain - part is on You-Tube) of the story. Otherwise it is a reference point. In the Jerome Kern "biography" TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY, he arrives at the pier to speak to the doomed Charles Frohman (who was his first producer) only to see her leaving and Frohman waiving to him. In the Cole Porter "biography" NIGHT AND DAY, news of the tragedy reminds Porter (Cary Grant) that a college friend was on board. And in the George M. Cohan "biography" YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, the failure of Cohan's supposedly only straight play "Popularity" is wiped out by news of the torpedoing. Interestingly the newspaper shown in NIGHT AND DAY shows the right ship. The one in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY shows a two smokestack steamer.

My guess is the Titanic sank with so many "ifs" about what could have avoided the catastrophe, it will always be more fascinating. Also it sank in nearly 3 hours. The "Lusy" went down in 18 minutes. A bit too fast unless you use a lot of scene cross cutting.

By the way, as the "Lusy" was in service from 1907, it once played a role in a famous criminal case. Oscar Slater was arrested on board her when he went to America following the murder of Marion Gilchrist in 1908.

Thanks again for the interesting postcard you posted.

Jeff