It only took 14 minutes for theEmpress of Ireland sank in the cold waters of the St. Lawrence in 1914. Once emergency operations were over, her wreckage was lost for 50 years. The documentary Conquering theEmpress of Ireland, presented Saturday at Historia, tells the amazing story of its rediscovery by Quebec divers.
Posted at 1:00 p.m.
The best known part of the history of theEmpress of Ireland is as follows: during the night of May 29, 1914, the liner was rammed on its right side by the Norwegian collier Storstad. The water rushes at breakneck speed into the ship, which has 1,477 passengers and crew. It overturns quickly and drags with it more than 1000 women, men and children, most of whom remained imprisoned in their cabin.
The worst maritime tragedy in Canadian history went around the world at the time. Divers from here and even from the United States took part in the operations to recover the bodies, the safe, the silver bars and the mailbags. The sinking, however, was pushed out of the news by the outbreak of the First World War. Above all, years later, the exact position of the wreckage was no longer known…
It is common, according to documentary filmmaker and maritime historian Samuel Côté, that we do not know where to find the wrecks. the titanic was not located until 1985, 73 years after it sank.
It took 50 years – and a series of serendipities – for Quebec divers to finally find theEmpress of Ireland. Samuel Côté also owes part of his film Conquering theEmpress of Ireland to one of them, Claude Villeneuve, with whom he befriended.
“He shared artifacts with me, but above all images shot in 1964 that no one had seen,” says the documentary filmmaker. When I saw them, I said to myself that I had to tell this story, which is an adventure. »
Conquering theEmpress of Ireland of course returns to the tragedy and its immediate aftermath. However, it focuses on a lesser known aspect of the story: the search to locate the wreckage. He evokes a few unsuccessful or unsuccessful attempts, then dwells on the group of divers including Claude Villeneuve, who finally found her in July 1964.
The latter arrived in Rimouski with a lot of audacity, but equipped with a boat that was not at all suited to navigation on the river. It was by chance that they met Aubert Brillant, a wealthy businessman born in Rimouski who is interested inEmpress of Ireland since childhood and which provides them with its own boat, The Canadian. “Two days earlier, this yacht was not here. It is far from being a detail for people who hope to find a suitable boat to go to sea”, underlines the documentary filmmaker.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY HISTORIA
Fernand Bergeron, Claude Villeneuve and André Ménard were among the discoverers of the wreck of theEmpress of Ireland in July 1964. They pose here with a bell recovered from the liner which sank on May 29, 1914.
Like others, Claude Villeneuve and his comrades are looking in the wrong place, relying on data indicating the “presumed” position of the wreckage. It took them a second stroke of luck to reach the goal, namely a meeting with Donald Tremblay, of the Institut maritime du Québec, who knew how to use a sextant, and had old documents indicating a position he was possible to find with the help of three markers: the Pointe-au-Père lighthouse and the bell towers of two churches in the region.
On July 16, the adventurers lay a buoy. On July 17, they circled the position for six hours before snagging anything. This is where the men jump into the water. Thirty minutes later, a half-century-old mystery was solved. “We weren’t sure it was the right boat,” said Jean-Paul Fournier, one of the discoverers. It was only after bringing up a few objects, including a plaque identifying the first class sector and a bell, that they got to the bottom of it.
Samuel Côté, also author of a forthcoming book entitled Éloi Fortier, wreck hunterswanted to pay tribute to these divers with Conquering theEmpress of Ireland, which will also be the subject of a paper work. “Both the divers of 1914 and 1964 risked their lives. Getting to know the wreck better has cost divers their lives,” he adds, referring in particular to a diver who died during rescue operations and five underwater explorers who drowned between 1980 and 2002. “I want remember their achievement. »
Conquering theEmpress of Ireland, Saturday, 9 p.m., at Historia