A fascinating insight through rare photographs into the aftermath of the horrific 1914 sinking, across rescue, salvage and investigations. It started with two old photos for sale at auction: Royal Navy sailors carrying a buoy on a wharf on the St. Lawrence. Historian David Saint-Pierre knew that the only time this happened was when the crew of HMS Essex helped with the salvage operations following the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, on 29 May 1914, the worst peacetime maritime disaster in Canadian history, that saw the deaths of over 1,000 people. This led to the discovery of a whole album containing more than 500 photographs, including many showing how the aftermath of the disaster unfolded, and a complex and stressful process ensued to deliver the album safely to him after he arranged to purchase it in its entirety, having realised it's great importance. Thanks to these newly discovered photos, showing diving and salvage on the wreck in the summer of 1914, this book is an original contribution on a largely forgotten page of maritime history. AUTHOR: David Saint-Pierre is a historian based in Montreal, Canada, who has been researching the history of the ill-fated steamship RMS Empress of Ireland since the mid-1990s. He has collaborated on documentaries and TV shows and with other authors, and has published two books on this subject. 195 b/w illustrations
