| Added by |
 Alain Martineau
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| General Description : | Gum type: PVA Illustration: Aristides Balanos OFDC Cancellation Location: Pointe-au-Père and Rimouski, Quebec (Qc) In the dark early hours of May 29, 1914, an impenetrable fog and misunderstood ship signals spelled disaster for the passengers and crew of the RMS Empress of Ireland. The ocean liner’s sudden sinking in the frigid St. Lawrence River is still Canada’s most deadly maritime disaster in peacetime. The Empress had cast off from Québec the previous afternoon with 1,477 passengers and crew on board. It was bound for Liverpool, England, on a routine sailing – the first of the 1914 season. It was Captain Henry George Kendall’s first voyage in command of the Empress, but the vessel had been making the trip regularly since its launch in 1906. The ship had just made a mail stop in Rimouski, Quebec, dispatched its navigator and was nearing Pointe-au-Père when the fog engulfed it. The gloom also descended on the SS Storstad, a heavy Norwegian collier, which was closer to the Empress than anyone realized. When each ship’s crew could again see the other ship’s lights, it was too late: they were on a collision course. The coal ship ripped open the hull of the Empress and frigid water poured in. Soon the Empress was over on its side, and then it slipped beneath the surface, taking all of 14 minutes to sink. More than 1,000 people lost their lives. àOne of the difficulties in creating the Titanic stamps in 2012 had been the lack of authentic images of the ship, which sank on its maiden voyage. In contrast, a great many images exist of the Empress of Ireland. It was a proud symbol of the extensive Canadian Pacific Railway fleet and railway, which brought countless European immigrants to Canada. The Empress could cross the Atlantic in four days and was heavily promoted in postcards and advertisements. As well, various salvage efforts from the relatively shallow St. Lawrence produced many artifacts. These reside in official museum collections, such as the Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père, and in closely guarded private collections. Susan Scott, designer of the international rate stamp, admits that until she was asked to submit a proposal for the stamp, she hadn’t heard of the Empress disaster – which may be the case for many Canadians. “I read David Zeni’s Forgotten Empress. I began working on ideas incorporating the sudden fog, which seemed the most significant factor in the accident. I found many photographic and painted images of the Empress reproduced on old postcards and advertising leaflets of the time – and I drove along the St. Lawrence, to get a sense of place, to study the balance of water and sky.” |
| Face value | $2.50 Canadian Dollar (International rate) |
| Catalog code (Michel) | CA 3125 |
| Catalog code (Scott) | CA 2746i |
| Catalog code | Canada post # 403931145; Yvert et Tellier CA 3001 |
| Stamp colour | Multicolor |
| Stamp use | Commemorative stamp |
| Print run | 200,000 |
| Issue date | 29/05/2014 |
| Designer | Susan Scott |
| Paper type | Tullis Russell |
| Print technique | Lithography in 7 colours |
| Printed by | Lowe-Martin |
| Perforation | 13+ |
| Height | 37.00 mm |
| Width | 85.00 mm |
| Catalog prices | No catalog prices set yet |
