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iankind
Starting member
Canada
8 Posts |
 Posted - 02/08/2013 : 00:19:54
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The collier Storstad was a vessel of 6,000 tons constructed by Messrs Armstrong, Whitworth and Company Limited at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1910. The ship was 440' in length, 58.1' at the beam, and had a depth of 28'8" and a mean draft of 25'6" when loaded. Her hull was painted black, and on each side of the tall, midship black-painted funnel was a large white "K", signifying her ownership by the Norwegian Klavenes Line. The vessel was fitted with 2 stockless anchors in cast-iron hawsepipes; the anchor flukes projected 18" from the sides of the ship.
The Storstad was unfortunately involved in a collision with the Empress of Ireland on May29th, 1914 in the St. Lawrence River. By June 16th, 1914 the Formal Inquiry was held in Quebec City on the Loss of the British Steamship Empress of Ireland. This forgotten story in maritime history when studied closely is an very interesting true story that unfolded two years before the disaster and may have sealed the fate of the Empress of Ireland.
A rush to judgement on who was to blame became very apparent in the early days of the Formal Inquiry and the final judgement and blame had been solely placed on the Storstad.
Personally I believe that the commander of the Empress of Ireland was at fault as well more so that the Storstad. As the 100 Anniversary approaches next year I would be interested in discussing with anyone from the point of view from the Storstad.
The Storstad would only last seven short years before the vessel was sunk of the coast of Ireland on March 8th, 1917 by a German U-Boat |
Ian Kinder |
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S.S. Storstad
