Dark Descent: Diving and the Deadly Allure of the Empress of Ireland

“Dark Descent makes the reader a vicarious participant in what is a very extreme sport.”–“Philadelphia Inquirer” On May 29, 1914, the passenger liner “Empress of Ireland” was struck by the freighter “Storstad” and sank in fifteen minutes, taking more than 1,000 victims with her. It remains one of the largest losses of life ever in a maritime accident.

At more than a hundred feet deep in the frigid Gulf of St. Lawrence, diving the “Empress” is like trying to navigate an unfamiliar sixty-story building lying on its side at a forty-five-degree angle, in pitch blackness with only a flashlight. In “Dark Descent,” Kevin McMurray takes us deep into the bowels of the lost ship, first to relive her tragic death and then to join the divers who have probed the wreck’s secrets. It’s an adventure from which some divers don’t return.

“Impressively researched. . . . For those who love the lure of the deep water and the mysteries of shipwrecks, this specialized history will be a pleasure.”–“Publishers Weekly”

“Kevin has a remarkable knack of adding life and realism. A great job.”–R. W. Hamilton, Chairman of the Board, Divers Alert Network