RMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner that sank near the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada following a collision in thick fog with the Norwegian collier Storstad in the early hours of 29 May 1914. She foundered in only fourteen minutes. Of the 1,477 people on board, 1,012 died, making it the worst peacetime marine disaster in Canadian history. The Commission of Inquiry, held in Quebec, commenced on 16 June 1914 and lasted for eleven days Presiding by Lord Mersey, who has previously presided for having headed the official inquiries into a number of significant steamship tragedies, including that of Titanic.