Dark Descent [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

by Kevin F. McMurray (Author)
Key Phrases: explosion hole, extreme diving, dive community, Empress of Ireland, Jean-Pierre Bouillon, Ronni Gilligan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The author of 2001’s Deep Descent recounts the sinking of the Canadian ocean liner Empress of Ireland and documents its subsequent romantic history as a lure for scuba divers in this well-researched but narrowly focused book. Early on the morning of May 29, 1914, the Empress was caught in a thick fog in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and was hit by a Norwegian collier that tore open the hull around its boiler room. The ship went down in about 14 minutes, killing two-thirds of its 1,475 travelers. Many of them were lost in the darkness below deck; some tried to squeeze out of portholes only to get stuck; others died of hypothermia in the freezing water. Like the Titanic, the Empress was a luxury liner, with first class cabins decorated with cherry wood and mahogany. And the combination of its dramatic sinking, its rich construction and its location just a few hundred feet below the surface made it a tantalizing destination for "extreme divers" willing to brave the strong currents and frigid temperatures of the area. McMurray himself made his first dive to the wreck in 1971, and his book focuses primarily on the equipment, techniques and dangers of diving to the ship’s remains. His history of the 1914 crash takes little more than 30 pages—probably a good choice since his prose tends to get duller the further away he moves from blow-by-blow explanations of underwater expeditions. The book is impressively researched, however, and, for those who love the lure of the deep water and the mysteries of shipwrecks, this specialized history will be a pleasure. 75 photos and illus.
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Review
"Dark Descent is a spellbinding read that perfectly describes the nightmarish conditions of diving on the wreck that remains a tomb of its victims." - Clive Cussler, author, Raise the Titanic!, The Sea Hunters, and Trojan Odyssey."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (April 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007141634X
• ISBN-13: 978-0071416344
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #663,584 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FASCINATING READ!, June 4, 2004

By	"keelin-n" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Dark Descent: Diving and the Deadly Allure of the Empress of Ireland is a book for everyone! I am definitely not a member of the diving community, though if I were I would love the book as a guide to equipment and techniques. I am, in fact, alternately revolted and fascinated by extreme sports and the people who practice them, a combination of feelings that compels me to seek understanding in books like Dark Descent. This page-turner of a book goes a long way towards providing enlightenment and does it in a most interesting way. Deep wreck divers are tourists! McMurray's abbreviated yet complete rendering of the Canadian ocean liner Empress of Ireland's history and the tragedy of her 1914 sinking on a routine voyage from Quebec City to Liverpool reads like a Michelin guide to an exciting
historical site. Immediately one feels that reading about it isn't enough. One is compelled to visit. The bulk of the book is a history of tourism, a very difficult kind of tourism, to one of these sites. In tightly written, chronological chapters, McMurray describes all the expeditions to the Empress, as they illuminate the technical progress of diving and, more importantly to this reader, the motivations of the divers and the rivalries and sportsmanlike competition between them. Though the retrieval of artifacts provides a financial incentive
for early explorers of the wreck, diving continues after the government of Canada declares the wreck off limits to salvage. Why? All tourism involves a certain amount of discomfort and risk, and it is really these that make the tourist feel as if he or she has a special connection to the past, somehow more real than the experience of reading a book or watching a program on the History Channel. In such moments of actively reaching for connection, we feel most alive. That is why we travel, why we climb mountains. The chapters of this book describe this feeling of being fully alive, fully connected to the past, as it is experienced in a unique way by each of a series of explorers over the last ninety years. As the author says so well, in describing one of his own dives on the Empress, "I told myself I was really here. It was touching a powerful story, bearing witness to a profound and heart-wrenching tragedy." For a reader not yet ready to make that ultimate trip to the bottom of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, this book provides the next best thing to actually touching this story. Dark Descent is a great read!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fascination of the Empress, March 13, 2005

By	tgfabthunderbird (York, PA United States) - See all my reviews

I first learned about the "Empress of Ireland" disaster through Clive Cussler's book "Night Probe!" I eventually found out more about the vessel and her untimely end.

The history is well-documented here by McMurray. Outbound in the St. Lawrence River, the Empress is badly holed by a fully-loaded collier and sinks within 15 minutes, killing more than a thousand.

This disaster was generally overshadowed by the outbreak of World War I and the ship was largely forgotten. But once she was found, she became a magnet for the curious and those with ulterior motives.

Much like what happened to the Titanic, the Empress has been stripped of much of her gear, her inner treasures, and sadly some of her bodies. A section of the "boneyard" has reportedly been plundered by some rather morbid and sick-minded individuals.

McMurray goes into great detail on the many expeditions and dives, the work by some to protect the wreck and what has been found, as well as those who've lost their lives diving on her.

While the Empress may be in the St. Lawrence, it's a dive for only the best, as this book carefully explains.

This is probably the most comprehensive history of the Empress of Ireland and updates all that has happened since she went down in May 1914. It is at times dense and a slow read, but you can't take away its entertaining, yet sobering qualities.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GOOD READ FOR DIVERS ON EMPRESS OF IRELAND SINKING, October 24, 2005

By	Capt. Lou Costello "Capt. Lou" (Videomaker, USA) - See all my reviews

The sinking of the Empress of Ireland after a collision in the St. Lawrence Seaway is one of the most tragic shipwreck stories of all time. The author does a fine job of chronicling the numerous expeditions to this wreck, the dangers of diving it ( not for beginners) and the actual story of the 1914 tragedy. Mr. McMurray himself has dived this wreck and his first hand knowlege is evident in this well researched and equally well written book. This is a must have for the historian and the diver.