Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse

The Empress of Ireland was rammed in fog by a Norwegian collier off Pointe-au-Père on 29 May 1914 and sank in fourteen minutes; one thousand and twelve people died, more passengers than on the Titanic, but the war began ten weeks later and the disaster was largely forgotten outside Quebec. The museum here holds recovered artefacts and tells the story in detail. The lighthouse, thirty-three metres and among the tallest in Canada, can be climbed by one hundred and twenty-eight steps. HMCS Onondaga, a Cold War submarine, sits on the shore and is entered and walked through, the first submarine opened to visitors in Canada.

The main sights

• The Empress of Ireland museum - artefacts and the story of a forgotten disaster.
• The lighthouse - a thirty-three metre tower climbed by 128 steps.
• HMCS Onondaga - a submarine on shore, open to walk through.
• The wreck site - the water where the ship went down in fourteen minutes.

When to go

June to September for full operation; the site closes for winter. The submarine tour has timed entry and can queue in summer. Allow two to three hours for all three elements.

Before you go

Closed for most of the winter. The submarine involves tight spaces and steep ladders, unsuited to some visitors. Tickets for the three parts add up.

Nearby

Bic lies west; Rimouski is adjacent.