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

Kevin F. McMurray

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071456309 ISBN 13: 9780071456302

Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 2005

Synopsis

"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

About this title

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."

About the Author:

Kevin F. McMurray is an award-winning journalist and photographer whose work has appeared in such prestigious newspapers and magazines as The New York Times, Outside, Yankee, Men's Journal, The Sunday Times of London, Cigar Aficionado, Skin Diver, Heartland USA, the Robb Report, the Gannett Newspapers, the Times Mirror Newspapers, and many others. An avid outdoor adventurer, McMurray is a highly experienced scuba diver and former world record holder for swimming around Manhattan Island. He lives in Brewster, New York, with his wife and two daughters. HOMETOWN: Brewster, NY

About this edition

• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0071456309
• ISBN 13: 9780071456302
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288