LINER ASHORE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23082, 6 July 1938, Page 13

LINER ASHORE

CUNARDER_ASCANIA PASSENGERS SAFE DANGER OF SINKING WATER FLOODS HOLDS MISHAP NEAR QUEBEC By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received July 5, 5.5 p.m.) QUEBEC, July 4 The Cunard-White Star liner Ascania, of 14,013 tons, ran aground on Bic Island, in the St. Lawrence River, about 160 miles from Quebec, close to the spot where the Canadian Pacific steamship Empress of Ireland was sunk in a collision with a Danish collier on May 29, 1914, with the loss of 1024 lives. The Ascania'B passengers were taken back to Quebec. Water pouring into the holds threatens to caiise the vessel to slide into deep water and sink. Included in the Ascania's cargo is gold bullion to the value of £300,000 sterling, consigned to London by the Bank of Canada. One of the best-known of the CunardWhite Star Line fleet, the Ascania was built in 1925 by Armstrong-Whitworth and Company, Limited, at Newcastle. She played a prominent part in the rescue of survivors of the steamer Usworth in mid-Atlantic in 1934, the feat being regarded as the most meritorious carried out by a British ship that year.