1) The Empress was holding a course and speed such that she could have crossed the bow of the

Storstad without incident.  However, the Empress turned on a course down river immediately prior

to being engulfed in a fog bank.  This still should have allowed the vessels to pass starboard-to-starboard,

or on the right sides of each other.  But the Storstad contended they saw the red (port, leftside) sidelight of

the Empress and that she was turning to pass port-to-port.  Captain Kendall later claimed that

was impossible as the Empress was never in a position to show her red light (left side).  Yet the Empress

was rumored to have a "wild helm" and may have over-shot her turn, which for just that brief moment showed

her right light.  Moments later, they disappeared from each other's view in fog and the Storstad believed the

ship had turned when indeed the Empress had not (2).

3) Once in fog, the Storstad broke one of the critical rules while navigating in fog- she changed course.  This

is ultimately why the vessel was found to be at fault.  Even if the Empress had swung a bit in changing course,

it was before the ship had entered fog.  The crew of the Storstad were intending to give the Empress a wider

berth, thinking she would be passing port-to-port but they were sorely mistaken and drove right into her starboard side.

The Empress was moving forward at full speed at that point in attempt to beach her.  But it only succeeded in tearing

the Storstad down the starboard side of the ship as her stern swung around.  The Empress, struck between her two boiler

rooms in the largest and most vulnerable parts of the ship, sank listing severely to starboard, in fourteen minutes.

Please mind the sketches.