CALLIOPE’S STORY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 8 December 1928, Page 9

CALLIOPE’S STORY

AN March 15,1889, there were gathered in the harbour of Apia the American warships, Trenton, Vandalia, and Nipsie, the German war-snips Adler, Eber, and Algar, and the British warship Calliope. A hurricane developed on that day, and by evening of March 16 only one ol the seven ships remained afloat—the Calliope, which, by her superior power and by magnificent seamanship, was enabled to put to in the teeth of the hurricane. It is now proposed to hold a reunion of the ismrvivons. of the ship’s company m Sydney on December 8. The following is the whole story from Mr. Cartwright, of Tamworth, one of the Calliope’s gunners, who has been awarded the Notorious Service Order.

Mr. Cartwright relates details of the Calliope’s cruise during the commission in 18S7 from Portsmouth around South Africa to the China station. Thence she was ordered to the. Australian station and arrived in Sydney in either October or November, 188 i. The ship was admired by all who saw her. "She was painted white,” he says, “with a red ribbon around her nettings, while all the guns were painted black. Being long guns we could never secure them inboard, and one half of the muzzle always was outboard and trained off as nearly alongside the ship as possible. This led to a Sydney paper saying that her guns struck out like porcupine nuills.”

“At the end of January or February, 1889,” says Mr. Cartwright' “we were cruising with the fleet around New Zealand and had reached Wellington. At that time there was trouble in Samoa over the accession to the throne. King Maletoa having died, his followers wished his son to be king; but another party wanted a chief named Tamase.se. Trouble arose between the two tactions, and the Calliope was ordered to Samoa. There were three German ships in the harbour at Apia—the Olga. Adler and Ebor —and an American ship, the Nipsic. Those were the only men-o'-war, but there was an American barquentine, the Constitution, and a. large number of other schooners. About a week after the arrival of the Calliope two other American men-o’-war arrived, the Vandalia and the Trenton, the latter having an admiral on hoard.

“The harbour was not large, and consequently we had but little room. On or about March 9 the.re were no less than 21 vessels anchored in the harbour, the majority being small craft. March is the month in the islands during which to look for bad weather. Most of the ships lay well inside. The Trenton was right at the mouth of the harbour, with the Vandalia astern ol her. The first blow that we got was about March 14. when one of the small craft was broken up on the reef. A harder one occurred on the following day, and the Constitution hoisted the American flag upside down as a signal of distress. We sent our cutter away, and rescued the crew, who slid down a cable into the cutter. The crow had no sooner got away than tho Constitution isettled down and sank, her masts just showing above the water. HURRICANE IN HARBOUR. “On Thursday, the 17th or 18th of March, the mercury went very low-

STEAMING GET OF APIA

IN TEETH OF A HURRICANE

down to 27 or 28. Oti the Friday morning Captain Kane ordered steam to be got up in three boilers, and struck tno lower yards and topsails, lashing and securing tnem. When the captain of the other ships saw this they did the same. The same night it commenced to blow and gradually increased in velocity until morning, when it was bidwing a hurricane. The seas were running mountains high, and daylight arrived just in time for ns to see the Ebor strike the reef and sink with all hands on board. The Nip,sic had dragged her anchors and got on a sandbank, but by means of ropes all her crew got ashore safely. The Adler was the next to go. Her cable parted and she was lifted with the sea and was dropped on the reef as upright as if she was shored up in a dry dock. The next big sea that came washed her over on her broadside. The Germans only a few days before this had been fighting with the Samoans; but, when the Adler struck, the natives made ,a human chain to the shore, by which they assisted the unfortunate Germans to safety. “Then w© saw the Vandalia being driven helplessly down upon us. There was no saving the situation by steaming up to our anchors, and she collided with us with her stern. Half of the Calliope’s figurehead was found in lier cabin after everything was over. Just before five o’clock the wheel, which had been manned by eight men, took charge of things, and one seaman who had hung on was thrown clean over the wheel from the starboard to the port side, having all of his front teeth knocked out. The Vandalia came down on us again and received another bump. The seas were running so high that they had washed clown her iunnels, put her fires out and Hooded the stokehold, so that they were helpless. The Olga and the Calliope were almost on top of each other. All at once she steamed along our starboard side, carrying away our first cutter, dinghy anti copper punt. She caught our foreyard with such force that she carried the lashing away and left it hanging by the topping lifts ancl -braces, with the purchase in the centre. With every roll of the ship the yard swung so much from side to side that anyone approaching it was liable to get knocked on the head and killed, but after a while we got it secured again. THE TRENTON INCIDENT.

“We got up steam in all boilers. Me still remained at our anchorage, however with one anchor down, the otliei having carried away. The Trenton at tliis time was lying across the mouth of the harbour. About 9 a.rn. an additional head of steam had been raised on the Calliope. The Trenton had altered her position by swinging round, her boivs looking seaward, and she was lying what is termed fore and alt the harbour. Captain ivane saw I bis, and, realising that this was his only chance, passed the order to slip the staiboaid cable. He ordered ‘full speed ahead, and the starboard cable was slippec. without a murmur from the crew, I though we knew that the slightest hitch in the machinery or in navigating meant the total loss of the ship ancl company. Despite the fury of the elements, the huge seas which swept

over us, and the rolling and pitching or the snip, we gradually gained heauway; but, though it was only about a mile irom where we started to where tiie Trenton' lay, it took us an hour and a half to get there, notwithstanding that our engines were driving us at what would have been 17 miles an hour had it been calm weather. When abreast or the Trenton we seemed to be at a standstill for two or three minutes. Uur main lower yard and the Trenton's mizzen lower yard were interlocked, and kept dodging one over the other. If she happened to 101 l inwards towards us and the Calliope to roll inwards her she was sure to put us on the reef, which was only a lew feet from our port beam, But jortune lavoured us/ We got two separate seas and rolled outwards to port as the 'i renton rolled to staruoard; at the same time the Calliope made headway again and we were clear. As soon as we cleared, the Trenton s company cheered us, and our men immediately jumped into the rigging and returned the cheer. This was the only time that Captain Kane seemed to get excited, for he hailed our men in a. voice that could be heard above the howling storm, ‘Come down out of the rigging; 1 would rather lose the ship than lose a single man.’ THE WRECKS. ‘ ‘Outside the reef we bent storm try-sails and set them, thus easing the engines. Tne ship's bows were put to the open sea, and the captain stood otf from the land until Tuesday morning. w hen we got into the harbour again what a signt greeted our eyes! The Vandiia and Trenton lay alongside McArthur’s pier, where in calm weather a cutter required navigation to get there, and both their backbones were broken. The Olga was on a mudbank; one small five-ton schooner was washed up into a banana grove, and besides the Calliope was the only vessel fit to proceed to sea. When Captain Kane went ashore the American band turned out and the. bluejackets wanted to carry him round the town, but he managed to escape. When he returned on board the Calliope he had the ship’s company piped alt, and his address will be an evergreen page in every man’s memory.

“It has been said by many that it was only a streak of luck that the Calliope won her way to sea,” states Mr. Cartwright; “but those who were on board and those who witnessed it from the shore say that it was the good sailor ship of Captain Kane that saved the ship. In all his dispatches to the Admiralty he never took a bit of credit upon himself, but praised his officers and men, more especially the engine-room staff. When the matter was brought up before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty one civil lord said that recognition was out of the question, as we had only done our duty!” Mr. Cartwright described graphically the wonderful reception accorded the I Calliope on her return to Sydney, and the even greater farewell from tremendous crowds in the Botanic Gardens that she received when she left for Engand a few days afterwards.