THE STORY OF THE CALLIOPE

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 189, 12 August 1936, Page 16

THE STORY OF THE CALLIOPE

STORY I am going to toll you is indeed an epic of the sea—in fact, I * think it would bo difficult to find a better example of British pluck and endurance, said Commander A. B. Campbell in a recent broadcast address in England. The scene of the incident was the Islands of Samoa, which are situated practically on tho other side of the globo, in the South Pacific Ocean, and tho island wo are concerned with is tho Island of IJpolu, and on the north side of this is the town of Apia, where the scene is laid. Now Apia was the only town in that group that had a harbour capable of anchoring ships of any size, and to follow this story I shall ask you to try and visualise this harbour. Tho Bay of Apia, faces due north, and from east to tho west side of the Bay hard coral reefs run out to sea. After about a mile they converge and come within four hundred yards of each other; then they run parallel for a bit, and widen out again; and this narrow entrance forms a bottle-nock into the harbour of Apia.

Now in .the spring of 18S9 there were seven foreign men-o’-war in this small harbour, which is only half-a-milo across. What were they doing there? International relations in those times were rather strained: Germany and America were both looking with anxious eyes on Samoa as a base, so there were three American ships—the Trenton ,bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Kimberley, the Vandalia, and tho Nipsic; there were three Germans—tho Eber, tho Adler and the Olga. And one British ship—

11.M.5. Calliope—an auxiliary cruiser (called a corvette in those days) of 2700 tons, commanded by Captain Kano. On tho morning of March 15 the glass fell to a record point. It reached 29.1. Now every captain in that harbour knew perfectly well that there was only one thing to do and that was upkillick and get to sea; but no one would start each was watching

the other. The Germans were ■watching tho Americans —tho American the Germans; and the representative of tho finest Navy in the world—he was not the one to start out first. That wa3 the position on the morning of March 15. As the night drew on, the wind rose from a strong wind to a gale, and by midnight it was blowing a fearful hurricane. During that night Kano reports that what with the spume thrown up by the wind, the atmosphere was almost like pea-soup. Lights were reported moving about the harbour in a conspicuous manner. On the dawn of the sixteenth a terrible condition was observed. Tho ships were all higgledy-piggledy. Some were fouling each other’s moorings; some had dragged their anchors (which accounted for tho lights in the night); one had disappeared altogether—the Eber, and as day broke, Kano realised that ho wa3 but ten feet from that dreadful reef. The Calliope had also dragged her anchors. He order steam up in all boilers and stood by for any disaster. Just then the first one came: the Vandalia was out of control. Sho came drifting down and looked as if she was going to crash straight into the ship, but by good fortune she just cleared her and

only smashed her jibboom off. The nest momont the cry arose: " ’Ware the Olga" —that was the German ship. Tho Olga came crashing down. This time the Calliope was not, so lucky. Before the hurricane had got to its full strength Captain Kano had lowered tho foreyard and lashed it to the deck. This was a fortunate thing, for the German ship struck the spar—thank God for tho British seaman’s knots—the spar held and did not smash. It acted like a fender, and it prised the ship off; she slewed round tho stern of the Calliope, and went off on her voyage of destruction. It was then that Kane made his momentous decision. He sent for Bourke, and he said: “I want every ounce of steam you have got, and all tho energy your crew have got. lam going to put to sea." Bourke went down; raised every ounce of steam — "Full steam ahead" rang the engines—and off she started.

The Calliope seen at the opening ceremony on February 16, 1888, of the Calliope Dock, Auckland, when she was the first vessel to enter.

British Pluck and Endurance Revealed in Sea Epic: How Corvette was Taken to Sea from Apia in Teeth of Tremendous Hurricane.

She had just got under way and. was making a slight progress when the Vandalia slewed round, and it was obvious that if the Calliope kept on her course she would ram her. You often hear the expression “Brotherhood of the Sea” —it’s not a mere phrase, let me tell you. When Kane saw that if the Calliope kept on her course she would ram this ship and sink her, without any hesitation—to the amazement of the engine-room—ho rang down “Shop engines. »’ Ho next rang “ Full speed astern.'' To those in the engine-room who knew not what was happening, it meant he was backing on to that dreadful reef. Just in time, when the Vandalia cleared, he rang “Full speed ahead,” and the Calliope actually clawed her way round the bow of the Vandalia. She then started for the opening. Now the Trenton had had a very bad time indeed. Sho had shipped a sea green, and the sea had poured down to the enginerooms, damped all the fires, killed six men, and smashed her rudder. Kimberley, who was the Admiral, had called for volunteers to man the mizzen and the rigging, and men leapt into that rigging and formed themselves into human sails on the off-chance a break in the wind might manage to get lier head to the hurricane. Which it did. Slowly the Calliope crept up to the Trenton. So close was sho that her yards were over the Trenton’s quarters, and for once the sea was kind. As they were so close, a great sea came and swept between them and rolled the two ships apart, and the Calliope

went clear. Had not that happened, there is no question a collision would have been inevitable,? and two fine ships would have found a watery grave. Inch by inch the Calliopo fought her way past the American ship, and when she reached the bridge, Admiral Kimberley took off his hat, and he yelled above the'hurricane: "Give those durned Britishers a cheer, boys.” And

cheer after cheer came from the men in the rigging; men who were facing imminent death cheered the British ship as she passed. You don’t need much imagination to see what our fellows’ cheers had in reply. Slowly the ship fought her way with revolutions which would have given her 15 knots in fair weather. She was not making one. In fact in the first hour she did not make 10 yards. The fight was on. For 12 hours every officer and man on the ship was on watch and on duty. Not a man shirked. Every mhn was at full belt, and slowly, by dint of British pluck and endurance, that ship won her way to the sea and safety. Two days after, when the hurricane had blown itself out, Kane brought the ship back into Aia. When he got back a fearful sight met the eyes of the ship’s company. Not a ship was afloat. Two were on the reefs; two were sunk; and two were on tLo beach. Kane went ashore, and he learned that 143 lives were lost. The Calliope lost not a single life. She lost three anchors; three boats were washed overboard, and three were smashed. But it was only superficial damage. Her hull was intact.