From Cyclone
p. 142 · Read in the full issue
Famous Escape
The ‘Calliope,’ March, 1889
EXACTLY 65 years ago—on March 16, 1889—t here occurred a violent cyclone which swept down upon the north coast oi Upolu, Western Samoa, and de stroyed six warships Vandaliai Trenton and Nipsic, of the Unitec States Navy, and Adler, Olga anc Elbe, of the Imperial German Navy The British warship, HMS Calliope escaped. These warships, and manj commercial vessel? —which were los< —were lying in the reef-protectee port of Apia.
It was a time of tension in tht South Pacific. Germany was aggres sively seeking new colonies. Samos was in a state of political turmoil the result of bitter jealousy between the three chiefly families; ano three Powers with interests in thi Pacific (Great Britain, Germany and United States) were watching each other suspiciously, each hop* ing to achieve dominance in thj Samoan archipelago. Each had sem warships to the focal point ot trouble; and the old records ini dicate that a serious clash wouL have developed had not Mothe?
Nature intervened with a first-clas; cyclonic storm.
When the visitation was past, al the ships except Calliope wer either sunk in the lagoon or piled up on the waterfront —the bones a Adler are there to this day. i large proportion of the ships’ pen sonnel were drowned.
That event cooled the ardour cr the Powers; but the Samoan pror blem was not really settled unt: 1899—when Germany took ove Western Samoa; United States go Eastern Samoa: and Britain ws bought off by the withdrawal o German claims to the Solomo Islands and Vavau.
When the cyclone struck, all tlr ships tried to get out of the deatlr trap formed by the lagoon-harboui but only Calliope succeeded. Sonr gave credit to Captain Kane’s seas manship; some said her escape ws due to the good Westport (NZ) cos* she used. As, inch by inch, sti crept out of the port, in the teefei of the hurricane, the crew of tti doomed American warship Trenton although deeply preoccupied wifi their own problem, lined the rail and cheered her—an incident neve' forgotten by the British Navy.
Another memorable incident ws the behaviour of the Samos chieftain, Mataafa. Although th r purpose of the warships’ present t there was directed against him an his rule, when the danger dil veloped he called on all his me for rescue work; and the fine effoc they made undoubtedly saved man European lives.