1 Sep 1923 2 minutes to 12 noon
Yokohama harbour Japan
Maurice Bruce arrives at the docks to see a friend off on the Empress of Australia. Moments after his arrival the earthquake hits, folding the docks like paper and causing large portions to slough away underfoot. Here is what he saw….[Source: Wikipedia]
On Saturday, 1 September 1923, at 11:55 am, the Empress of Australia was making ready to depart from the docks at Yokohama, Japan. Several hundred people were on the docks, catching streamers and confetti from the passengers lining the rails, and waving their farewells. Tugs were about to ease the ship away from the dock when, without warning the 23,000 ton liner was flung violently from side to side. The earth trembled under several violent shocks and sections of the dock collapsed under the feet of the panic stricken crowds. The land and remaining dock structure began to roll in wave like motions as high as six to eight feet.
In minutes the worst shocks were over, but after-shocks, some quite heavy, continued for some time, while winds rose to 70 mph (110 km/h). From the city a heavy rumbling sound could be heard as hundreds of buildings collapsed into rubble. This was the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, devastating Tokyo and Yokohama and the entire Kantō region of central Honshū. This was one of the worst earthquake disasters in recorded history.
The Empress of Australia was in a very dangerous position. Crowded with passengers, she was still alongside the remains of the dock, with a freighter moored close behind so she could not clear without the aid of tugs. Meantime, the Lyons Maru, moored to the east, had lost her cable and drifted across the harbor, colliding with the Empress at her stern. She then hit amidships, shattering a lighter loaded with lumber that had drifted alongside. This small vessel acted as a buffer between the two large ships and prevented serious damage. Tugs had disappeared in the confusion and fires were started on the docks and were spreading rapidly.
Available crew and passengers were put to work hosing down the ship to put out sparks and embers that were falling on the decks. Ropes and ladders were lowered over the side so that people trapped on the dock could climb aboard. Captain Robinson then tried to push the freighter moored astern with his ship, to allow enough room to maneuver away from the flaming docks. The Empress was able to carefully move the nearby freighter, the Steel Navigator; and then the Empress slowly pulled away.
When the Empress of Australia moved forward, her port propeller fouled in the anchor cable of the freighter. Fortunately the liner was now about 60 feet (18 m) away from the flames, and the winds had shifted, blowing the fires away from the ship. By 3pm the fires had died down and the wind dropped off to a light breeze; the ship was immobile but safe for the moment. In the distance vast fires could be seen in the city. The ship’s lifeboats were lowered and manned by members of the crew and passenger volunteers, who formed rescue parties to help those ashore, working through the night.
The next morning, the ship was again in danger from a large mass of burning oil that was moving across the harbor. The Empress could not steer because of the damaged propeller, but was able to avoid the oil fire long enough to get assistance from the tanker Iris. Her captain agreed to tow the bow of the Empress of Australia around, and she was then able to move out to sea and a safer anchorage. When taking a count on Sunday, there were over 2000 refugees on board.
On Monday, the RMS Empress of Canada arrived on her regular schedule; and she was able to provide the Empress of Australia with more stores. Then the Empress of Canada transported a large number of refugees on to Kobe, where the Japanese government had set up a relief center.
On 4 September, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s second Fusō-class battleship Yamashiro arrived at the harbor. The Empress of Australia had been unable to proceed due to the fact that she had a fouled propeller. Arrangements were made for a diver from the Yamashiro to inspect the damage and effect repairs. The cable was unwound and the machinery was tested; and the fouled propeller was found to have suffered no damage.
The Empress of Australia was now free to leave, but at the request of the British Consul, she remained as long as needed for continued relief work. Each morning, for the next several days, the Empress of Australia re-entered the devastated harbour and sent her boats ashore manned by a combination of crew, local residents, and passenger volunteers. Refugees were brought aboard, transferred from the ship to other vessels, or taken to Kobe. To aid the victims, the ships officers and most of the passengers donated everything they could spare. She finally departed Yokohama on 12 September 1923, returning to her routine duties; but her services were not forgotten. Captain Samuel Robinson received numerous awards in recognition of his actions, including the CBE, and award of the Lloyds Silver Medal.
A group of passengers and refugees who were aboard during the disaster commissioned a bronze tablet and presented it to the ship in recognition of the relief efforts. When the Empress of Australia was scrapped in 1952, the bronze tablet was rescued and presented to Captain Robinson, then aged 82, in a special ceremony in Vancouver.