Pair: Sick Berth Steward S. Barend, Royal Navy, who witnessed the devastating impact of the Apia Cyclone on the German and American fleets anchored at Samoa in March 1889

British War Medal 1914-20 (108779 S. Barend. S.B.S. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension (S. Barend, 2nd. Sk. B:Stewd: H.M.S. Pembroke.) impressed naming; together with an H.M.S. Calliope at Samoa 1889, The Marquis de Leuville’s Presentation Medal, 30mm, bronze-gilt, the obverse featuring the arms of The Marquis de Leuville, the reverse embossed ‘British Seamanship and Captain Kane of H.M.S. Calliope from an Admirer, The Marquis de Leuville’, unmounted, good very fine and better, the last rare (3) £220-£260

Sidney Barend was born in Hackney around 1861 and joined the Royal Navy as Domestic 3rd Class in June 1879. Raised 2nd Class Sick Berth Steward in H.M.S. Calliope in 1887, he was present aboard this ship in 1889 when she was directed to Samoa and charged with maintaining British interests and keeping the peace in the region; she joined the competing squadrons of the Imperial German and United States Navies in the small and primitive harbour of Apia - fit for four large vessels, it was soon overwhelmed with seven warships and six merchant vessels by 14 March 1889, forcing many to weigh anchor amidst the treacherous offshore reefs.

That afternoon the barometer began to fall and a tropical cyclone began to form. Rapidly increasing in ferocity over the following two days, the Apia Cyclone fed winds of 70-100 miles per hour directly into the harbour, causing many anchors to lose purchase. Vessels collided and were thrown upon the reef; hit by one ship and narrowly missed by another, Calliope under the command of Captain Kane decided to make her escape - described later by the American Commander of the holed Trenton as ‘one of the grandest sights (of seamanship) a seaman or anyone else ever saw’. With ten men on her wheel, Calliope made it to deep water and weathered the storm for the next two days. Re-entering the harbour on the 19, her crew discovered that all the other ships - 12 in all - had foundered, with loss of life aboard each. She later made her way to Sydney, where Captain Kane and his crew received a hero’s welcome.

Recommended for the L.S. & G.C. Medal whilst aboard Calliope, Barend later received his medal whilst serving at Pembroke. Pensioned off in 1901, he served at Chatham during the Great War, ending his war aboard the armed steam yacht Nairn which was at that time based in Scotland. Awarded the British War Medal (he was not entitled to a Victory Medal), he died in 1942.

Sold with four modern specimen Samoan stamps depicting Apia after the Hurricane, H.M.S. Calliope, and two vessels which foundered; and copied service record.