Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A S.G.M. pair awarded to Chief Officer T. L. S. Popham, Mercantile Marine, for services in rescuing the crew of the barquentine Sunbeam in the North Atlantic, 21 January 1908

Sea Gallantry Medal, E.VII.R., small 2nd issue, silver (Thomas L. S. Popham, “Sunbeam”, 21st. January 1908.); Mercantile Marine War Medal (Thomas L. S. Popham) good very fine (2) £400-£500

Thomas Langdon Swindale Popham served as Chief Officer of the S.S. Canadian, of Liverpool, and was awarded the Sea Gallantry Medal, together with a pair of binoculars, for his part in the rescue of the crew of the Sunbeam. He was presented with his Sea Gallantry Medal at Liverpool, and was also awarded the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society’s Silver Medal and a gratuity of £5 for this action.

The barquentine Sunbeam, sailing in ballast from Pernambuco, Brazil to St. John’s, Newfoundland, was hit by a fearful gale on 14 January 1908 which opened the seams and let in water. Fighting desperately to keep the vessel afloat in continuing gales heavy seas, they were rescued just in time by the Boston bound Leyland Line steamship Canadian on 21 January. The Canadian sailing from Ireland sighted the hapless Sunbeam some 120 miles southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Coming close by, they launched a lifeboat manned by a volunteer crew and succeeded in picking up the men of the Sunbeam as they jumped from their ship into the raging seas.