Extreme Survivors: 60 of the World’s Most Extreme Survival Stories. Collins Maps
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the shocks lessened and eventually ceased, Robinson knew his vessel was in a very dangerous position.
What remained of the docks was engulfed in flame and the Empress was still tied to the wharf.
If she stayed tied to the dock, she would burn. And if that happened, there would be nowhere for the people on board to go.
Taking action
Normally, the Empress would have been able to simply move astern, but a freighter, the Steel Navigator, was moored close behind her. Now she would need tugs to pull her out sideways, but these had been destroyed or crippled in the initial tremors. Furthermore, a ship moored to the east had lost her cable and drifted across the harbour, smashing into the Empress amidships.
First Captain Robinson ordered all available crew – and passengers – to turn the ship’s hoses on the decks and extinguish the embers that were drifting from the burning docks.
He then had ropes and ladders cast over the side to let the survivors trapped on the crumbling dock climb aboard. Next he tried a risky manoeuvre, engaging the Empress’s engines to shove the Steel Navigator enough to allow them to manoeuvre away from the flaming docks.
With metal grinding on metal the Empress managed to shift the freighter, inch by agonizing inch. But just as she was slowly pulling away her port propeller fouled in the Steel Navigator’s anchor cable.
She had edged about 18 m (60 ft) away from the flames; it probably wasn’t going to be enough. Sparks and embers continued to rain down on the deck. Then, fortunately, the wind turned and eased. The ship was safe – for the moment.
Now the captain turned to helping other people. He had the ship’s lifeboats lowered and formed rescue teams of crew and volunteer passengers. They then set out to shore, working through the night to ferry survivors to the ship.
The burning waters
By Sunday morning the Empress was a haven for 2,000 people, but now they faced another danger. A huge slick of burning oil was moving across the harbour towards the ship. The fouled propeller meant the Empress was still unable to steer. Captain Robinson asked the captain of a tanker, the Iris, to help. This vessel managed to tow the bow of the Empress round, allowing her to move slightly out of port to a safer anchorage.
The rescue teams kept working despite the blazing sea.
Staying behind
On 4 September, three days after the earthquake, the Empress’s fouled propeller was freed by a diver from the Japanese battleship Yamashiro, which had arrived at the harbour. The propeller was undamaged and the Empress was now free to leave.
Damage caused by the Great Kantō earthquake in Tōkyō.
But Captain Robinson decided that she should stay to help with the relief work.
For the next week the Empress of Australia re-entered the devastated harbour every morning and sent her boats ashore.
The lifeboats continued the trips, returning full of refugees, who were then either transferred from the ship to other vessels or taken to Kōbe. The ship’s crew and most of the passengers donated their personal belongings to help the survivors.
Sailing into history
Finally, on 12 September 1923, the Empress of Australia departed Yokohama. The heroism of her captain, crew and passengers was not forgotten. Captain Robinson received many awards, including the CBE and the Lloyds Silver Medal.
A group of passengers and refugees commissioned a bronze memorial tablet, which they presented to the ship in recognition of the relief efforts. When the Empress was scrapped in 1952, this tablet was handed on to Captain Robinson, then aged 82, in a special ceremony in Vancouver.
The Long Walk Home
| IN 1931, THREE YOUNG GIRLS WERE AMONG THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN FORCIBLY TAKEN FROM THEIR FAMILIES BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT AND SENT TO A HARSH NATIVE SETTLEMENT. MOLLY, DAISY AND GRACIE IMMEDIATELY ESCAPED AND FOLLOWED A RABBIT-PROOF FENCE FOR 1,600 KM (1,000 MILES) THROUGH THE BURNING WESTERN DESERTS TO GET HOME. |
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| DATE: 1931 SITUATION: THREE CHILDREN RUN FROM A STATE HOME CONDITION OF CONFINEMENT: FLEEING THE AUTHORITIES THROUGH THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH DURATION OF CONFINEMENT: 2 MONTHS MEANS OF ESCAPE: HIDING IN THE BUSH, BEGGING FOR HELP NO. OF ESCAPEES: 3 DANGERS: EXHAUSTION, STARVATION, HEAT STROKE EQUIPMENT: NONE |
Old rabbit-proof fence remains along Hamersley Drive, Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia.
The rabbit-proof fence
Rabbits are not indigenous to Australia. In 1859 an English settler in Victoria, southeast Australia released two dozen into the wild. ‘The introduction of a few rabbits could do little harm and might provide a touch of home, in addition to a spot of hunting.’ But Austin seemed to have forgotten what rabbits are good at and they were soon spreading across the continent like a plague.
Between 1901 and 1907, the government constructed one of the most ambitious wildlife containment schemes the world has ever seen. The plan was simple: cordon off the entire western side of Australia so that the rabbits couldn’t get into it. Three rabbit-proof fences crossed the country. They were one metre (3 ft) high and supported by wooden poles. No.1 Rabbit-Proof Fence ran for 1,833 km (1,139 miles) clear across the continent from Wallal Downs to Jerdacuttup. The total length of all three fences was 3,256 km (2,023 miles).
Bold though this act of segregation was, it was doomed to failure. Rabbits had already crossed west of the barrier and it was near-impossible to maintain such a structure in the harsh conditions of the Western Australian deserts, despite regular patrols by inspectors with bicycles, cars and even camels.
The stolen generation
The fence also acts as a metaphor for another act of segregation imposed on the country by the government of the time.
The white settlers of Australia had many different attitudes to the Aboriginal population. To some they were simply an inferior race. Others believed they could be assimilated into white society and have their heritage ‘bred out’ of them. Some were tolerant and understanding and of course there were many mixed-race children. It was the most divisive issue in that period of Australian history.
From 1920 to 1930