The Saga of HMS Calliope

Banjo Paterson’s poem “The Ballad of the Calliope” dramatized real events surrounding the British naval ship HMS Calliope in 1889. Paterson expertly captured this thrilling nautical saga in verse. This narrative ballad dramatizes a thrilling tale of seafaring heroism and camaraderie during a devastating Pacific hurricane. Through vivid imagery and adept storytelling, Paterson explores themes of courage, duty, and sacrifice.

The Voyage and Storm

In March 1889, the Calliope sailed to Samoa, encountering American and German ships in Apia Harbor, mirroring the opening scenes in Paterson’s poem. A devastating hurricane then struck while the ships were anchored, just as vividly depicted in Paterson’s verses.

Paterson quickly establishes an ominous mood, contrasting the calm harbour where English, German, and American ships at anchor with the ferocious hurricane rapidly approaching them.

Foreboding builds as the captains fatally underestimate the danger, then night falls and the ships are helplessly battered and collide with the deadly coral reefs. Paterson’s descriptions of mountainous waves and tension on the groaning cables create palpable drama.

• HMS Calliope was a 2,770 ton Pearl-class cruiser launched in 1884 and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1885.
• She was built with both sails and a steam engine, making Calliope one of the last sailing warships of the Royal Navy.
• Calliope was deployed to Apia, Samoa in 1889 to monitor tensions between Germany, the United States and Britain over Samoa.
• She was the largest warship in Apia harbor when a massive cyclone struck on March 15-16, 1889 sinking all other ships.
• Calliope was the only ship to escape the hurricane intact, miraculously fighting her way out to sea through the raging storm.
• Her survival was credited to the skill and decisive action of her crew as well as her hybrid sail/steam design.
• Calliope burned high quality Welsh coal in her boilers which generated intense steam power to drive her out of the harbor.
• She sailed so close to the reefs during her escape that her bottom was scraped and damaged by the coral.
• After the hurricane, Calliope returned to provide vital aid and supplies to the devastated harbor town.
• Her remarkable survival in Apia made Calliope famous throughout the British Empire and cemented her as a legend in the Royal Navy.

The Calliope’s Bravery

The climax occurs as the English ship Calliope’s captain audaciously decides to brave the storm and escape to open sea. Paterson movingly depicts the engine room men resolutely accepting their peril to follow orders and attempt powering through the gale.

As described in the poem, the Calliope audaciously attempts escaping through the treacherous reefs and crashing waves after other ships were wrecked. Historically, Calliope did miraculously fight her way to safety by finding a narrow gap in the reefs, steaming out through enormous seas.

When the Calliope miraculously fights free of both storm and wreckage, Paterson reveals the stranded American sailors selflessly cheering their allies’ deliverance despite their own tragedy. This stirring camaraderie transcends rivalry.

Interestingly Paterson included specific accurate details like the “Westport coal” powering the ship’s boilers during its escape. This matches historical accounts crediting the fine New Zealand coal.

Enduring Legacy

The Calliope became famous after its defiant feat, welcomed in Sydney by cheering crowds. In New Zealand, schoolchildren learned of its exploits fueled by the excellent coal. Paterson cemented its place in history.

Paterson elevated the dramatic events into a legendary tale of heroism and seamanship through his poetic mastery. By elegantly blending lyricism, action, and heroism, Paterson crafts an unforgettable maritime legend. He celebrates dutiful courage and honorable character while lamenting the cruel indifference of nature’s power. The poem carries timeless appeal and his ballad memorialized the Calliope’s saga for generations.

The Ballad of the Calliope

            By the far Samoan shore,
            Where the league-long rollers pour

All the wash of the Pacific on the coral-guarded bay,
Riding lightly at their ease,
In the calm of tropic seas,
The three great nations’ warships at their anchors proudly lay.

            Riding lightly, head to wind,
            With the coral reefs behind,

Three German and three Yankee ships were mirrored in the blue;
And on one ship unfurled
Was the flag that rules the world—
For on the old Calliope the flag of England flew.

            When the gentle off-shore breeze,
            That had scarcely stirred the trees,

Dropped down to utter stillness, and the glass began to fall,
Away across the main
Lowered the coming hurricane,
And far away to seaward hung the cloud-wrack like a pall.

            If the word had passed around,
            “Let us move to safer ground;

Let us steam away to seaward”—then this tale were not to tell!
But each Captain seemed to say
“If the others stay, I stay!”
And they lingered at their moorings till the shades of evening fell.

            Then the cloud-wrack neared them fast,
            And there came a sudden blast,

And the hurricane came leaping down a thousand miles of main!
Like a lion on its prey,
Leapt the storm fiend on the bay,
And the vessels shook and shivered as their cables felt the strain.

            As the surging seas came by,
            That were running mountains high,

The vessels started dragging, drifting slowly to the lee;
And the darkness of the night
Hid the coral reefs from sight,
And the Captains dared not risk the chance to grope their way to sea.

            In the dark they dared not shift!
            They were forced to wait and drift;

All hands stood by uncertain would the anchors hold or no.
But the men on deck could see,
If a chance for them might be,
There was little chance of safety for the men who were below.

            Through that long, long night of dread,
            While the storm raged overhead,

They were waiting by their engines, with the furnace fires aroar;
So they waited, staunch and true,
Though they knew, and well they knew,
They must drown like rats imprisoned if the vessel touched the shore.

            When the grey dawn broke at last,
            And the long, long night was past,

While the hurricane redoubled, lest its prey should steal away,
On the rocks, all smashed and strown,
Were the German vessels thrown,
While the Yankees, swamped and helpless, drifted shorewards down the bay.

            Then at last spoke Captain Kane,
            “All our anchors are in vain,

And the Germans and the Yankees they have drifted to the lee!
Cut the cables at the bow!
We must trust the engines now!
Give her steam, and let her have it, lads! we’ll fight her out to sea!”

            And the answer came with cheers
            From the stalwart engineers,

From the grim and grimy firemen at the furnaces below;
And above the sullen roar
Of the breakers on the shore
Came the throbbing of the engines as they laboured to and fro.

            If the strain should find a flaw,
            Should a bolt or rivet draw,

Then—God help them! for the vessel were a plaything in the tide!
With a face of honest cheer
Quoth an English engineer,
“I will answer for the engines that were built on old Thames-side!

            “For the stays and stanchions taut,
            For the rivets truly wrought,

For the valves that fit their faces as a glove should fit the hand.
Give her every ounce of power;
If we make a knot an hour
Then it’s way enough to steer her, and we’ll drive her from the land.”

            Like a foam-flake tossed and thrown,
            She could barely hold her own,

While the other ships all helplessly were drifting to the lee.
Through the smother and the rout
The Calliope steamed out’
And they cheered her from the Trenton that was foundering in the sea.

            Ay! drifting shoreward there,
            All helpless as they were,

Their vessel hurled upon the reefs as weed ashore is hurled,
Without a thought of fear
The Yankees raised a cheer—
A cheer that English-speaking folk should echo round the world.