Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Samuel Robinson,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, RD (1870–1958), born in Hull, England,Hammer, Joshua. (2006)
''Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II,'' p. 60.
/ref> was a British-Canadian mariner, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
a Commander in the British

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

, and a captain of luxury liners in the fleet of Canadian Pacific Steamship Ocean Service during the period spanning the first three decades of the 20th century. "Capt. Samuel Robinson, Who Won Fame For Rescue Work in Jap Quake, Dies,"
''New York Times.'' 7 September 1958. Robinson was also one of only three living non-

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarch, monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or emperor, empress, and the term papal family describes the family of ...

members to have received the Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Chrysanthemum is Japan's highest Order (decoration), order. The Grand Cordon of the Order was established in 1876 by Emperor Meiji of Japan; the Collar of the Order was added on 4 January 1888. Unlike European counterparts, the order may be Posthumous award, ...

, Japan's highest order, for participating in rescue operations in the aftermath of the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...

Royal Naval Reserve

The Pacific fleet of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

tended to hire its officers from the

s, and much was made of their long and faithful service to the company.Tate, E. Mowbray. (1986)
''Transpacific Steam: The Story of Steam Navigation from the Pacific Coast of North America to the Far East and the Antipodes, 1867-1941,'' p. 238.
/ref> Although Robinson's job description was "Captain," his title was "Commander" because he had earned that rank during his service in the Royal Naval Reserve.Musk, George. (1981)
''Canadian Pacific: The Story of the Famous Shipping Line,'' p. 145.
/ref> During World War I, Robinson captained the ''Empress of Asia'' which transported American troops from New York to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, England.

Canadian Pacific

In his 48 years at sea, 37 with Canadian Pacific steamships, Robinson served on a number of vessels. He was captain of two ships with the same name—the 1891 ''Empress of Japan'' and the 1930 ''Empress of Japan''—and he was captain of the first of three ships to be named ''Empress of Canada''. His career at sea included sailing on the following: * RMS ''Empress of Japan'', junior officer (1895), captain * RMS ''Empress of China'', chief officer (1899) * RMS ''Empress of Asia'', captain (1913) * RMS ''Empress of Russia'', captain (1917) * RMS ''Empress of Australia'', captain (1922) * RMS ''Empress of Canada'', captain (1924) * RMS ''Empress of Japan'', captain (1930) Robinson was a junior officer on the ''Empress of Japan'' in 1895. He became the chief officer on the ''Empress of China'' in 1899, and then captain of the ''Empress of Japan''. He was transferred in 1913 to become the captain of the ''Empress of Asia''. In May 1914, he pushed the ''Empress of Asia'' and her crew in setting a new world's record for both a single day's steaming (473 nautical miles) and for crossing the Pacific (nine days, two hours, and fifteen minutes). In 1917, he took command of the ''Empress of Russia''. When the ''Empress of Australia'' was added to the Canadian Pacific fleet, he was made her first captain. When the ''Empress of Japan'' was added to the fleet in 1930, Robinson was given command.

Great Kantō earthquake

When the

struck

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

at a little after noon on 1 September 1923, Captain Robinson was aboard the ''Empress of Australia''. He was finalising routine preparations for a scheduled departure later in the day; but the greatest natural disaster in modern times was about to reorder those priorities. He would be credited with saving the ship, his crew and passengers, and more than 3,000 others during the unfolding catastrophe. The ''Empress of Australia'' earned international acclaim and recognition for her captain because it was the ship which was able to offer the most help in evacuating the devastated metropolis of Tokyo. In the chaos which developed after the ground stopped shaking, Robinson kept his ship near the quay at Yokohama in

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

for the next twelve days, providing such help as he and his crew were able to offer. The ship remained anchored off Yokohama for several days, and then she sailed for the port of

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

laden with refugees. Robinson's own contributions were minimized in the report he prepared for the Canadian Pacific home office. He displayed a seemly modesty in this summary: :"One of the most gratifying things, and the dominant factor in the whole proceedings is that everyone with whom we have had to deal on board has worked together without friction, disagreement, or complaint during this terrible catastrophe ... some of the hardest workers having lost families or homes or business possessions, and in some cases all of these."Hammer
p. 256.
/ref> A group of passengers and refugees who were aboard during the disaster commissioned a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

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. It was formally presented to Captain Robinson, then aged 82, in a special ceremony in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Honours

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(

). *

Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum is Japan's highest Order (decoration), order. The Grand Cordon of the Order was established in 1876 by Emperor Meiji of Japan; the Collar of the Order was added on 4 January 1888. Unlike European counterparts, the order may be Posthumous award, ...

(Japan). * Order of St John of Jerusalem, the Silver Medal (UK). * Lloyd's Medal for Meritorious Service (UK). * AUT KuK Red Ribbon BAR

Medal of Honour with Red Ribbon (Japan). *

Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (; ) is an order (decoration), order of Thailand. It was established in 1861 by King Mongkut, Rama IV of the Thailand, Kingdom of Siam. Along with the Order of the Crown of Thailand, it is r ...

(Siam). * Cross of the Second Class of the Order of Naval Merit (with white badge) (Spain)

Notes

References

* Hammer, Joshua. (2006)
''Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II.''
New York:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. (cloth) * Musk, George. (1981)
''Canadian Pacific: The Story of the Famous Shipping Line.''
Newton Abbot, Devon:

David & Charles David & Charles Ltd is an English publishing company. It is the owner of the David & Charles imprint, which specialises in craft and lifestyle publishing. David and Charles Ltd acts as distributor for all David and Charles Ltd books and cont ...

. * Robinson, Samuel. (1924)
''Official report of Capt. S. Robinson, R.N.R.,: Commander of the Canadian Pacific S.S. "Empress of Australia", on the Japanese earthquake, the fire and subsequent relief operations.''
* Tate, E. Mowbray. (1986)
''Transpacific Steam: The Story of Steam Navigation from the Pacific Coast of North America to the Far East and the Antipodes, 1867-1941.''
New York: Cornwall Books. (cloth) * Wilson, John W. and Roger Perkins. (1985)
''Angels in Blue Jackets: The Navy at Messina, 1908.''
Rockland, Maine: Picton Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Samuel 1870 births 1958 deaths British Merchant Navy officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Kingston upon Hull British emigrants to Canada Canadian sailors Sailors from Kingston upon Hull British Merchant Service personnel of World War I Royal Navy officers Royal Naval Reserve personnel