The Samoan Crisis was a standoff between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the German Empire, and the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

from 1887 to 1889 over control of the

Samoan Islands The Samoan Islands ( sm, Motu o Sāmoa) are an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania. Administratively, the archipelago comprises all of the Independent State of Samoa an ...

during the First Samoan Civil War.

Background

In 1878, the United States acquired a

fuelling station Fuelling stations, also known as coaling stations, are repositories of fuel (initially coal and later oil) that have been located to service commercial and naval vessels. Today, the term "coaling station" can also refer to coal storage and feedin ...

at the harbor at

Pago Pago Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island. ...

, on the island of Tutuila, in exchange for providing guarantees of protection to Samoa. The German Empire on the other hand desired concessions at the harbor at

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

, on the island of

Upolu Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long and in area, making it the second largest of the Samoan Islands by area. With approximate ...

Incident

The incident involved three

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

warships (the sloop-of-war , the

screw steamer A screw steamer or screw steamship is an old term for a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine, using one or more propellers (also known as ''screws'') to propel it through the water. Such a ship was also known as an "iron screw steam shi ...

, and the

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

) and three German warships (the gunboats and and the corvette ), which kept each other at bay over several months in

Harbour, which was monitored by the British corvette . The standoff ended when the

1889 Apia cyclone The 1889 Apia cyclone was a tropical cyclone in the South Pacific Ocean, which swept across Apia, Samoa on March 15, 1889, during the Samoan crisis. The effect on shipping in the harbour was devastating, largely because of what has been described ...

, on 15 and 16 March, wrecked all six warships in the harbour. ''Calliope'' escaped the harbour and thus survived the storm.

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

did not witness the storm and its aftermath at Apia but after December 1889 arrival to Samoa, he wrote about the event. The

Second Samoan Civil War The Second Samoan Civil War was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoan island chain, located in the South Pacific Ocea ...

, involving Germany, the United States, and Britain, eventually resulted in the Tripartite Convention of 1899, which partitioned the Samoan Islands into

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

and

German Samoa German Samoa (german: Deutsch-Samoa) was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1920, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the independent state of Samoa, formerly ''Western Samoa''. Samoa was the las ...

Legacy

Walter LaFeber Walter Fredrick LaFeber (August 30, 1933March 9, 2021) was an American academic who served as the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor in the Department of History at Cornell University. Previous to that he served as t ...

said that the incident made some 'reticent Americans' realise the

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

implications of expansion in the South Pacific.

Gallery

File:The Hurricane at Samoa on the morning of March 16 LCCN2002699802.tif, An eyewitness drawing taken from a sketch by an officer on the ''Calliope''. File:SMS Adler 1889 1.jpg, SMS ''Adler'', knocked over on the beach, 1889. File:SMS Adler 1889 2.jpg, SMS ''Adler'', view of her deck, 1889. File:SMS Adler 1889 3.jpg, The wreck of SMS ''Adler'', circa 1938 File:USS Nipsic wreck 1889.jpg, The wreck of USS ''Nipsic''′ File:SMS Eber 1889 1.jpg, Wrecked ships in Apia Harbour. German gunboat SMS ''Eber'' is on the beach, the stern of USS ''Trenton'' is at the right, and the sunken USS ''Vandalia'' is alongside. SMS ''Adler'' is on her side in the center distance. File:Samoan Crisis wrecks 2.jpg, Wrecked vessels at Apia Harbour, Upolu, Samoa, during salvage efforts soon after the storm. The view looks about northward, with USS ''Trenton'' and the sunken USS ''Vandalia'' to the left and the beached German corvette Olga at right. The wreckage just off Trenton's stern may be from the German gunboat ''Eber'', which was destroyed when she struck the harbor reef during the hurricane. File:USS Vandalia and USS Trenton.jpg, A view of the sunken USS ''Vandalia'' from the deck of USS ''Trenton''. File:Samoan crisis 7.jpg, Another angle of the wrecked warships. File:Samoan Crisis wrecks.jpg, Wrecked warships off Apia File:Samoan crisis Apia beach.jpg, Apia and the beach covered in driftwood and debris from the wrecked warships. File:Samoan crisis salvaged guns.jpg, Salvaged guns from the wrecked American ships at Apia File:Samoan crisis memorial tablet 6.jpg, A memorial at Mare Island Naval Yard for the Americans who were killed in the cyclone. File:Illustrated London News.jpg, ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

'' for 27 April 1889; artist's conception of HMS ''Calliope'' being cheered on by the crew of USS ''Trenton'' as ''Calliope'' escapes from Apia Harbour. ''Calliope'' actually passed to the port of ''Trenton''.

Background

Incident

Legacy

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading