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Auction: 15003 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 243

Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, small silver medal (Capt. Andrew Heron S.S. "Aeon" for Having Rescued 32 Men Crew of the S.S. "Bear Creek". Dec. 26. 1892.), with integral top silver riband buckle, name neatly corrected, nearly extremely fine, in Elkington, London, fitted case of issue

The S.S. Bear Creek was a 2,410-ton British screw-steamer, built in 1890, and owned by the Bear Creek Oil Shipping Company. She left Amsterdam in Ballast on the 9th December 1892, with a crew of 32, bound for Philadelphia. She encountered bad weather, with gales and heavy seas. On the 18th December a leak was discovered in the engine room, which became increasingly worse, the bulkheads leaking and the pumps failing. At 5:00am on the 24th December the S.S. Aeon, 1,429-tons, was sighted, and it was agreed to take the Bear Creek in tow. Two hawsers subsequently parted, and the crew refused to remain with the vessel any longer. The Master decided to abandon the vessel as the only means of saving the crew. They reached the Aeon in safety and were subsequently landed in Liverpool. The Master stated that he had never experienced such bad weather before, and the log entries showed that it was very severe indeed.

Captain Andrew Heron, born Berwick-on-Tweed, Northumberland, 1863; appointed Second Mate, February 1887; First Mate, October 1888; Master, July 1890.

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