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Auction: 16001 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 118

Lloyd's Medal for Saving Life at Sea, small Bronze Medal (J. Collins "Londonian." 25-27 Nov. 1898.), good very fine, with replacement silver claw suspension

'The liner Londonian left Boston, Mass., for London on the 15th November 1898, with a company of 70. The cargo consisted chiefly of grain, there also being 150 head of cattle. After about a week at sea the ship ran into foul weather, increasing later to a gale, and she began to make water; her steering-gear jammed and it became impossible to keep her head-on. The ship broached to and she was thrown on her beam ends, and the engine room flooded. The cattle were driven overboard to lighten the ship which continued to drift for two days and nights, until the morning of the 25th when she was sighted by the Johnston liner Vedamore. The captain of the Londonian, Captain E.B. Lee, asked to be taken in tow, but this the captain of the Vedamore, Captain Bartlett, declined to do, although he was prepared to take off the crew. About noon therefore Captain Lee decided to abandon his ship and the Vedamore made an attempt to get a boat alongside, but after three hours' struggle the boat returned without having rescued a single man. Other efforts by rocket and line from windward of the derelict were equally unsuccessful and operations had to be suspended until daybreak when lines attached to life-buoys were floated down to the Londonian. After many hours one of these was picked up and a heavier line taken on board. A lifeboat was lashed to this and was hauled to and fro between the ships, with 22 men being saved on the first journey. At the second attempt the rope broke and the boat capsized. Another boat under Mr. Doran, the first officer, was lowered by the Vedamore but this was smashed, with the crew barely escaping with their lives. These efforts had lasted throughout the day and there was another pause during the hours of darkness. Next morning one of the Londonian's boats was got over the side where it at once capsized, drowning all 17 of its occupants. A second boat got away with 23 men who were taken on board the Vedamore. All day attempts to effect further rescues continued but without success. At dawn on the morning of the 28th those on board the Vedamore saw no sign of the Londonian, so with the survivors on board the ship proceeded on her way to Baltimore. Meanwhile the derelict Londonian with Captain Lee and seven men still on board was still drifting helplessly with the gale. At midnight on the 28th one of their flares was seen by the German steamship Maria Rickmers, which sent a boat under Mr. Lenz the second officer. After a struggle of many hours a line was passed to the ship and the eight survivors were taken off.'

Seaman J. Collins served as a member of the crew of the Vedamore. A total of 16 Lloyd's Medals for Saving Life at Sea were given for the rescue of the crew of the Londonian, 2 silver and 14 bronze.

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