# Apia cyclone wrecks the Western warships (15–16 March 1889)

URL: https://allhistories.com/samoa/timeline/1889-apia-cyclone-wrecks-the-western-warships
Location: Apia, Upolu, Samoa
Themes: main-event

On 15 March 1889 a cyclone struck Apia during the three-power standoff and wrecked all six American and German warships in the harbour, as well as six merchant ships. The death toll is disputed: Wikipedia's article says well over 200, its infobox gives up to 147, and another page gives 145 warship crewmen and five merchant sailors. USS Vandalia broke on a reef with 43 crew lost, USS Trenton was wrecked, and USS Nipsic was beached and later refloated. SMS Eber and SMS Adler were smashed together at the harbour mouth, and SMS Olga was beached. HMS Calliope alone escaped, steaming out against the wind and sea less than six feet from a reef. The storm ended the military confrontation and eased the path to the Berlin settlement. The article says it did not reduce imperial ambitions: Germany and Britain kept expanding in the Pacific, and the United States turned to the Philippines and Micronesia. All the powers afterward paid closer attention to Pacific weather. At this point in the timeline (1889), Mata'afa Iosefo (1889 – 5 Dec 1889) held the Samoan kingship as King (Tupua Malietoa To'oa Mata'afa Iosefo), an office whose holders were often contested by rival chiefly parties. Reign dates for this ruler are disputed between sources.

## Why it matters
Nature ended a standoff that diplomacy had failed to resolve, and the disaster remains one of the best-known events of Pacific naval history.

Ruler at the Time: [King Malietoa Laupepa (restored)](https://allhistories.com/samoa/rulers/malietoa-laupepa-restored-1889)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — 1889 Apia cyclone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1889_Apia_cyclone)
- [Wikipedia — Samoan crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samoan_crisis)
- [Wikipedia — Apia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apia)