Samuel Robinson

Commander Samuel Robinson (8 May 1870 – 5 September 1958) was a British-Canadian merchant seaman and naval officer who was best known for his rescue efforts in the aftermath of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.

Robinson was a Commander in the British Royal Naval Reserve, and a captain in the fleet of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Ocean Service during the period spanning the first three decades of the 20th century. He was also one of only three living non-Imperial Family members to have received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, Japan's highest order, for participating in rescue operations in the aftermath of the 1923 earthquake.

Career The Pacific fleet of the Canadian Pacific Railway tended to hire its officers from the Royal Naval Reserves, and much was made of their long and faithful service to the company. 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. During World War I, Robinson captained the Empress of Asia which transported American troops from New York to Southampton, England.

Great Kantō earthquake When the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake struck Yokohama 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.

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."

A group of passengers and refugees who were aboard during the disaster commissioned a bronze tablet and presented it to the ship in recognition of the relief efforts.

In 1901, Robinson married Jessie Nichols Reeves at the Anglican Church in Yokohama, Japan. They had no children. 50px Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum (Japan). Order of St John of Jerusalem, the Silver Medal (UK).