Henry Coey Kane
Encyclopedia
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, (d. 30 January 1917) was a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
officer.
He was the second son of Sir Robert Kane
Robert Kane (chemist)
Sir Robert John Kane was an Irish chemist.-Youth:His father, John Kean, was involved in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and fled for a time to France where he studied chemistry...
, the Irish chemist, and entered the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
as a cadet in 1853 having been educated at St. Vincent's College, Castleknock, County Dublin - (Castleknock College
Castleknock College
Castleknock College is a private , secondary school for boys aged between 13 and 18, which is situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, 8 km west of the city centre in Dublin, Ireland.-History:...
). He was promoted to Captain in 1882, Rear-Admiral in 1897, and Admiral in 1907.
He saw active service during the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War, and from 1883 to 1887 he was a Naval Attaché. In 1887 he was appointed to command the new cruiser HMS Calliope
HMS Calliope (1884)
HMS Calliope was a Calypso-class corvette of the Royal Navy which served from 1887 until 1951. Like all the remaining frigates and corvette extent in 1887, she was re-classified as a third-class cruiser in the year she was completed, and exemplified the transitional nature of the late Victorian navy...
in the Pacific, and after service in China and Australia was sent to Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
to watch over a growing international crisis
Samoan crisis
The Samoan Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, Germany and Great Britain from 1887–1889 over control of the Samoan Islands during the Samoan Civil War. At the height of the confrontation three American warships, Vandalia, USS Trenton and USS Nipsic were wrecked along with the...
there. This posting is generally remembered for a remarkable act of seamanship; when in harbour, the island was struck by a powerful cyclone
1889 Apia cyclone
The 1889 Apia cyclone was a Pacific tropical cyclone, 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 as 'an error of judgement that will forever remain a paradox in human...
. Of the eleven ships present, only Calliope was able to successfully escape the harbour and ride out the cyclone at sea; the others were beached or wrecked, with over two hundred lives lost.
This event made Kane's career; he was made CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in the Queen's Birthday Honours
Queen's Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...
for 1891, and given command of HMS Victory
HMS Victory
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
, a highly prestigious posting, the following year. In 1894, he was appointed as the Director of Naval Ordnance, holding the office until he retired in 1898. He was made a Knight Commander of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in 1911.