William Gray & Company at West Hartlepool built Normanby as yard number 792.

[1] Richardson, Duck and Company at Thornaby-on-Tees built its sister ship Cloughton as yard number 620, launching it on 9 September and completing it that October.

[6] In 1917 William Reardon Smith's St Just Steamship Company bought eight of London and Northern's ships, including Normanby and Cloughton.

Her Master, Captain Daniel Hamer, ordered that the ship's two lifeboats be prepared for launching, but not yet lowered into the water.

But as the boat was lowered, a "huge wave" bent one of the davits and swept away the port lifeboat.

[16] Aboard Norwich City, the Chief Officer, J Thomas, took command, and ordered that the starboard lifeboat be lowered into the water and towed clear of the fire.

[16] The boats were provisioned with survival rations including drinking water, hardtack, canned corned beef, and condensed milk, which the survivors retrieved.

They buried three men ashore: the steward, an Arab who had been trapped under the capsized boat, and later the ship's carpenter.

[4] The beach was exposed, so the survivors took the provisions about 100 yards (91 m) inland, where they made a camp, sheltered by the lifeboats' sails.

[16] When Norwich City ran aground, her wireless telegraphist, T Clark, almost immediately started transmitting distress messages, but there was very bad static.

After three hours, he got a reply from the wireless telegraph station in Apia in Western Samoa, 575 nautical miles (1,065 km) away.

At 0600 hrs on 30 November she was ordered to raise steam, ready to go to Gardner Island to rescue survivors.

For the rescue she embarked a surfboat with a crew of six indigenous islanders: a coxswain from Tuvalu, four boatmen from Niue, and one boatman from Tokelau.

[18] They took the surfboat to the lee side of the island,[4] about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) south of the wreck,[16] but the sea there was not much calmer.

[4] The islanders caught land crabs and seabirds for food, and lit a fire after the survivors had run out of matches.

[19] On 29 December 1929 representatives of the Board of Trade in Apia held a court of inquiry into the loss of the ship.

Both Second Officer Lott and Trongate's Master told the court that the rescue would have been impossible without the islanders, and the skill and bravery with which they handled their surfboat.

The award was presented by Administrator of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Colonel HH Allen.