engineer and mariner in the whaling industry, was born in Sandefjord, Norway, (b. October 1894). His father was Bernt Steen. The original surname was ‘Sten’ – it is not known when the additional ‘e’ was introduced. Steen came to the Falklands c.1910 and he was employed as an engineer at the Salvesen whaling station on New Island. He married Hilma (Nellie) Cull on 7 October 1915. The Steens had three children: Nellie Frances (b.March 1916); Robert Bertram (b.July 1917) and Ivar Bjarne (b.February 1922).

After the whaling station on New Island was closed in 1916, Steen worked at various places in the Falklands – including on Weddell Island (where he acted as manager of the farm), on Pebble Island, at Hill Cove and also in Stanley.He owned several small vessels which he operated around the Islands together with his two sons.He was an accomplished engineer and was able to turn his hand to most trades.He built two small boats, and also owned Redwing, a small ketch, in the 1920s..She was later owned in the 1970’s by Ian CAMPBELL, one of the early FIGAS pilots. The ketch was eventually based at West Point Island where she dragged her anchor in a storm and ran aground.

Steen was awarded the Bronze Medal and Certificate of the Royal Humane Society for the saving the life from drowning of James George (Jimmy) Rowlands at Johnsons Harbour on 28 May 1931.

The accounts of the rescue show Steen to have been a very brave man. The Colonial Secretary commented that the rescue was ‘an act of exceptional gallantry’ … and the award of Royal Humane Society medal ‘has met with great appreciation in the Colony.’

The Governor (Sir James O’GRADY;1866-1934) wrote to the Secretary of State for the Colonies:

I have the honour to bring to Your Lordship notice of an act exceptional gallantry on the part of Mr Iver Steen … Mr Steen who owns and runs a motor vessel engaged locally in the coasting trade, was on the shore at Johnson’s Harbour … when Mr Rowlands, who is about twenty years of age, and a member of his crew, started to row out to the motor vessel in a small boat … after covering a distance from the shore, variously estimated from fifty to one hundred and eighty yards, Mr Rowlands fell out of [the small boat] and being unable to swim was in imminent peril by death by drowning. Mr Steen however, plunged straightaway into the sea fully dressed as he was wearing thigh boots, and swam to Mr Rowlands whom he reached just in time and succeeded with supreme effort in bringing [him] safe to land. Rowlands at the present time is none the worse for his experience and owes his life solely to Mr Steen’s courage and endurance … I have to emphasise particularly the facts [that] at this season of the year the temperature of the sea water off the coasts of the Colony are but a little above freezing point … and that the place where Mr Rowlands was immersed [there is] a broad band of thick kelp, through which, both going and returning, Mr Steen literally had to fight his way.

An eyewitness to the events, Douglas John Kiddle recalled later that:

Rowlands was thrown out of the rowing boat as a result of one of the oars [the port oar] coming out of the rowlock … when he was thrown headfirst into the sea … Mr Rowlands could not swim and was going down for the third time when Mr Steen reached him. Mr Steen had to dive to grasp [Rowlands] … Mr Rowlands was unconscious when we got him on shore. He was laid on the beach and after working on him for five or ten minutes he came round … The water was very cold.

James Rowlands, after having been thrown out of boat remembers only entering the water and immediately beginning to choke until he regained consciousness and found himself lying on the beach.

Steen recalled the rescue attempt in a modest and matter-of-fact manner:

The wind at the time was blowing very hard from the north with a heavy sea running and the weather bitterly cold … I had some difficulty getting through the kelp which was very thick. Just before I reached [Rowlands] he came to the surface for the second time … I thought he was dead … he suddenly started to struggle and just as I reached him, he sank and was disappearing for the third time. I dived and grasped him by the collar. He struggled very hard when I caught hold of him. I held him with one hand and swam back to the beach which I reached with great difficulty owing to thickness of the kelp. I could not use my feet to swim through the kelp as I would have got tangled up … I applied artificial respiration and after five minutes of which he regained consciousness. I estimate the time from when I left the beach until I returned to be about fifteen minutes. The water was very cold … There was a heavy frost the same evening. I could not get warm for two days.

The Governor presented the Bronze Medal and accompanying certificate at the May Ball in the Town Hall on 23 May 1932.

The Steen family eventually moved into Stanley, and Steen was employed by the Falkland Islands Company Ltd.in their engineers shop on Crozier Place. They lived in a stone cottage on Fitzroy Road, owned by the FIC, to the south of the engineers shop.

Ivar Steen died in 1948, in the British Hospital in Montevideo, Uruguay, and was buried in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The RHS Bronze Medal is now in the possession of Steen’s grandson – Vernon Steen, one-time manager of the Falkland Islands Air Service (FIGAS).