THE terrifying scene is straight out of an old sea salt's store of yarns, two ships closing in the teeth of an Atlantic gale, one with her sails torn to shreds.

Lashed by a boiling sea with 60-foot waves, five men from the larger ship fight to get a line to the stricken sailing vessel and save the lives of her crew.

So great was the heroism shown by the five, and so profound its effect upon international relations, that the President of the United States ordered that they be presented with gold medals.

"It was one of the dramatic rescues involving a Gwent man for many years, but apart from a little article that has appeared in a historical magazine in Stornoway, in the Outer Hebrides, almost nothing is known of the incident," says the grandson of one of the heroes.

Tony Burnett, 50, a father of four of Fields Road, Oakfield, Cwmbran, still lives in the house where John Macrae, his grandfather on his mother's side, spent the last years of his life.

"I remember him well. He was kindly, but spoke little of his life at sea. "In fact, until the family was sent a local history magazine by relatives in Stornoway, nothing was known of his heroism."

On November 17, 1920, John Macrae was a seaman aboard the 9,000-ton Glasgow-registered cargo ship Salacia when, 11 days out of Liverpool and bound for Georgia, she came across the US schooner Motawoc with her sails torn to shreds and flying a distress signal. Despite heavy seas and mountainous waves the Salacia drew alongside the stricken Motawoc and got a line to her. The five British sailors, including Macrae, fought their way aboard the Motawoc and brought her under control.

With 13 feet of water in her hold, the American vessel would have sunk without trace had it not been for Macrae and his shipmates.

After five days the Salacia and her charge made North Carolina and safety.

When he heard of the rescue, the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, ordered that a gold medal be awarded to the rescuers.

Macrae's read: "To J Macrae, sailor of the British steamship Salacia in recognition of his humane services in effecting the rescue at sea on November 28, 1920, of the master and crew of the American schooner Motawoc."

"And that," says Mr Burnett, a former soldier, "is all we know.

"There seems to be no record of the presentation of the gold medal made in Newport, even though it must have been quite an affair.

"My grandfather, who was quite taciturn, never spoke of the incident, and there is no clue of what might have happened to the medal.

"I have spent weeks looking for leads, but so far there is precious little to go on.

"My last hope is that someone in Newport might have kept an old copy of the Argus carrying a report of the award, but it is a long shot."

The life story of John Macrae is shot through with omissions.

Born in Stornoway in 1895, he appears to have decided to escape the poverty of a crofting life by going to sea, as had so many Stornoway men before and since. Sailing at first from Glasgow, he seems to have made his way southwards via other British ports until arriving in Newport shortly after the First World War.

On May 26, 1924, he was married at St Hilda's Parish Church, Griffithstown, to Lucy Aida Wadley, of Gladstone Place, Sebastopol.

At some point he worked for Guest, Keen and Nettlefold, losing several fingers in an industrial accident. He was also for a time landlord of the Forgehammer pub, in Cwmbran.

Mr Burnett, the son of Hilda Macrae, one of the daughters of the marriage, is one of nine children, most of whom live locally.

"Our grandfather died in 1975, taking his life story with him," he said.

"Despite the public acknowledgement of his heroism at the time there is a great deal we don't know about him. If he was born in 1895 he would have been 19 when the Great War broke out, yet we have no record of his service.

"There is a picture of him wearing a naval ratings' uniform, and some members of the family believe he might have been in the submarine service, but there is very little to go on and he said almost nothing about himself.

"Although he died over a quarter of a century ago there still might be people - perhaps ex-sailors - who remember yarning with him.

"The family is in touch with relatives in Stornoway, and we might find some leads there, but we are hoping that in Gwent some clues about the life of a shy hero will emerge."