On three several hurricanes of the Atlantic, and their relations to the northers of Mexico and Central America, with notices of other storms / by W.C. Redfield.

  • William C. Redfield
Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On three several hurricanes of the Atlantic, and their relations to the northers of Mexico and Central America, with notices of other storms / by W.C. Redfield. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    28/142
    43. At Charleston, (S. C.) lat. 32° 42', Ion. 79° 56', Oct. 4th, wind E., cloudy, barome- ter 3015. Oct. 5th, N. E., cloudy, the weather giving indications of an approaching gale, barometer 30 20; and at the close of the day, it commenced blowing heavily from E. W. E., which continued during the night. Oct. 6tb, in the course of the morning, the wind changed to N. E. and N. N. E., and continued to blow a gale throughout the day, with a very high tide; barometer 30 inches. Oct. 7th, 7 a. m., wind N., fair; barometer 30-15 ; P. m., N. E., cloudy. [The high state of the barometer at Charleston, shows a proximity to the border of the storm, and perhaps an unusual pressure on this border.] 44. At Wilmington, (N. C.) lat. 34° 18', Ion. 78° 2', the steamers for Charleston were detained in port during the 6th, on account of the gale. 45. Brig New Hanover, two days from Savannah, for Philadelphia, had a tremendous gale from E. to N. E.; laid to 18 hours without canvass, and drifted 150 miles south- ward of Savannah. 46. Ship Lucas left Charleston for Boston on the 3d Oct., and on 6th and 7th, had a gale fron N. E., which blew a perfect hurricane: was blown from Cape Remain, [lat 33° 1', Ion. 79° 24',J to lat. 31°. 47. Schr. John Hughes, from Newbern for Barbadoes, was capsized on the 8th, under a storm staysail; one man taken off the bottom on the 11th, in lat. 33° 1', Ion. 77° 40'. 48. Brig Philura, on 6th Oct., in a gale off Cape Fear, was knocked down on her beam ends, and partly dismasted. 49. Brig Hector, Oct. 8th, lat. 33°, Ion. 76° 25', in a gale from S. E., [?] sprung the main- mast, lost sails, bulwarks, &c. 50. Brig Orray Toft, from Charleston for Providence, on the 4th Oct., was in lat 32° 48', Ion. 77° 11'. On the 7th, 8th and 9th, experienced heavy gales from E. to N. N. E. We have other reports of this gale off Cape Hatteras, but otherwise indefinite as to location. At a greater distance from the American coast, we have the following observations. 51. Brig Francis reports the gale from N. E. on the 7th Oct., lat. 32° 15', Ion. 73° 20'. 52. Schr. Currency, at Philadelphia, Oct. 16lh, from Turks Island, experienced a heavy gale on the 7th and 8th. 53. Brig Forrest sailed from Portland, Oct. 2d, for Havanna. Oct. 7th, had strong bree- zes from E. N. E., and cloudy ; at noon began to take in sail, the wind increasing; at 9 p. M., was under close-reefed main-topsail and reefed foresail, wind E. S. E., with a heavy sea; kept before the wind, both pumps going. At midnight the wind backed to E. by N., and blew a perfect hurricane ; lay under bare poles, nearly buried in the sea, until 2 a. m. of the 8th. At 2h. 15tn. a. m., a heavy blast capsized the brig: cut away the rigging, when the masts broke and the vessel righted. The crew then lashed to the quarter deck, the sea breaking over them, and remained lashed to the wreck till the 9th, [naut. time ?] when the wind shifted to the west, and were taken off on the 11th. The position of the brig is not given in this account, but the wreck was seen, Oct. 15th, in lat. 32° 15' Ion. 71° 50'; having probably drifted, in this lime, a degree or more to the southward of her position in the gale. 54. Brig Sally Ann, Oct. 6th, lat. 30°, Ion. 73°, experienced a violent gale from S. E. 55. Schr. Betsey Richards, lat. 30°, Ion. 71°, Oct. 8th, experienced a heavy <*ale from S. E., which lasted 54 hours. On the 9th, shipped a heavy sea, and suffered damage. [The dates here are probably nautical time.] 56. This gale caused the final loss of the R. M. steam-ship his, near Bermuda, Oct. 9th, which had left New Providence, Oct. 3d, at 8 p. m., for Bermuda, in a leakv condi- tion, caused by striking on the rocks at Porto Rico. In the afternoon of Oct. 6th, a breeze sprung up from E. N. E., which gradually freshened, and at noon of the 7th, it blew a gale, with a heavy sea. The gale was heavy on the 8th and 9th, and on the morning of the 10th, the fires stopped, owing to the strain and increased leaking of the ship, and sig- nals of distress were made to the Medway, which ship succeeded in taking off the passen- gers and crew, about 40 miles from Bermuda. On the 10th, the gale had abated.