MAY 17TH, 1865: After weathering an earlier typhoon, the CSS Shenandoah encountered a second, less violent, blow. "The weather continued so threatening that it looked impossible for the Shenandoah to get north of the parallel 45, but the last gale, like its predecessor, had worked to the westward, and the ship began to make her northing again," Wassell recorded.
"On the 17th of May we were north of the parallel of 45 and the weather, though cold, looked more settled, and we took a long breath."
Hate Those Storms At Sea. --Old B-R'er
Showing posts with label typhoons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label typhoons. Show all posts
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
Great Weather Turns Bad for CSS Shenandoah-- Part 2: The Big Blow
"After the vessel had reached the parallel of 43 degrees north the weather became cold and foggy and the winds were variable and unsteady, and that ever reliable friend of the sailor, the barometer, indicated atmospheric changes.
"The ship was prepared for the change of weather which was rapidly approaching. Soon the ocean was boiling with agitation, and if the barometer had been silent, I would have called it only a furious tide but a dark, then a black cloud, was hurrying toward us from the N.E. and so close did it rest upon the surface of the water that it seemed determined to overwhelm the ship, and there came in it so terrible and violent of a wind that the Shenandoah was thrown upon her side...."
"Squall after squall struck her, flash after flash surrounded her, and the thunder rolled in her wake. It was a typhoon. The ocean was as white as the snow and foamed with rage. A new close-reefed topsail was blown to shreds, and the voice of man was inaudible amid this awful convolution of nature."
Into Every man's Life, Storms Must Come. --Old B-R'er
"The ship was prepared for the change of weather which was rapidly approaching. Soon the ocean was boiling with agitation, and if the barometer had been silent, I would have called it only a furious tide but a dark, then a black cloud, was hurrying toward us from the N.E. and so close did it rest upon the surface of the water that it seemed determined to overwhelm the ship, and there came in it so terrible and violent of a wind that the Shenandoah was thrown upon her side...."
"Squall after squall struck her, flash after flash surrounded her, and the thunder rolled in her wake. It was a typhoon. The ocean was as white as the snow and foamed with rage. A new close-reefed topsail was blown to shreds, and the voice of man was inaudible amid this awful convolution of nature."
Into Every man's Life, Storms Must Come. --Old B-R'er
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