USS Hornet - when did it founder in 1829?
Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 2:38 am
There appears to be two camps as to the date; either 10 September 1829 or the generally accepted 29 September 1829.
Both Threedecks and Wikipedia give 29 September as the date the Hornet foundered in a storm off Tampico. Threedecks uses the book Sailing Warships of the US Navy as its authority whilst Wikipedia relies upon the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, reproduced on the Naval History and Heritage Command website. The entry for the Hornet ends with the seemingly conclusive:
She cruised throughout the Caribbean for the next 9 years, departing Pensacola the last time 4 March 1829. She set course for the coast of Mexico and was never seen again. On 27 October 1829 the commander of the West Indies Squadron received information that Hornet had been dismasted in a gale off Tampico 29 September 1829 and had foundered with the loss of all hands.
As the Naval History and Heritage Command website is an official U.S. Navy website this would seem to settle the matter except that the Secretary of the Navy in his Annual Report in 1830 gives the date of the deaths of the officers of the Hornet as September 10, 1829 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=SrE ... &q&f=false
As the Report of the Secretary of the Navy is dated 5 December, 1830 the information received by the commander of the West Indies Squadron giving 29 September for the loss of the ship appears to have been discounted as factually incorrect.
As to why the Secretary of Navy in his report gives 10 September as the date of the deaths of the Hornet's officers he may have been swayed by the fact on 10 September 1829 Texas was hit by a hurricane.
The National Weather service in Texas Hurricane History states:
September 10th, 1829: Hurricane struck Mouth of Rio Grande. It inundated the Lower coast. Corpus Christi reported high water. It flooded the Rio Grande as it moved northwest, washing away the Socorro Mission, originally built south of El Paso in 1691. The building, made of adobe brick, “melted and sank into the ground” (Ellis). Port Isabel and Brazos Santiago were destroyed.
If the Hornet was off Tampico at this date it would be not surprising if it had foundered in the hurricane.
The US Naval Institute does appear to be aware of the problem of the date as in 2016 its publication Naval History Magazine in an article Missing and Presumed Lost concerning lost US warships stated:
The Hornet cleared Pensacola for Mexico in March 1829 and disappeared. Rumors and false reports came through the summer of 1829, and a search by the Peacock discovered no wreckage or other trace. However, in October news reached the West Indies Squadron that the Hornet had been dismasted and sunk with all hands after leaving in the face of a growing gale, or “norte,” on 29 September. Other accounts suggest the date was 10 September.
So which is the correct date? Does the Report of the Secretary of the Navy due to its authoritative nature outweigh all other sources?
Both Threedecks and Wikipedia give 29 September as the date the Hornet foundered in a storm off Tampico. Threedecks uses the book Sailing Warships of the US Navy as its authority whilst Wikipedia relies upon the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, reproduced on the Naval History and Heritage Command website. The entry for the Hornet ends with the seemingly conclusive:
She cruised throughout the Caribbean for the next 9 years, departing Pensacola the last time 4 March 1829. She set course for the coast of Mexico and was never seen again. On 27 October 1829 the commander of the West Indies Squadron received information that Hornet had been dismasted in a gale off Tampico 29 September 1829 and had foundered with the loss of all hands.
As the Naval History and Heritage Command website is an official U.S. Navy website this would seem to settle the matter except that the Secretary of the Navy in his Annual Report in 1830 gives the date of the deaths of the officers of the Hornet as September 10, 1829 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=SrE ... &q&f=false
As the Report of the Secretary of the Navy is dated 5 December, 1830 the information received by the commander of the West Indies Squadron giving 29 September for the loss of the ship appears to have been discounted as factually incorrect.
As to why the Secretary of Navy in his report gives 10 September as the date of the deaths of the Hornet's officers he may have been swayed by the fact on 10 September 1829 Texas was hit by a hurricane.
The National Weather service in Texas Hurricane History states:
September 10th, 1829: Hurricane struck Mouth of Rio Grande. It inundated the Lower coast. Corpus Christi reported high water. It flooded the Rio Grande as it moved northwest, washing away the Socorro Mission, originally built south of El Paso in 1691. The building, made of adobe brick, “melted and sank into the ground” (Ellis). Port Isabel and Brazos Santiago were destroyed.
If the Hornet was off Tampico at this date it would be not surprising if it had foundered in the hurricane.
The US Naval Institute does appear to be aware of the problem of the date as in 2016 its publication Naval History Magazine in an article Missing and Presumed Lost concerning lost US warships stated:
The Hornet cleared Pensacola for Mexico in March 1829 and disappeared. Rumors and false reports came through the summer of 1829, and a search by the Peacock discovered no wreckage or other trace. However, in October news reached the West Indies Squadron that the Hornet had been dismasted and sunk with all hands after leaving in the face of a growing gale, or “norte,” on 29 September. Other accounts suggest the date was 10 September.
So which is the correct date? Does the Report of the Secretary of the Navy due to its authoritative nature outweigh all other sources?