Just How Powerful Was the 1780 Great Hurricane When It Hit Barbados?

[abajan]

The Great Hurricane of October 1780 is the most deadly on record in the Atlantic, and according to this article, winds in excess of 200 mph would have been required to cause the type of damage witnessed in Barbados. But the thing is, the center of the hurricane passed to the north of the island, which means it was on the weaker side of the hurricane. Having heard tales many times of the destruction it wrought, I'd always assumed that the northern section of the eye wall either went over the island or passed just to the south. I now shudder at the thought of how powerful the right front quadrant of the hurricane would have been at the time!

[Ptarmigan]

I can imagine the 1780 Hurricane easily having sustained winds of over 200 mph. Hurricane Patricia had 215 mph winds.

[FireRat]

I can imagine the 1780 monster to have looked like SuperTyphoon Haiyan from space, but possibly having been even stronger, 200-250 MPH range.

Interesting to note how strange that year was in regards to how late the season blossomed with major hurricanes. The Savana Le Mar hurricane of that same month was probably another Cat 5 when it raked Jamaica, and then a week later, the Great Hurricane strikes...wow! This is a good example year to show that the season ain't over by a long shot, and October can be a beast!

[Darvince]

Imagine if the 1775-1780 Atlantic seasons were to repeat in modern times...

[Alyono]

War time hurricane. Accounts may have been exaggerated for war time propaganda purposes. No doubt it was a bad hurricane. However, the extreme tales may be propaganda

remember, most of the dead were French and British military personnel

[abajan]

... Accounts may have been exaggerated ...

That's possible. I've often marveled at accounts of the cannons being flung 100 ft into the air. I'm familiar with those cannons, as many of them have been preserved and are on display at the Garrison Savannah historic area. They are large and no doubt, quite heavy.

[Alyono]

... Accounts may have been exaggerated ...

That's possible. I've often marveled at accounts of the cannons being flung 100 ft into the air. I'm familiar with those cannons, as many of them have been preserved and are on display at the Garrison Savannah historic area. They are large and no doubt, quite heavy.

Oh I can see cannons being flung 100 feet in the air... by artillery shells landing

Would not surprise me if there was combat that was occurring and there was major island shelling. Then a bad hurricane came in and gave both sides a convenient excuse to explain what happened

[Ntxw]

Yeah it's difficult to quantify claims from so long ago. I'm sure they were moved, but who's to say surge or mudslides didn't move them? I'm not saying that did but all possibilities are on the table. Plus i doubt anyone would be outside to view such a phenomenon if such a powerful hurricane were to have hit for true eyewitness accounts. The loss of life was devastating no doubt, especially with the likely poor construction back then.

[Alyono]

... Accounts may have been exaggerated ...

That's possible. I've often marveled at accounts of the cannons being flung 100 ft into the air. I'm familiar with those cannons, as many of them have been preserved and are on display at the Garrison Savannah historic area. They are large and no doubt, quite heavy.

Also, one thing that has always stuck me was that there were large casualties of BOTH British and French naval personnel.

During a war, why would opposing navies be in close proximity UNLESS they were battling?

I suspect there was a military battle that either got interrupted by the hurricane (which may very well have been a cat 4, which would have made it worse than Ivan) or came immediately after

[abajan]

... Accounts may have been exaggerated ...

That's possible. I've often marveled at accounts of the cannons being flung 100 ft into the air. I'm familiar with those cannons, as many of them have been preserved and are on display at the Garrison Savannah historic area. They are large and no doubt, quite heavy.

Also, one thing that has always stuck me was that there were large casualties of BOTH British and French naval personnel.

During a war, why would opposing navies be in close proximity UNLESS they were battling?

I suspect there was a military battle that either got interrupted by the hurricane (which may very well have been a cat 4, which would have made it worse than Ivan) or came immediately after

I would have to double check but I'm pretty sure there was no battle occurring in Barbados at that time. From my information, some of the British naval personnel perished while stationed in St Lucia (about a hundred miles to the NW of Barbados) and many more of them lost their lives in the vicinity of Hispaniola. The French personnel perished when 40 of their ships capsized off Martinique which is about 20 miles north of St Lucia.

[Alyono]

That's possible. I've often marveled at accounts of the cannons being flung 100 ft into the air. I'm familiar with those cannons, as many of them have been preserved and are on display at the Garrison Savannah historic area. They are large and no doubt, quite heavy.

Also, one thing that has always stuck me was that there were large casualties of BOTH British and French naval personnel.

During a war, why would opposing navies be in close proximity UNLESS they were battling?

I suspect there was a military battle that either got interrupted by the hurricane (which may very well have been a cat 4, which would have made it worse than Ivan) or came immediately after

I would have to double check but I'm pretty sure there was no battle occurring in Barbados at that time. From my information, some of the British naval personnel perished while stationed in St Lucia (about a hundred miles to the NW of Barbados) and many more of them lost their lives in the vicinity of Hispaniola. The French personnel perished when 40 of their ships capsized off Martinique which is about 20 miles north of St Lucia.

Nothing recorded in history about a specific battle then, just general naval activity during that time. However, with navies that close, I almost wonder if something happened that shouldn't have, and then the no doubt very strong hurricane gave an excuse to blame everything on. I've long suspected what happened was a combination of the war and the hurricane, unlike Mitch which was purely a peacetime hurricane disaster

[somethingfunny]

Just how much does a cannon weigh? What sort of wind would be required to move it, let alone fly it?

[Dean4Storms]

... Accounts may have been exaggerated ...

That's possible. I've often marveled at accounts of the cannons being flung 100 ft into the air. I'm familiar with those cannons, as many of them have been preserved and are on display at the Garrison Savannah historic area. They are large and no doubt, quite heavy.

Oh I can see cannons being flung 100 feet in the air... by artillery shells landing

Would not surprise me if there was combat that was occurring and there was major island shelling. Then a bad hurricane came in and gave both sides a convenient excuse to explain what happened

A strong violent tornado could have flung a cannon off the edge of a fort wall, if they can pick up and move trains......

If bark was removed off tree's and every tree on an island flattened that was some serious winds and possibly similar and worse then Andrew (See Homestead AFB) a swath of destruction like never seen.

[Dean4Storms]

That's possible. I've often marveled at accounts of the cannons being flung 100 ft into the air. I'm familiar with those cannons, as many of them have been preserved and are on display at the Garrison Savannah historic area. They are large and no doubt, quite heavy.

Oh I can see cannons being flung 100 feet in the air... by artillery shells landing

Would not surprise me if there was combat that was occurring and there was major island shelling. Then a bad hurricane came in and gave both sides a convenient excuse to explain what happened

A strong violent tornado could have flung a cannon off the edge of a fort wall, if they can pick up and move trains......

If bark was removed off tree's and every tree on an island flattened that was some serious winds and possibly similar and worse then Andrew (See Homestead AFB) a swath of destruction like never seen.

I would imagine a violent tornado moving inside the strong winds of an eyewall is very hard to distinguish between it and just high winds, at some point it would all look like a blender being turned on!

[Hurricaneman]

If you want an estimation of this powerful hurricane I'd say 900mb 180mph if that makes any sense

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[weatherwindow]

Good afternoon Bajan... discussing the cannon movements...is there any possibility that these forts were subject to a significant storm surge/storm wave?... how close to the coast are the forts/cannons?... what was the inland extent of storm surge inundation?....Greeting from Cayo Hueso, Rich