1925 – Nov 30-Dec 2, FL Hurricane, Tampa/4 and maritime losses off east coast of FL– 53

— 60 Rappaport and Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994. 1995.
–>59 Wikipedia. “1925 Atlantic Hurricane season.” 1-30-2022 last edit. Accessed 9-8-2022.
–>55 Barnes, Jay. Florida’s Hurricane History. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1998, p. 110.
— 55 National Weather Service, Monthly Weather Review, Dec 1925, p. 554.
— 7 American schooner Arcadia sank, crew of seven lost.
–30 American S.S. Catopaxi, Charleston to Cuba, lost off southeast FL coast. [32]
— 6 Rum rummer from Nassau lost [wrecked] off Daytona Beach.
–12 Pleasure yacht Miramar, NY to Miami, went down Charleston to Savannah area.
— 53 Blanchard tally from locality breakouts below.
— 50 Dunn and Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes. 1964, p. 317.
— 50 Rappaport and Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994. 1995.
Breakout of fatalities by locality:
— 6 Off Flagler Beach. “A rum-running schooner from the Bahamas was wrecked in a storm …today.”
–32 Off St. Augustine, SS Cotopaxi. Geggel. “Bermuda Triangle theory busted…” 2-14-2020.
–10 Tampa and Daytona Beach vicinity on east coast.
— 5 Tampa. AP. “Wind Does Heavy Damage at Points Along West Coast.” Sarasota Herald, 12-2-1925, p. 1.
— 3 Tampa. Worker bunkhouse collapse at night.
— 1 Tampa. Woman killed when she “rushed into the storm.” [Cause of death not clear.]
–11 Yacht Miramar last seen off Savannah lightship heading into a heavy sea.

Narrative Information

NWS Monthly Weather Review, Dec 1925, Tropical Cyclones: “The only important hurricane affecting the United States [in 1925] took form in the northwestern Caribbean Sea on November 29, crossed Florida Peninsula and extreme eastern North Carolina, turned eastward across the Atlantic and was last noted on the 9th of December after passing the Azores. The lowest barometer reading reported in this storm was 28.90 inches, by the U.S.S. Patoka, near the North Carolina coast on the 2d of December. A complete account of this hurricane will be found under the heading, ‘Storms and Weather Warnings,’ in this issue of the Review. The appearance of a true hurricane so late in the season is of particular interest.” (Day, W. P. “Tropical Cyclones During 1925,” Monthly Weather Review, December 1925, p. 540.)

“Storms and Weather Warnings. Washington Forecast Office. The tropical cyclone that passed over the Florida Peninsula during the night of November 30-December 1 originated over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and was central a short distance east or southeast of Swan Island at 8 a.m., November 29. It was of slight intensity at this time, but increased rapidly in intensity after passing through the Yucatan Channel during the following night, and by 8 p.m. of the 30th the barometer at Key West, Fla., had fallen to 29.63 inches [normal is 29.9] and the wind had shifted to southwest….

“During the night of November 30 the center of the storm passed inland south of Tampa. At Tampa the barometer fell to 29.50 inches and the wind reached a maximum velocity of 52 miles from the northeast about 1 a.m. of December 1….

“At 8 a.m. of the 2d the hurricane was central about 100 miles south-southeast of Wilmington, N.C…..The storm center passed inland between Wilmington and Cape Hatteras at about 6 p.m., and out to sea again a short distance south of Cape Henry during the night….[it then], turned eastward across the Atlantic and was last noted on the 9th of December after passing the Azores.” (US Weather Bureau, Monthly Weather Review, “Storms and Weather Warnings, Washington Forecast District, December 1925, p. 554.)

The NWS Monthly Weather Review for December quotes from a report from the NWS “Section director at Jacksonville.”

The losses of shipping were quire severe, as follows; The American schooner Arcadia was sunk; crew of 7 lost. The tug Gwalia, towing lumber barge from Mobile, went down. The crew was adrift on the barge; not known if rescued. The American schooner, William Russell sank off Fort Lauderdale; crew rescued. The American S.S. Catopazi, Charleston to Cuba, crew of 30, was lost off the southeast coast. A ‘rum-runner’ from Nassau was lost off Daytona Beach; crew of 6 was lost with 2,000 cases of liquor. The pleasure yacht Miramar, New York to Miami was caught in the storm between Charleston and Savannah, December 1; it went down with the crew of 12.

“The hurricane described above was only the third tropical storm of known hurricane intensity that developed after November 1 in the North Atlantic Ocean (including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico) since 1886….” (NWS Monthly Weather Review, Dec 1925, “Storms and Weather Warnings. Washington Forecast Office,” p. 554.)

Wikipedia: “55 people reported missing from ship sinkings were likely killed, and $1 million in damage is estimated for this storm. This storm not only carries the record for latest landfall, it also carries the record for latest date a hurricane had reached Category 2 strength.” (Wikipedia. “1925 Atlantic Hurricane season.”)

Wikipedia (9-8-2022): “….Four people were killed near Tampa in two separate incidents….At least 55 deaths occurred at sea.” .” (Wikipedia. “1925 Atlantic Hurricane season.” 1-30-2022 last edit.)
Newspapers

Dec 1, Associated Press: “Tampa, Fla., Dec. 1. – Three unidentified negroes were killed, another is dying and five are in a local hospital as the result of a bunkhouse on Davis Island here collapsing at midnight last night. The high winds which are sweeping this section reached its highest velocity of forth-eight miles an hour at 1:15 a.m. today, according to the weather bureau station here. The wind was decreasing in velocity and the barometer rising.

“The center of the storm, the weather bureau reported, is south, southeast of this city. Trees, shrubbery, electric light and telephone wires were down in the residential section, while downtown, signs, smokestacks and wooden awnings were sent to the streets by the wind which assumed hurricane proportions. The utilities company has issued warnings that the streets are not safe due to the falling of power lines. The railroads are without wires, officials report, and the trains to this city are badly delayed.

“Two negro homes were blown down. The West Coast Fertilizer plant was destroyed by fire at a damage of $200,000. There were several other fires.” (Associated Press. “Tropical Storm Strikes Tampa; Several Are Reported Killed.” Key West Citizen, FL. 12-1-1925, p. 1.)

Dec 1, Key West Citizen: “Tampa, Fla., Dec. 1. – Ten or twelve negro workmen were killed and more than a score injured early today in a storm that swept Tampa and other points along the west coast. Police and firemen working in the debris of a bunkhouse on Davis Island where the workmen were asleep when the gale swept over Tampa, reported they were unable to ascertain the total number of dead. There were approximately 50 men asleep on the second floor of the bunkhouse when it collapsed.

“The storm, sweeping from the east coast, reached Tampa shortly after 1 o’clock this morning. The barometer at the local weather bureau registered 29.7 and the wind reached a velocity of 48 miles an hour. Weather officials say it was the worst wind experience here in four years.

“During the height of the storm a fire broke out in the Latin section of the city, causing heavy damages to the plant of West Coast Fertilizer Company and to freight cars in its vicinity.

“No estimates of the total damage done by the high winds along the coast could be ascertained. St. Petersburg reported heavy loss to property there, while Clearwater, Sarasota, Bradenton, Fort Myers and Lakeland were cut off from telegraphic communication.” (Key West Citizen, FL. “Low Barometer Reading Reported.” 12-1-1925, p. 1.)

Dec 2, Sarasota Herald, FL: “….a building on Davis Island, located in Tampa Bay…collapsed. Fifty or more workmen housed in the building were pinned beneath the wreckage. As day broke through, the rescuers had succeeded in reaching the bodies of three dead. Fur others were reported missing tonight and 18 were in hospitals in serious condition.” (Sarasota Herald, FL. “Other W. Coast Cities Hit By Record Winds (continued from p.1.),” 12-2-1925, p. 21.)

Dec 2, United Press: “By United Press. Daytona Beach, Fla., Dec. 2. – A rum-running schooner from the Bahamas was wrecked in a storm off Flagler beach today. Two thousand cases of choice liquor and six negroes of the crew were lost.” (United Press. “Rum Runner Wrecks Off S.E. Coast.” Fayetteville Daily Democrat, AR, 12-2-1925, p. 1.)

Dec 13, Associated Press: “Charleston, S.C., Dec. 13. – (AP) – Despair, stark and cold, today gradually snuffed out the faint spark of hope that lingered in the hearts of kinsmen for the safety of the 32 men aboard the Steamer Cotopaxi, which vanished from sight in the belated hurricane on the Atlantic coast the first week of December. Most of the men were from Charleston. It was a despair all the more burdensome because it settled down after a thin hope had been blown to a full flame by rumors saying the crew of the little ship, long engaged in the coal trade between here and Havana, had been rescued….” (Associated Press. “Stark Despair Replaces Hope For Crew of Cotapaxi [SS Cotopaxi].” Sarasota Herald, FL. 12-14-1925, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Acacia Arrives At Port After Hope Was Gone.” Sarasota Herald, FL, 12-18-1925, p. 1. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sarasota-herald-dec-18-1925-p-1/

Associated Press. “Stark Despair Replaces Hope For Crew of Cotapaxi [SS Cotopaxi].” Sarasota Herald, FL. 12-14-1925, p. 1. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sarasota-herald-dec-14-1925-p-1/

Associated Press. “Storm On East Coast Moving North Rapidly.” Sarasota Herald, FL. 12-2-1925, p. 1. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sarasota-herald-dec-02-1925-p-1/

Associated Press. “Tropical Storm Strikes Tampa; Several Are Reported Killed.” Key West Citizen, FL. 12-1-1925, p. 1. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/key-west-citizen-dec-01-1925-p-1/

AP. “Wind Does Heavy Damage at Points Along West Coast.” Sarasota Herald, 12-2-1925, p. 1. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sarasota-herald-dec-02-1925-p-1/

Day, W. P. “Tropical Cyclones During 1925,” Monthly Weather Review, December 1925, p. 540. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: file:///C:/Users/Wayne/Downloads/[15200493%20-%20Monthly%20Weather%20Review]%20%E2%80%9CTHE%20CLIMATES%20OF%20THE%20UNITED%20STATES%E2%80%9D.pdf

Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.

Geggel, Laura. “Bermuda Triangle theory busted: 1925 ship Cotopaxi found near Florida.” Livescience.com, 2-14-2020. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://www.livescience.com/shipwreck-cotopaxi-bermuda-triangle.html

Key West Citizen, FL. “Low Barometer Reading Reported.” 12-1-1925, p. 1. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/key-west-citizen-dec-01-1925-p-1/

Rappaport, Edward N. and Jose Fernandez-Partagas. The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-1994 (NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NHC-47). Coral Gables, FL: National Hurricane Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, January 1995, 42 pages. Accessed 8-20-2017 at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/NWS-NHC-1995-47.pdf

Sarasota Herald, FL. “Other W. Coast Cities Hit By Record Winds (continued from p.1.),” 12-2-1925, p. 21. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sarasota-herald-dec-02-1925-p-21/

United Press. “Hope Abandoned By Coastguard For Yacht Crew.” Anniston Star, AL, 12-20-1925, p. 1. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/anniston-star-dec-20-1925-p-1/

United Press. “Rum Runner Wrecks Off S.E. Coast.” Fayetteville Daily Democrat, AR, 12-2-1925, p. 1. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fayetteville-daily-democrat-dec-02-1925-p-1/

United Press. “Statler Yacht Is Missing in the South.” Dekalb Daily Chronicle, IL. 12-12-1925, p. 1. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/dekalb-daily-chronicle-dec-12-1925-p-1/

United States Weather Bureau. Monthly Weather Review, “Storms and Weather Warnings, Washington Forecast District, December 1925, p. 554. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: file:///C:/Users/Wayne/Downloads/[15200493%20-%20Monthly%20Weather%20Review]%20WASHINGTON%20FORECAST%20DISTRICT.pdf

Wikipedia. “1925 Atlantic Hurricane season.”

Wikipedia. “1925 Atlantic Hurricane season.” 1-30-2022 last edit. Accessed 9-8-2022 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925_Atlantic_hurricane_season