William Lewis Herndon
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Commander William Lewis Herndon (25 October 1813 – 12 September 1857) was one of the United States Navy's outstanding explorers and seamen. He chose to go down with his ship while other lives were still aboard and while in command of the steamer Central America's 44th trip, which sank in a three day and night hurricane off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. His daughter Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur was the wife of future U.S. President Chester A. Arthur.
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[edit] Naval Service
William Lewis Herndon was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Herndon was appointed Midshipman on 1 November 1828. He cruised in Pacific, South American, Mediterranean, and Gulf waters from then until 1842.
[edit] Service in the Depot of Charts and Instruments
From 1842 to 1846 Herndon served in the Depot of Charts and Instruments (later to become the United States Naval Observatory) with his brother-in-law, Matthew Fontaine Maury, preparing oceanographic charts and performing other scientific work invaluable to the safe and accurate navigation of the seas.
[edit] Mexican-American War
During the Mexican-American War, Herndon commanded the brig Iris with distinction.
[edit] Exploring the Valley of the Amazon
In 1851 Herndon headed an expedition exploring the Valley of the Amazon, a vast uncharted area. Departing Lima, Peru, 21 May 1851, Herndon and his small party of six men pressed into the wild and treacherously beautiful jungles. After a remarkable journey of 4,366 dangerous miles, which took him through wilderness from sea level to heights of 16,199 feet, Herndon reached the city of Pará, Brazil on 11 April 1852. On 26 January 1853 Herndon submitted an encyclopedic and profusely illustrated 414-page report to the Secretary of the Navy John P. Kennedy. The report was later published as Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon published 1853.
This volume was unusual and of such importance that in an unusual move, it was immediately ordered, "10,000 additional copies be printed for the use of the Senate."
"To the Senate and House of Representatives."
"I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by the first part of Lieut. Herndon’s Report of the Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon and its tributaries, made by him, in connection with Lieut. Lardner Gibbon, under instructions from the Navy Department.
MILLARD FILLMORE. WASHINGTON, February 9, 1853."
[edit] Wreck of the sidewheel steamship SS Central America
After two years of active service in Potomac and San Jacinto, Herndon, now a commander, was given leave in 1855 to command the Atlantic Mail Steamship Company steamer SS Central America, 20 June 1857, on the New York to Aspinwall run. (Central America had recently been renamed from George Law. Aspinwall was an Anglo-alternative name for Colón, Panama.)
Making his way up the coast from Aspinwall with perhaps 15 tons of gold (then worth $2,000,000) and 474 passengers, as well as 101 crew members, Herndon encountered a three-day hurricane off Cape Hatteras on 7 September 1857. The hurricane steadily increased in savagery until the 12th, and Central America was shipping water through several leaks. As the ship pitched and rolled through the pounding seas, water in her hold put out her boiler fires.
Commander Herndon reluctantly admitted that, despite the valiant efforts of crew and passengers alike, his ship was doomed and summoned aid by firing the ship's minute guns. At 2 p.m., West Indian brig Marine arrived to aid the stricken steamer. Disregarding his own life, Commander Herndon supervised the loading of women and children into lifeboats and watched them pull to safety in Marine. Herndon's bravery and his concern for his passengers and crew helped save 152 of the 575 people on board.
Commander William Lewis Herndon was last seen in full uniform, standing by the wheelhouse with his hand on the rail, hat off and in his hand and bowed in prayer as the ship gave a lurch and went down. The loss of so much gold contributed in part to the Panic of 1857.
[edit] Legacy
Herndon's memory has been honored in various ways both by the U.S. Navy and his native Virginia.
- A monument at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland commemorates this intrepid explorer and gallant seaman.
- The Navy has named two ships USS Herndon in his honor.
- The town of Herndon, Virginia is also named for him.
[edit] Further reading
- Kinder, Gary, Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea. An account of the last days of Central America and the search for her wreck.
- Ship of Gold web site
- Final Voyage of the SS Central America Klare, Normand - Historian The Final Voyage of the Central America. Exhaustive research documentation of the tragedy from actual accounts by the survivors of the Central America. A further indepth biography of William Lewis Herndon' s life and US naval career.
- Herndon and Gibbon, Lieutenants, United States Navy Klare, Normand - Historian Herndon and Gibbon. The First North American Explorers of the Amazon Valley. Lieutenant William Lewis Herndon's and Lieutenant Lardner Gibbon's expedition to map the Amazon river from its source to the Atlantic Ocean. Stories from their actual reports to Secretary of the Navy John P. Kennedy, President Millard Fillmore and the House of Representatives of the United States.
[edit] References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
