Old Weather Forum

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On the weather page, please enter: date, locations, distances (nautical miles and tenths), courses, and all the weather data in the columns outlined in red in the spreadsheet.
It is not necessary to record State of the Sea.
However, ice mentioned in the weather grid should be transcribed using the magenta Sea column.

On the events page please enter: ice, location information, and sailing information.
Aurorae, volcanic, and seismic activity should be reported in the forum.
The names of US Navy and Coast Guard ships met should be noted. This gives the science team a chance to compare weather readings. You can include all ships mentioned in a single entry without a time or any additional data.
Other events are optional.

One person can do both weather and events (Stream 1), but the system also allows one person to do the weather page (Stream 1) and a second person to do the events page (Stream 3).
Unlike in OW3, where three transcriptions were required for each page, we are doing only one transcription per page.

Every transcriber needs to enter the date.
The date is used to organize the pages.

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See Omaha: general for some general background and discussion.
See Omaha: examples for a quick introduction to transcribing or a refresher.

See Transcribing Guide to learn how to transcribe the data.
Post in Ask Questions Here or this topic if you have questions.

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At sea
Position 0.0597, -82.4599
12 February, 1874

At 8:30 PM observed an unusually brilliant meteor whose path across the heavens was from NW to SE.

Callao, Peru
26 March

Trouble in River City! I had noticed a number of what appeared to be corrections added after the fact.

At 8 PM.

By order of Com'd'r W. K. Mayo, USN, Com'd'g USS Omaha, the Officer of the deck is to write the remarks and columns of the log during his watch, before being relieved, and the relieving officer is not to take the deck until he ascertains that the previous log has been written.

This order, dated the 27^th, was inserted at the first continuation page for the 26^th. The quote above was on the third continuation page.

Order. Hereafter before an officer signs remarks on this Record, he will compare the record with the Rough log which he has written whilst the Ships writer reads aloud to him the copy entered in this book, and the officer is enjoined to be faithful in the observance of this order. After the Signatures of the watch officers are appended, the log is to be scrutinized by the Navigator who will, under no circumstances, affix his signature until he is assured of the correctness of the entries.

(Signed) W. K. Mayo
Commander
Com'd'g

Callao
March 27th, 9 P.M.

Very interesting!

Three cheers for Com'd'r W. K. Mayo, USN!

He could have also ordered that the Ship's Writer shall transcribe the log with all such due care and consideration such that his handwriting shall be clear and perfectly legible to all those who will be reading these logs for many years into the future.

Callao Peru
March 31^st

There is an insert regarding the procedures to be followed to mark the death of President Filmore, which occurred on March 8. The date of the instructions was March 9 and, among other things, asked that the procedures be carried on March 12, the date of his funeral, or upon receipt of these instructions. The death of the president will be marked, tomorrow, April 1.

Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853, the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Upstate New York, Fillmore was elected as the 12th vice president in 1848, and succeeded to the presidency in July 1850 upon the death of U.S. President Zachary Taylor. Fillmore was instrumental in the passing of the Compromise of 1850, a bargain that led to a brief truce in the battle over the expansion of slavery. He failed to win the Whig nomination for president in 1852 but gained the endorsement of the nativist Know Nothing Party four years later and finished third in the 1856 presidential election.

Callao, Peru
1 April

At 6:10 hoisted colors and then half-masted them - the Flag Ship firing a gun. The flags of the different men-of-war (foreign) half masted their colors with us.

On the Guayquil River
June 22^nd

6:35 PM. The tide having turned flood while heading NxE1/4E, off Espanola Pt, the soundings suddenly shoaled from 51/2 fath's to 31/2 fath's, stopped the engines and backed her - but the ship backed into a shoal. Went ahead and got aground on soft muddy bottom. Sent a boat out to get sounding. Sounded around ship. Got up a kedge on starb'd quarter and a kedge on starb'd bow. Attempting to get ship off with kedges and working engines.

8 PM to Midnight
All hands at work getting ship off shoal. Hauling on kedges run out on starb'd bow and quarter, and working engines at same time. Using the spanker and mizzen topsail to assist in paying stern off to starboard. Flood tide running. Sent Whale Boat out several times to take soundings. At 11:05, went ahead four bells with engine hauling in on bow hawser at same time and slipping quarter hawser with buoy attached, and afterwards slipped bow hawser with buoy attached, and stood out to the S^d&E^d several ship's lengths. Water deepening all the time. Came to at 11:20.

Bad day!

July 11^th, 1874
4°57'S 81°49'W
( -4.94 -81.82)

Midnight to 4 AM.

Passed through a band of very phosphorescent sea, about 4 miles broad, and extending SSE and NNW.

Paita, Peru
16 August

I didn't notice any reason why he left, and I didn't notice anything about a new captain coming on board. I'll watch for it when I work on the voyage.

At 1:30 Captain May left the ship and went to the mail steamer "Lima" to take passage home.

From DANFS:

Commanding Officer	Assumed Command
Capt. John C. Febiger	12 September 1872
Capt. William K. Mayo	24 June 1874
Capt. Philip C. Johnson	13 February 1875
Capt. Edward Simpson	25 October 1875
Capt. Thomas O. Selfridge Jr.	16 April 1885
Capt. Frederick V. McNair	6 January 1888
Capt. Bartlett J. Cromwell	21 September 1889

https://prabook.com/web/william_kennon.mayo/1092369

https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/crew/ ... ohnson-jr/

I looked back and, on the morning of the 15^th the two captains inspected the ship. Then, at

• 2:30 Dress parade and drill;
• 4:00 all men rated by Cap't Mayo were dis-rated;
• 6:15 called all men to muster, Cap't Mayo relinquished command, the orders of Cap't Johnson from the Navy were read and he assumed command of the ship.

On the 17^th, Cap't Johnson re-rated everyone dis-rated by Cap't Mayo. Four men were exceptions, but they were rated to Quartermaster.

August 30
Noon Position: Lat 10° 45' 00"S, Long 79° 10' 00"W


1:00 P.M.

The air remarkably clear during watch. Planet Venus distinctly visible although the sun was shining brightly.

October 25th
34°11'S 75°31'W

0015

A total eclipse of the moon occurred. The moon's disc being apparently entirely covered by the shadow for about 40 min.

Valparaiso, Chile
02 November

At 5:30 H.B.M.S. Fern went out, homeward bound, cheered her, and the cheer was returned.

Maybe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Fawn_(1856) ?


HMS Miranda (left) and Fawn (right) during the Regatta of January 1862 ("the race of the Maori war canoes")