William Lewis Herndon
Encyclopedia
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
'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
SS Central America
SS Central America, sometimes called the Ship of Gold, was a 280-foot sidewheel steamer that operated between Central America and the eastern coast of the United States during the 1850s. She was originally named the SS George Law, after Mr. George Law of New York...
's 44th trip, which sank in a three day and night hurricane off Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras is a cape on the coast of North Carolina. It is the point that protrudes the farthest to the southeast along the northeast-to-southwest line of the Atlantic coast of North America...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. His daughter Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur
Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur
Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur was the wife of the 21st President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur.-Early life:...
was the wife of future U.S. President Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
.
Naval Service
William Lewis Herndon was born in Fredericksburg, VirginiaFredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
. Herndon was appointed midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
on 1 November 1828. He was promoted to passed midshipman
Passed midshipman
A Passed Midshipman, sometimes called as Midshipman, Passed, is an unused and historic term which describes a Midshipman who had passed the Lieutenant exam and was eligible for promotion to Lieutenant as soon as there was a vacancy in that grade....
in 1834 and lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1841. He cruised in Pacific, South American, Mediterranean, and Gulf waters from then until 1842.
Service in the Depot of Charts and Instruments
From 1842 to 1846 Herndon served in the Depot of Charts and InstrumentsUnited States Naval Observatory
The United States Naval Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, with a primary mission to produce Positioning, Navigation, and Timing for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense...
with his 1st cousin & brother-in-law, Matthew Fontaine Maury
Matthew Fontaine Maury
Matthew Fontaine Maury , United States Navy was an American astronomer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator....
, preparing oceanographic charts and performing other scientific work invaluable to the safe and accurate navigation of the seas.
Mexican-American War
During the Mexican-American War, Herndon commanded the brigBrig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Iris
USS Iris (1847)
The first USS Iris was a wooden steamship in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War.Propelled by radial paddle wheels, Iris was built at New York in 1847 and purchased there by the Navy in the same year. She commissioned at New York Navy Yard on 25 October 1847, Commander Stephen B...
with distinction.
Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon
In 1851 Herndon headed an expedition exploring the Valley of the AmazonValley of the Amazon
Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon is a two volume publication by two young USN lieutenants William Lewis Herndon and Lardner Gibbon . Herndon split the main party in two so that he and Gibbon could explore two different areas of the Valley of the Amazon.*Exploration of the Valley of the...
, a vast uncharted area. The purpose of the expedition was to ascertain the commercial resources and capabilities of the valley. Departing Lima, Peru, 21 May 1851, Herndon, in the company of Lieutenant Lardner Gibbon and five other men, pressed into the wild and treacherously beautiful jungles. After crossing the Cordilleras, Gibbon separated to explore the Bolivian tributaries of the Amazon while Herndon continued to explore the main trunk. After a journey of 4,366 miles, which took him through the wilderness from sea level to heights of 16,199 feet, Herndon reached the city of Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
on 11 April 1852.
On 26 January 1853 Herndon submitted an encyclopedic and profusely illustrated 414-page report to the Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
John P. Kennedy
John P. Kennedy
John Pendleton Kennedy was an American novelist and Whig politician who served as United States Secretary of the Navy from July 26, 1852 to March 4, 1853, during the administration of President Millard Fillmore, and as a U.S. Representative from the Maryland's 4th congressional district. He was...
. The report was later published in 1853 as Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon. This volume was unusual and of such importance that, in an unusual move, it was immediately ordered that "10,000 additional copies be printed for the use of the Senate." It was extensively circulated, and cited in works on ethnology and natural history.
Wreck of the sidewheel steamship SS Central America
After two years of active service in PotomacUSS Potomac (1822)
The first USS Potomac was a frigate in the United States Navy.Potomac was laid down by the Washington Navy Yard in August 1819, was launched March 1822. Fitting out was not completed until 1831, when Captain John Downes assumed command as first commanding officer...
and San Jacinto
USS San Jacinto (1850)
The first USS San Jacinto was an early screw frigate in the United States Navy during the mid-19th century. She was named for the San Jacinto River, site of the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution. She is perhaps best known for her role in the Trent Affair of 1861.San Jacinto was laid...
, Herndon, now a commander, was given leave in 1855 to command the Atlantic Mail Steamship Company steamer SS Central America
SS Central America
SS Central America, sometimes called the Ship of Gold, was a 280-foot sidewheel steamer that operated between Central America and the eastern coast of the United States during the 1850s. She was originally named the SS George Law, after Mr. George Law of New York...
, 20 June 1857, on the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to Aspinwall run. (Central America had recently been renamed from George Law. Aspinwall was an English name for Colón, Panama
Colón, Panama
Colón is a sea port on the Caribbean Sea coast of Panama. The city lies near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city....
.)
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
Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras is a cape on the coast of North Carolina. It is the point that protrudes the farthest to the southeast along the northeast-to-southwest line of the Atlantic coast of North America...
on 7 September 1857. The hurricane steadily increased in savagery. By the 12th, the Central America was shipping water through several leaks due to the ship's lack of water-tight bulkheads and general unseaworthiness. As the ship pitched and rolled through the pounding seas, water in her hold put out her boiler fires, precluding the use of steam for controlling the ship and pumping.
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. Some of those who remained on deck were picked up later by passing vessels, after clinging to spars. Herndon's bravery and his concern for his passengers and crew helped save 152 of the 575 people on board. He sent his watch to his wife, saying that he could not leave the ship while there was a soul 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
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was...
.
Legacy
Herndon's memory has been honored in various ways:- His brother officers erected a monument in his honor at the U.S. Naval Academy.
- The Navy has named two ships USS HerndonUSS HerndonUSS Herndon has been the name of more than one United States Navy ship, and may refer to:, a Clemson-class destroyer, commissioned in 1920 and transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Churchill, a Gleaves-class destroyer, commissioned in 1942 and decommissioned in 1946* USS Raymon W. Herndon , a...
in his honor. - The towns of HerndonHerndon, VirginiaHerndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.-History:...
, VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and HerndonHerndon, PennsylvaniaHerndon, formerly Trevorton Junction, is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Herndon was first founded by Robert A. Parrish in 1840. The town was later named for Naval commander William Lewis Herndon, who died in 1857 while trying to rescue passengers from his sinking...
, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
are also named for him.
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.