# Typhoon of August 5th to 23rd, 1924/Effects of the Typhoon

III. — EFFECTS OF THE TYPHOON EXPERIENCED ON BOARD STEAMERS
A contribution to the knowledge of these revolving storms will be supplied by some extracts of the reports of ships having f the influence of the present typhoon: they will show at what distance from the centre its presence was felt and under what form; this might be useful to captains who, in the future, may encounter a similar typhoon. As a rule their advance and course of action are more simple, but it is necessary to state that one must be always on the look out, and not rely too much upon instructions drawn according to calculations based on the means, and on what takes place in the majority of cases. When you are in the hurricane, you have not to fight against a mean danger, but against an actual and practical enemy not a merely theoretical one. Here for instance it is recorded in the Far East that a steamer was wrecked on the dangerous reefs of the Paracels, because, in the opinion of a captain, the conviction existed on board that typhoons never could advance towards the SW. When we remember the uncertainty and anxiety experienced here during the 18 days we were watching the present typhoon, with all the information we could gather, we quite understand the trouble that may prey upon the conscience of a commanding officer isolated at sea, and having often to take a decision merely with the observations made on board.
The Observatory of the Imperial Japanese Navy at Kobe has published the names of 21 japanese steamers that were caught in the storm: these may be found in the Bulletin of August, page 164 with the value of the barometric minimum and the duration of the gale. To have some idea of the violence of the cyclone, we find there that the pressure fell to 708mm, 8 (27$^{in}$. 90) on the 10th at 10 p. m. on board the Batavia Maru to the NW of Naha; we see there too that some steamers, at different dates, from the 9th (Nanking Maru) to the 20th (Peking Maru) noted winds of force 11 and even 12, that ​in perfect hurricanes, so that the typhoon during that long period never appeared to be exhausted, Some of these ships had a very long struggle; for instance the Nanking Maru had to mancœvre round the trajectory from the 10th to the 15th, starting W of Oshima, sailing parallel to the typhoon to the S of Ishigakijima, thence to the SE of Naha, while on board a gale (force 11) blew from the 9th, 6 p. m. to the 12th, 6 p. m. (72 hours) then since midnight of the 13th to noon of the 15th (60 hours), making a total of 132 hours of hurricane.
The following list does not include such terrible experiences as those given above, but gives many instructive details: the names are given in alphabetical order. Here we are glad to offer our best thanks: to the commanding or observing Officers who were good enough to send us their reports, either regularly during the whole year, or each time they have been engaged in rough or typhonic weather. The present list countains only the names of the ships that were at sea during the actual typhoon.
Angkor (M.M). Captain Brun.—Having left Shimonoseki for Shanghai, the steamer was too advanced to have a real struggle with the cyclone, However, when it reached lat. 32°50', and long. 427° 10', on the 11th at 6 a. m., while the pressure was falling and the wind playing between E and ENE, it met with a very distinct and characteristic swell form SSE (force 4), which backed gradually to SE when approaching the mouth of the Yang-tze. We find here a fairly precise bit of information showing that the swell diverging from the centre was felt with force at a distance of some 450 nautical miles. Near the Saddles the rain came down with heavy squalls.
Fausang (I. C. N. Co). Captain S, Findeison.—A very interesting note in the report of that steamer stales that the swell extended still farther. After leaving Chefoo on the 10th, dead calm prevailed till about midnight; at 4 a. m., just after doubling the SE Promontory of Shantung (in lat, 36° 8', long. 122° 42'), a swell from SE started running, increasing in extent until 8 a. m. and then remained constant, at force 4 to 5, certainly due to the typhoon, This time the undulations emanating from the vortex were felt at a distance of about 780 nautical miles, and it may be noted that the observation was made nearly at the limit reached by the movement.
The steamer sailed back from Shanghai on the 14th and had very fresh N to NNE winds, abnormal at this time of the year and due, no doubt to the typhoon, some 420 miles distant, which was then recurving back towards the north of Naha.
​Feng-tien (C, N. Co) Captain H.A. Walker.—The report of this steamer, that followed the Fausang after one day's interval, confirms entirely the preceding conclusions. Having left Wei-hai-wei on the 12th at midnight, the advance was made at first on a calm sea, sometimes through banks of dense fog, At 8 a, m. (lat. 36 26', long. 1229 43'), the ship began to pitch on a long SSE swell, moderate at first and increasing by degrees: we have here again the movement felt at the distance of about 800 nautical miles, for the centre was moving then in lat. 25° and long. 123° approximately, The increasing swell became heavy at midnight, shifting to ESE, and near the mouth of the Yangtze, on the 13th, the sea was rough and choppy with a very heavy confused swell.
Hsing-ming (C. N, Co) Captain. W. Wallace.—As soon as the ship went out of the Yangtze, on the 10th August, steering for Chefoo, at 6 a. m., abnormal winds from NE and NNE, force 4 to 6 were observed: it was obviously the cyclonic circulation of the typhoon, A second sign of ifs presence in the distance was given by the state of the sea which was heavy and crossed by a heavy swell from ESE, That swell, quite in opposition to the direction of the wind was due no doubt to the typhoon; it decreased gradually until lat, 36° was passed, on the 12th at 2 a. m,
in the return voyage from the north, the steamer was again agitated by the same cyclone, that was then passing to the W of Kiusiu. Consequently, on the 19th, at 10 a. m. in lat. 35°, long. 122° 40', it began to pitch and roll on a very long ENE swell veering to E and ESE down to the vicinity of Shaweishan. At the same time the wind had a constant backing from NNE to NW and WNW.
Kwang-lee (C. M.S. Co) Captain G.L. Crawford.—This vessel sailed from Hongkong, on the 7th at 6 p. m. and nothing unusual had happened in the Formosa Strait. When reaching lat. 28° and long. 121°45', on the 10th, the wind was seen to shift back to N, then to N by NW force 6. at 8 a.m. with a falling barometer: the cyclonic circulation was thus strong at more than 300 miles from the centre. The weather was very threatening, and the movements of the typhoon very difficult to determine. The ship consequently took refuge in the vicinity of San Mun Bay until the 12th at 8 a. m.; the minimum of pressure, 746mm (29in. 37) took place on the 11th at 4 p. m.; constant showers with hard squalls were experienced all the time.
Oidekerke (U.N. N. Co) Captain F. L. Lenjes.—The report confirms the previous ones, The steamer had stopped at the mouth of the Yang-tze on the 11th and 12th, with the pilot on board; it sailed at midnight of the 12th for Foochow. The wind, on board, was observed to back very regularly from ENE to NE and lastly to N; the pressure falling from 737mm to 732mm. The swell, from the E at first, shifted gradually to ENE, on the 14th, at 8a. m. when approaching the mouth of the Min River. It is thus clear that the typhoon, although moving ​then away eastwards across the N of the island of Naha, made itself perfectly perceptible on the coast of China at a distance of more than 500 nautical miles.
Sardinia (P. & O.), Captain. O. Siggers.—This report states that even at a long distance the cyclone gave warning of its presence by serious and even threatening signs. They were so obvious, that when just out of the Formosa Strait, as the weather was getting rapidly worse, the Captain announced to his consignees, by wireless message, that he had to change his course, as a typhoon was coming and threatening to cut the way along the coast. It was indeed impossible on board a ship isolated at sea to foresee the winding movement which the storm was about to trace, and there was every reason to believe, that it would continue to travel westwards by the north of the Meiaco-Sima group, to strike the coast somewhere near Foochow.
After a stay in Shanghai, the steamer left Woosung, on the 17th at 4 p.m. but was forced to put back on the 19th, as the same cyclone was starting this time across the Yellow Sea, in a NW direction, by the N. of Oshima. The Kou-Ka-za wireless warning having been received on board, the captain, near the 125th meridian seeing the threatening aspect of the weather, and the increasing wind from NE or NNE with a big swell from ENE wisely conjectured that his route was converging towards the path of the storm, and he left for good only when the centre had crossed the Goto Is. making for the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan. We have seen that several japanese steamers had been twice in contact with that same typhoon.
Shun-tien. (C.N.) Captain C.A. Christiansen.—This report does not add much to above information, but gives to it an interesting confirmation. Just at the mouth of the Yangtze, on the 10th, strong: NE winds were experienced, an abnormal direction at that time, then rain and fog, and chiefly that heavy and characteristic swell that accompanied the steamer as far as Shantung.
Tjiliwong, (3.C. Jap. L.). Captain P. Abbo.—Gutzlaff and Steep Is. were passed on the 12th. Strong N to NNE winds with hard squalls were observed, together with a long, heavy swell from ESE down to lat. 28°30'; there the swell backed to E and ENE at lat. 26°: it was distinctly diverging from the centre of the typhoon; the pressure was only a little below 731mm. In the Formosa Strait began a long and distinct undulation from the south, but this was due to another disturbance.
Tung-chow (C.N.) Captain W. Mc Intosh.—During the voyage towards Tientsin, on the 12th, the only unusual thing was the wind from NE changing for NNE on the 13th at noon. On the 14th, fresh breezes from NNW were met with in the Gulf of Pechihli, showing that the vortex made itself felt in the atmosphere even at that distant place (some 850 nautical miles).
​Wai-shing.—(I. C. Co). Captain D, R. Kilbee.—As soon as they were out of the Yangtze, on the 14th, the steamer was surrounded by the spires of the typhoon, the centre of which was then passing near Naha: NNW winds and long swell, up to the afternoon of the 15th, As the ship was sailing towards Swatow while the typhoon moved away eastwards, no violent effects were experienced.
To sum up the concusions of these reports, and of the documents published by the Kobe Imp. Marine Observatory, it is well established that the typhoon maintained its full violence, and was felt along our coasts, between the Formosa Strait and Shantung describing the whole time its capricious winding between the Meiaco-Sima group, the Loochoos and the Korea Strait between the 9th and the 20th of the month of August, During all this time the Eastern and the Yellow Seas were never in perfect safety, and a strict lookout had to be kept, not without anxiety, as a dangerous movement towards the coast was to be feared at any time.
List of steamers having sent wireless reports to the Zi-ka-wei Observatory during the typhoon: see the following page.
| Angkor | Brun | M. M. |
| Azay-le-Rideau | Example | Example |
| Ceylon (?) | | |
| Eldrige | Brooks | Adm.Or. Line |
| Empress of Asia | Douglas | Can. Pac. SS. Co |
| Empress of Australia | Hailey | Can Pac. SS. Co |
| Kaiping | Laing | Kail. Min. Adm. |
| Kaiser-I Hind. | Manley | Mackenzie (P. & O.) |
| Kutsang | Liddell | I. C. S. N. Co. |
| Kalyan | Cossey | Mackenzie (P. & O.) |
| Kwanglee | Crawford | C. M. S. N. Co. |
| Libia | | Ital. Crus. |
| Lienshing | Simpson | I. C. S. N. Co. |
| Mantua | Armitage | Mackenzie (P. & O.) |
| Min. | Celesala | |
| Oldekerkerke | Lenjes | Jav. Chin. Jap. Line |
| Paul Lecat | Désirat | M. M. |
| Pembrokeshire | Lewis | Glen Line. |
| President Grant | Jensen | Adam Or. Line. |
| President Taft | Moreno | Pac. Mail SS. Co. |
| Rheinland | Bahle | Hamb. Am. Linie. |
| Sardinia | O. Siggers | Mackenzie (P. & O.) |
| Taiping (?) | | |
| Takada | Rowe | |
| Tingsang | Baker | I. C. S. N. Co. |
| Tjimansek | | Jav. Chin. Jap. Line. |
| Tjisoundari | Scholten | Jav. Chin. Jap. Line. |