Surveyor Bernard Romans may have witnessed the attempted salvage, naming the location "Ledbury Key" on his map. John Lorain, onto the south end of Elliott Key. 1769 - A strong "Northeast gale" pushed the current to the west and with it the Ledbury, Capt. 1768 - On October 15th a hurricane struck Havana resulting in over 500 homes destroyed, 69 ships wrecked in the harbor and 17 deaths. 1759 - In September a "gale" from the Northeast so greatly impeded the Florida Current that water backed up causing the Dry Tortugas to disappear. 1756 - On October 2nd and 3rd a hurricane with heavy rains struck Havana. One of North America’s greatest maritime disasters, it was unknown in our history until 1938, when diver Art McKee began his underwater and archival investigations of a "cannon wreck" shown to him by Islamorada fisherman Reggie Roberts. After the storm perhaps a thousand people were left to survive for days on their sorry hulks or on the islets until help from Havana could arrive. 1733 - On July 15th a 22-ship treasure fleet was struck at the Keys by hurricane, leaving 13 ships sank or grounded, forever, in the 80 miles between Elliott Key and Key Vaca. 1730 - A hurricane struck Havana and Matanzas, Cuba destroying buildings. Augustine supply ship near Key Biscayne those aboard were rescued by a ship from Havana. 1692 - On October 24th a hurricane destroyed buildings in Havana and sank a St. 1640 - A Dutch fleet commanded by Cornelius Jol (called by the Spanish "Peg Leg the Pirate") suffered a hurricane off Havana while lying in wait for the yearly treasure fleet 4 ships of his fleet were wrecked by the storm on the Cuban shore. Because divers kept checking the cannon locations the effort to find the hull with its motherlode spanned 14 years. In this second hurricane the Atocha broke into 2 parts at her gunports the deck floated several miles away from the hull, spilling cannon all the way. 1622 - On October 5th another hurricane struck, while survivors of 3 ships wrecked at the Dry Tortugas were still there the sea almost covered the islets. 1622 - On September 5th a hurricane struck a Spanish treasure fleet from Havana, sinking or grounding 8 ships at the Keys, including the Atocha, found by Mel Fisher 363 years later, in 1985. 1588 -Havana was struck by a storm "more destructive than that of 1557." Hurricanes of the 1600s It is probable that it also struck the Florida Keys 90 miles northward. 1557 - Havana, Cuba and Matanzas, 55 miles to the east were struck by a hurricane. 1517, and from records of that city only 90 miles away we can learn of probable hurricanes at the Keys and later, from records of the also-near-by Bahama Islands. The experience inspired making the following list of known hurricanes at the Florida Keys, from our own individual files. Afterward, as historians, we both realized that we had just experienced the last hurricane at the Keys of the millennium 1,000-1999. We know, and according to NOAA, most of her hurricane force winds were confined to her east, which were the Middle and Upper Keys. After passing over Cuba as a tropical storm, Irene intensified over the Florida Straits to hurricane force and headed for the mainland. On October 15, 1999, the eye of Hurricane Irene barely missed the Upper Florida Keys after days of observation. Writings by the native people of Florida, if they existed, would have fared the same. Can you imagine how much we would know if they had? This imagination has to be qualified, for the Spanish ridded the Indians, or at least tried to, of their religions, customs, and writings in other parts of the New World. Missing here is information on hurricanes of the first half of the millennium because the native people of Florida failed to develop writing. Afterward, as historians, we both realized that we had just experienced the last hurricane at the Keys of the millennium 1,000 to 1999. We know, and according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA), most of her hurricane force winds were confined to her east, which were the Middle and Upper Keys. The following is an in-depth chronological history of tropical storms impacting the Florida Keys dating back to the 1500s, provided courtesy of the Key West History website.
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