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.
William Lewis Herndon was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Herndon was appointed midshipman on 1 November 1828. He was promoted to passed midshipman in 1834 and lieutenant 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 Instruments with his 1st cousin & brother-in-law, Matthew Fontaine Maury, 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 brig Iris with distinction.
Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon
In 1851 Herndon headed an expedition exploring the Valley of the Amazon, 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, 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 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 Americamoreless
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 English 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. 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.
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.
