Sailing the British Empire : The Voyages of The Clarence, 1858-73 Main Menu Sailing the British Empire: The Voyages of the Clarence, 1858-73 Introduction The Crew / Acknowledgments The Provenance of Watson's Log Additional Sources: Logs, Crew Lists, Diaries Inside Lloyd's Register "Green's Celebrated Service" Details on owner of the ship at the time of our voyage, Richard Green. The Master Builder: William Pile The Master: Joseph Watson's Biography A Mate's Progress The Career of Henry Berridge, First Mate of the Clarence The Crew of the Clarence in 1864 An annotated crew list The 18th Hussars The Clarence and the Cyclone of 1864 Origins of Indian Emigrants Aboard The Clarence The Surgeon-Superintendant Wages of indentured labourers in Demerara (1870-1900) The Clarence Sails to Australia Mutiny! Violence and Resistance Aboard "Coolie Ships" Cholera: The Killer from Calcutta STSC 077, The University of Pennsylvania, fall 2015

Future Impact

6265 The Calcutta Cyclone of 1864
Being one of the most destructive storms in all of history, the Calcutta Cyclone of 1864 created a monumental and lasting impact on Calcutta and the meteorological industry as a whole.

As an immediate result of the storm, a new order was given in Calcutta for ships to strike their topgallant, or tallest, masts during the regular cyclone months. The picture below demonstrates this order in action, as each of these ships have their topgallant masts lowered. 









In addition to immediate impacts such as that, this catastrophic cyclone went on to have far greater and longstanding influences as well. This cyclone in particular was one of, if not the biggest driving factor behind the creation of the Indian Meteorological Department, founded in 1875. The people behind this department saw the results of this storm and wanted to take any measure possible to potentially prevent or lessen the calamity of such an event. As shown in the pictures below, taken from the department's Handbook of Cyclonic Storms in the Bay of Bengal, the IMD began to almost immediately start tracking and analyzing the various aspects of proceeding storms. 








 
Sources:  
1.  Lubbock, Basil. The Blackwall Frigates,. Glasgow: J. Brown & Son, 1922.
2.  "History of Meteorology in India." History of Meteorology in India. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. 
3.  Eliot, John. Handbook of Cyclonic Storms in the Bay of Bengal for the Use of Sailors. Second ed. Calcutta: Meteorological Department of the Government of India, 1900. Print. 

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  1. The Calcutta Cyclone of 1864 STSC 077, Fall 2015 First Year Seminar, University of Pennsylvania
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