Hurricane Carrie

After reports confirmed the existence of a hurricane in the eastern Atlantic, the Weather Bureau warned shipping lanes in the storm's path.[4] Small craft warnings were issued for offshore areas from Block Island, Rhode Island south to Savannah, Georgia on September 7 due to the threat of rough seas.[5] After Carrie stalled on September 11, the Weather Bureau gave Florida a slight chance of being affected by the storm,[6] but the possibilities of the storm affecting the peninsula decreased after the hurricane curved northwards.[7] After the storm was forecast to potentially impact Bermuda, schools were closed in preparation for Carrie, while vessels were warned of the oncoming hurricane.[8] Most planes in Kindley Air Force Base on the island were evacuated, with the remaining planes weighted down by sandbags.[9] After passing Bermuda, the storm was forecast to strike Nova Scotia,[10] but instead Carrie curved towards the northeast.[2]

As the U.S. Air Force was maintaining continuous reconnaissance of the hurricane using converted Boeing B-50 Superfortresses, one of the planes lost an engine and was forced to fly back to West Palm Beach, Florida for repairs. Four other undamaged aircraft were called back to West Palm Beach, including a crippled ship, while two other B-50s were held at Bermuda.[11] Passing well north of the island on September 16,[1] effects of Carrie on Bermuda were minimal, with peak gusts reaching only 35 mph (56 km/h).[12]

The German barque Pamir, en route from Buenos Aires to Hamburg, Germany, encountered the hurricane southwest of the Azores on September 21 while carrying barley cargo.[13] The ship sank due to the effects of Carrie, and 80 people out of the 86 crew members on board the ship perished.[1] The final message received from the Pamir was a distress call and indicated that the ship had lost all of its sails and had been listing at a 45° angle.[14] A search and rescue operation ensued after the loss of the ship was reported, involving the U.S. Air Force and Navy, as well as the British Air Force and Navy. Other ships from Canada and Portugal were also involved in the search.[15] All associated groups were inconclusive in their findings, with no sign of debris left from the ship.[13] However, two lifeboats and a raft were found, but they were empty.[15] As an extratropical storm, Carrie impacted the Azores, though damages, if any, remain unknown. The extratropical remnants of Carrie later struck the British Isles on September 24 and 25, causing strong winds, waves, and severe flooding.[1] Winds from the system were estimated at 50 mph (80 km/h). The strong waves caused extensive property damage and killed three.[16]

Lasting as a hurricane for 20.75 days, Carrie was at the time tied for second in terms of longest-existing Atlantic tropical cyclones, alongside the ninth hurricane of the 1893 Atlantic hurricane season and behind the 1899 San Ciriaco hurricane.[17] Due to the hurricane's long duration, the Weather Bureau office in San Juan, Puerto Rico issued 62 advisories on the storm, which was at the time the most ever issued in association with an Atlantic hurricane.[18] Carrie's long duration and distance from any land masses also contributed to its record travel distance of 6,000 mi (9,700 km).[1] Hurricane reconnaissance flights throughout Carrie's existence traveled further east than any previous flight due to the storm's location far from any land masses. The initial flight on September 7 covered 3,700 mi (6,000 km) and lasted for nearly 17 hours.[1]