Hurricane Five (1920) (Blackford)

Hurricane Five, also known in Ireland as the Great Gale of 1920 was for a time believed to be the furthest northward major hurricane on record. The storm, which was only recognized as a hurricane in 1958, formed on September 25, 1920 and diminished on October 9.

The storm sunk the HMS King George V on September 29, after hitting it at peak intensity. A reported wind speed of 188 km/h (117 mph) was sent out during a distress signal.

This was one of the deadliest maritime accident involving a hurricane in history, with 129 deaths occurring on the HMS King George V.

Meteorological history
In mid September, a significant storm system brought heavy rainfall to the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, it is believed that this system pulled northeastward on September 19, and would serve as the basis for both Tropical Storm Four and Hurricane Five.

On September 25, a small British passenger boat moving northeastward towards Ireland made note of a strong gale with a storm system roughly 300 miles northeast of Bermuda, producing winds of roughly 45 mph, the Royal Navy began tracking this gale, which likely was Hurricane Five shortly after formation.

Another ship encountered Five on September 26, this time making note of winds of 65 mph, and a water temperature of around 80 degrees.

It is likely that wind shear was also minimal, however no instruments to record that was on the boat, the Royal Navy then began closely watching it, and the same boat that had initially made contact with Five recorded a wind gust of 85 mph about 30 miles from the center on September 27, which possibly means winds were as high as 120 mph in the center, which would make it a Category 3 major hurricane.

Finally, on September 28, the United States Weather Bureau made note that the storm possibly had winds of 95-100 mph, and a ship encountered winds of 105 mph that same day in Five.

HMS King George V
The HMS King George V was inbound from Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada to Brest in France, and unfortunately crossed paths with Hurricane Five early on September 29.

It quickly sent out a distress signal, making note that winds of 188 km/h (117 mph) were occurring in the area, which would make Hurricane Five a minimal Category 3 major hurricane.

Several ships responded to the HMS King George V's distress signal, however the ship ultimately sunk at around 0900 hours on September 29, taking 129 of it's 135 crew with it, only 6 crew survived the sinking.

Five continued northeast, probably weakening to a Category 2 hurricane due to cooling waters shortly after it sunk HMS King George V.

In the first known instance of a hurricane warning system in history, the Royal Navy sent out a alarm message to all ships within 200 miles of the estimated center of Five, making note of "extremely dangerous gale conditions".

Hurricane Five likely underwent considerable weakening, and by October 2 was likely a strong tropical storm, albeit considerably weakening.

Five however entered waters of 75 to 85 degrees, and considerably re-intensified into a 100 mph Category 2 by the night of October 3.

However, Hurricane Five began to undergo significant weakening on October 4, and became extratropical on October 5.

Five began to re-intensify as a extratropical cyclone on October 6, likely being a windstorm by this point. The storm finally made landfall in southern Ireland on October 7 as a 100 mph Category 2 equivalent windstorm.

The storm lost intensity rather quickly, and accelerated at speeds as high as 50 mph through Ireland and Great Britain on October 7-8.

The storm finally hit Norway early on October 9.