<Tr> <Td> 1589 </Td> <Td> unknown </Td> <Td> Old Bahama Channel </Td> <Td> The 120 - ton Espíritu Santo under Miguel Baltasar, transporting sugar and hides from Puerto Rico, joined the preceding flotilla convoy in Havana . About 50 leagues from the Old Bahama Channel, a tempest struck the Spanish treasure fleet . Howling northeasterly winds lasted four days . On the first day, the sea "swallowed" a total of ten carracks (naos in Spanish), possibly including the Espíritu Santo . Some ships returned to Cuba; others proceeded to the Iberian Union . This storm may continue as (or be identical with) the preceding storm or another storm or storms this season . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1589 </Td> <Td> unknown </Td> <Td> Florida </Td> <Td> Passed near Cape Canaveral . Quite possibly the same as the next storm . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1589 </Td> <Td> unknown </Td> <Td> Florida East Coast </Td> <Td> Gonzalo Méndez de Canço, later governor of Florida, reports that Martín Pérez de Olazábal commanded a fleet; during a storm, one of his ships wrecked at Cape Canaveral . San Agustín (now St. Augustine, Florida) assisted four battered and dismasted ships carrying more than 450 persons; one ship entered the port and departed for Spain . The frigate of the presidio at San Agustín also discovered and rescued forty members of the crew of the ship lost on Cape Canaveral . This event may continue another storm of this season . If "Old Bahama Channel" in the other entries for this year refers instead the northern extension of the "Straits of Florida", then this and the three immediately preceding listings may originate in different recollections of the same storm event . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1590 </Td> <Td> early November </Td> <Td> Gulf of Mexico </Td> <Td> Captain general Antonio Navarro de Prado commanded the 63 - ship Spanish treasure fleet (Flota de Nueva España) that sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Iberian Union on 1 August . As the flotilla traversed the Gulf of Mexico and approached San Juan de Ulúa in Vera Cruz, a fierce "norther" struck with 12 hours of hurricane - force wind and rain . The fleet lost fourteen to sixteen ships along the Mexican coast, including: <Ul> <Li> the 280 - ton carrack (nao in Spanish) La Trinidad under captaincy of Bernardo de Paz, trying to enter Vera Cruz during the storm </Li> <Li> the 180 - ton Portuguese nao La Piedad under captaincy of Cristobal Sánchez Melgarejo, on the shoal of Vera Cruz with eighteen persons and most cargo saved </Li> <Li> the 220 - ton nao Nuestra Señora del Socorro under captaincy of Pedro Díaz Franco, in the Canal Gallega in Vera Cruz </Li> <Li> the 130 - ton Portuguese nao Nuestra Señora de la Concepción under captaincy of Miguel Rodríguez, near Vera Cruz </Li> </Ul> <P> The storm swept two iron cannon from the decks of the San Francisco, heeled over the ship, and left her hold (ship) filled with water more than 6 feet (1.8 m) deep . The surviving 34 vessels on 8 November arrived at Vera Cruz badly damaged . Tropical cyclone status in doubt . </P> </Td> </Tr>

When did scientists start keeping records of hurricanes