I want to know more about the “bar at Sandy Hook”
July 7, 2023 10:24 AM Subscribe
The bar at the mouth of the Hudson River was an extremely important factor in shaping Revolutionary War campaigns, but I can’t figure out resources for learning about it and subsequent dredging operations to open it up.
In reading Barbara Tuchman’s The First Salute, a recurring factor in shaping important decisions was the bar at Sandy Hook (New Jersey), a natural sandbar/barrier island that prevented direct access to New York Harbor by large oceangoing ships. Traversing the bar took “a customary three days” (!) and in one case five days, which prevented quick arrival/departure and assault on New York. Since this doesn’t appear to be a problem any more, I was trying to learn more about when this developed (I don’t hear about it when reading about Hudson or Verrazano, although I’ve not researched their voyages in great depth) and how it has been fixed. I did read about USACOE dredging operations going on in the present day, so I’m sure that’s the basic answer, but I would love to learn more and my Google searches are not yielding anything useful. Anyone know anything?
In reading Barbara Tuchman’s The First Salute, a recurring factor in shaping important decisions was the bar at Sandy Hook (New Jersey), a natural sandbar/barrier island that prevented direct access to New York Harbor by large oceangoing ships. Traversing the bar took “a customary three days” (!) and in one case five days, which prevented quick arrival/departure and assault on New York. Since this doesn’t appear to be a problem any more, I was trying to learn more about when this developed (I don’t hear about it when reading about Hudson or Verrazano, although I’ve not researched their voyages in great depth) and how it has been fixed. I did read about USACOE dredging operations going on in the present day, so I’m sure that’s the basic answer, but I would love to learn more and my Google searches are not yielding anything useful. Anyone know anything?
Best answer: The Wikipedia article about New York Harbor has this in the "History - 19th Century" section:
posted by intermod at 2:05 PM on July 7, 2023
In 1808, Lieutenant Thomas Gedney of the United States Coast Survey discovered a new, deeper channel through the Narrows into New York Harbor. Previously, the passage was complex and shallow enough that loaded ships would wait outside the harbor until high tide, to avoid running into the huge sandbar, which was interrupted in a number of places by channels of fairly shallow depth: 21 feet (6.4 m) at low tide and 33 feet (10 m) at high tide. Because of the difficulty of the navigation required, since 1694, New York had required all ships to be guided into the harbor by an experienced pilot. The new channel Gedney discovered was 2 feet (0.61 m) deeper, enough of an added margin that fully laden ships could come into the harbor even at slack tide. Gedney's Channel, as it came to be called, was also shorter than the previous channel, another benefit appreciated by the ship owners and the merchants they sold to. Gedney received the praise of the city, as well as an expensive silver service.Some of the references there might get you to more information.
posted by intermod at 2:05 PM on July 7, 2023
Recommend you look at the USACE District for that area: their website usually should have information about ongoing dredging programs. Which would include pretty comprehensive environmental documentation and references to historical uses and changes over time.
posted by suelac at 3:16 PM on July 7, 2023
posted by suelac at 3:16 PM on July 7, 2023
It was fixed by dredging. New York Harbor and the first stretch of the Atlantic outside the harbor are quite shallow and major new dredging projects were ongoing until very recently and channels are regularly re-dredged.
posted by MattD at 8:23 PM on July 7, 2023
posted by MattD at 8:23 PM on July 7, 2023
Best answer: A very interesting topic. I have lived about 70 of my 76 years within 40 milies of NYC, and I can't recall any mention of the Sandy Hook Bar.
I did find a couple of charts from the pre-dredging era here and here. For comparison, the modern chart is here.
After much searching, I found a chart from the middle of the 19th century. It has depths, but the no outlines of the bar(s). The accompanying text is pretty interesting, though. Unfortunately, the chart itself is pretty small.
FWIW, the dredging continues up to today. The Ambrose channel is currently being deepened to 50 ft to accommodate a new generation of bigger ships.
I did not find any info about the heart of your question: the history of the earliest dredging. I'm sure various research institutions have that information, e.g. the New York Public Library and the South Street Seaport Museum Library, but i'm not sure how you would access it in those cases.
I was going to add that sailing ships were limited in the directions they could sail depending on the wind direction. It was common to wait outside a port for favorable winds. Entering New York Harbor against wind from the north would have been impossible. New York was always considered a dangerous harbor to enter, and ships came to grief on the beaches of New Jersey and Long Island all through the 19th century.
posted by SemiSalt at 7:38 AM on July 8, 2023
I did find a couple of charts from the pre-dredging era here and here. For comparison, the modern chart is here.
After much searching, I found a chart from the middle of the 19th century. It has depths, but the no outlines of the bar(s). The accompanying text is pretty interesting, though. Unfortunately, the chart itself is pretty small.
FWIW, the dredging continues up to today. The Ambrose channel is currently being deepened to 50 ft to accommodate a new generation of bigger ships.
I did not find any info about the heart of your question: the history of the earliest dredging. I'm sure various research institutions have that information, e.g. the New York Public Library and the South Street Seaport Museum Library, but i'm not sure how you would access it in those cases.
I was going to add that sailing ships were limited in the directions they could sail depending on the wind direction. It was common to wait outside a port for favorable winds. Entering New York Harbor against wind from the north would have been impossible. New York was always considered a dangerous harbor to enter, and ships came to grief on the beaches of New Jersey and Long Island all through the 19th century.
posted by SemiSalt at 7:38 AM on July 8, 2023
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. The revelation of the new passage in 1808 really explains a lot to me. I had independently come across the Pilot’s Association after posting this (interestingly enough, by tangent in reading more about Hudson’s voyage) and between the dedicated pilots and a channel that permitted laden ships going through (but only after the war) I feel more comfortable that I grasp the issue better.
posted by norm at 9:58 AM on July 8, 2023
posted by norm at 9:58 AM on July 8, 2023
For the benefit of anyone else who runs into this: SemiSalt's "the modern chart is here" link is broken (looks like it expects the user to be using Chrome and to have a certain Chrome extension, or something like that). The intended link is this.
posted by Flunkie at 10:06 AM on July 8, 2023
posted by Flunkie at 10:06 AM on July 8, 2023
I'm still trying to find out exactly where Gedney's Channel is/was.
I found a paper entitled "A Menace To The New York Harbour Entrance" in the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Vol. XXXII, 1905. It's available for download free here.
The article concerns deepening channels through natural erosion and cites data going back to Revolutionary Times. There are a couple of charts. Gedney's Channel is discussed, but not actually shown on the charts, which is frustrating.
Incidentally, I've uncovered a couple of current-day charts that reference Gedney's, but they only show a single point on the chart which is just east of Sandy Hook. My working hypothesis is that the channel ran along the Hook on a north/south axis, but that's only a guess.
posted by SemiSalt at 7:09 AM on July 10, 2023
I found a paper entitled "A Menace To The New York Harbour Entrance" in the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Vol. XXXII, 1905. It's available for download free here.
The article concerns deepening channels through natural erosion and cites data going back to Revolutionary Times. There are a couple of charts. Gedney's Channel is discussed, but not actually shown on the charts, which is frustrating.
Incidentally, I've uncovered a couple of current-day charts that reference Gedney's, but they only show a single point on the chart which is just east of Sandy Hook. My working hypothesis is that the channel ran along the Hook on a north/south axis, but that's only a guess.
posted by SemiSalt at 7:09 AM on July 10, 2023
There's a chart of Gedney's channel from 1896 here, though I don't know if this has already been altered by dredging.
posted by cardboard at 8:43 AM on July 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by cardboard at 8:43 AM on July 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
cardboard- Excellent find!
From an article on Ocean Navigator, January 2003:
In the mood of national expansion that followed the Civil War, Congress addressed the problem of New York’s main ship channel by voting an initial appropriation of $200,000 in December 1884 towards improving navigation. Gedney Channel was to be made 28-feet deep, 1,000 feet wide and 4,000 feet long. (This channel was named for Navy Lieutenant R.T. Gedney. In 1837, while conducting Coast Survey soundings, he discovered that the outermost leg of the main ship channel extended for some distance to the east beyond Sandy Hook.) Although hydraulic suction pumps had been used for dredging in sheltered waters as early as 1871 and some successful open-water dredging operations had been conducted by English and Scottish engineers, ocean dredging was essentially uncharted territory. The Army Corps of Engineers was directed to come up with a project plan. The channel, according to the plan, was to be deepened to 28-feet for a width of 200 feet. Estimated cost: $5 to $6 million.
posted by SemiSalt at 8:49 AM on July 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
From an article on Ocean Navigator, January 2003:
In the mood of national expansion that followed the Civil War, Congress addressed the problem of New York’s main ship channel by voting an initial appropriation of $200,000 in December 1884 towards improving navigation. Gedney Channel was to be made 28-feet deep, 1,000 feet wide and 4,000 feet long. (This channel was named for Navy Lieutenant R.T. Gedney. In 1837, while conducting Coast Survey soundings, he discovered that the outermost leg of the main ship channel extended for some distance to the east beyond Sandy Hook.) Although hydraulic suction pumps had been used for dredging in sheltered waters as early as 1871 and some successful open-water dredging operations had been conducted by English and Scottish engineers, ocean dredging was essentially uncharted territory. The Army Corps of Engineers was directed to come up with a project plan. The channel, according to the plan, was to be deepened to 28-feet for a width of 200 feet. Estimated cost: $5 to $6 million.
posted by SemiSalt at 8:49 AM on July 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
One last hurrah!
There is a Corp of Engineers report from 2008 on an NYC site having to do with dredging operations here. Be warned: it's a long report and a very big file.
There is a history section. In that section, in Figure 2-03, Gedney's Channel runs pretty much East/West on the right side about 1/5 up from the bottom. If you enlarge the image, it's pretty easy to make out 'ney channel'.
On Figure 2-04, the channel is not called out by name, but it's easy to pick out because it's marked with buoys.
The history section begins a couple millennia ago, but there isn't too much that helps with the OP's original question.
posted by SemiSalt at 9:49 AM on July 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
There is a Corp of Engineers report from 2008 on an NYC site having to do with dredging operations here. Be warned: it's a long report and a very big file.
There is a history section. In that section, in Figure 2-03, Gedney's Channel runs pretty much East/West on the right side about 1/5 up from the bottom. If you enlarge the image, it's pretty easy to make out 'ney channel'.
On Figure 2-04, the channel is not called out by name, but it's easy to pick out because it's marked with buoys.
The history section begins a couple millennia ago, but there isn't too much that helps with the OP's original question.
posted by SemiSalt at 9:49 AM on July 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by golden at 11:29 AM on July 7, 2023 [1 favorite]