The Beaufort scale

Apart from being an English trader, a writer, a pamphleter and a spy, Daniel Defoe, born in 1660 was probably the first modern journalist. His political activities brought him in July 1703 to prison. Within a week of his release from the London prison, in November 1703, Daniel Defoe witnessed the great storm in London which raged through the night of 26 and 27 November 1703, killing more than 8,000 people in England, mostly at sea. He wrote a book about the storm, asking witnesses of the effect of the storm to contact him to report on what they saw of the storm. He is considered because of this as one of the founder of modern journalism. He then wrote a book about it, "the storm", in 1704.

He describes in "the storm" in London the effect as follows: "In this last part of the time the greatest part of the damage was done: several ships that rode it out till now, gave up all; for no anchor could hold. Even the ships in the river Thames were all blown away from their moorings, and from Execution Dock to Limehouse Hole there was but four ships that rid it out, the rest were driven down into the Bite, as the sailors call it, from Bell Wharf to Limehouse; where they were huddled together and drove on shore, heads and sterns, one upon another, in such a manner, as any one would have thought it had been impossible: and the damage done on that account was incredible."

This report of Daniel Defoe of a storm in London inspired Francis Beaufort, more than 50 years later, when he was in command of his fiorst ship. During these early years of command, Beaufort developed the first versions of his Wind Force Scale and Weather Notation coding, which he was to use in his journals for the remainder of his life. From the circle representing a weather station, a staff (rather like the stem of a note in musical notation) extends, with one or more half or whole barbs. For example, a stave with 3½ barbs represents Beaufort seven on the scale, decoded as 32–38 mph, or a "moderate Gale".

We are still using Beaufort scale to asses the risk for sailors to set at sea nowadays.