The ship "Star of the South" experienced heavy gales offshore the East Coast of the United States on June 30. HURDAT lists the first tropical cyclone of the season beginning at 0000 UTC, while located about southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The storm moved slightly north of due east with winds of 60 mph (95 km/h). It was last noted about 265 miles (425 km) north-northwest of Bermuda by the bark "Virginia" late on July 1. The S.S. Central America Disaster Hurricane of 1857   A tropical storm was first observed east of the Bahamas on September 6. It moved slowly northwestward towards the coast of the United States and attained hurricane strength early on September 9. The cyclone continued travelling northwest along the US coast, becoming a Category 2 hurricane whilst off the coast of Georgia on September 11. On September 13 the cyclone made landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina, but then quickly weakened to a tropical storm and turned eastward into the Atlantic on September 14. Throughout September 15, whilst over water, the storm regained hurricane strength and continued northward before becoming extratropical in the mid-Atlantic on September 17. The hurricane caused much coastal damage particularly in the Cape Hatteras area during September 9 and September 10 and then to other parts of the North Carolina coast. Flooding was reported at New Bern. Considerable wind damage also occurred. An article from the "Wilmington Journal" reported that, "It looked as though everything that could be blown down, was down. Fences were prostrated in all directions, and the streets filled with the limbs and bodies of trees up-rooted or twisted off.". Several ships were caught in rough seas of the East Coast of the United States. The "Norfolk" was abandoned in pieces ten miles south of Chincoteague early on the morning of September 14. Further south, on September 11, the hurricane struck the steamer "Central America" which sprung a leak and eventually sank on the night of September 12 with the loss of 424 passengers and crew. Also on board the ship were 30,000 pounds of gold, the loss of which contributed to the financial Panic of 1857. Based on reports bark "Aeronaut" and the schooner "Alabama" indicating a severe gale, Partagas and Diaz identified a Category 1 hurricane about 405 miles (650 km) east of Charleston, South Carolina between September 22 and September 26.