what is a white squall
A white squall is a sudden and violent windstorm at sea which is not accompanied by the black clouds generally characteristic of a squall. The name refers to the white-capped waves and broken water, its meager warning to any unlucky seaman caught in its path.
The Pride of Baltimore, a modern 137-foot (42 m) schooner, was reportedly struck by a white squall on May 14, 1986. The 121-ton vessel sank about 240 miles (390 km) north of Puerto Rico, casting the surviving crew members adrift for five days. The Toro, a Norwegian freighter, picked them up at 2:30 a.m. May 19, 1986. An eyewitness account described it as follows:
"A tremendous whistling sound suddenly roared through the rigging and a wall of wind hit us in the back. The Pride heeled over in a matter of seconds. The 70-knot (130 km/h) wind pushed a 20-foot (6.1 m) high wall of water into the starboard side. She sank in minutes."[1]
″As described a white wall rose in front of our cruise vessel the Norwegian Gem as we were out in Boston in 2011, the ship listed 13 degrees to the port side as the wind started to blow out of nowhere and we could observe how the water rose upwards creating a white wall coming toward us.″
A white squall was allegedly behind the sinking of the brigantine Albatross on May 2, 1961.