The 1928 Lake Okeechobee Hurricane was the first Category 5 hurricane to be recorded. However, there were likely other Category 5 hurricanes that either never hit land, was a Category 5 over water and weakened over time before landfall, Category 5, but never got recorded, or anemometer got destroyed. Here is what I personally think are likely candidates for Category 5 hurricanes before 1928.
1780 Great Hurricane of 1780
1846 Racer Storm
1886 Indianola Hurricane-Before landfall.
1893 Chenier Caminanda Hurricane
1893 Hurricane #9-One of the largest ACE in the Atlantic for a single storm
1899 Hurricane San Ciriaco
1924 Cuba Hurricane-Declared one recently
1926 Hurricane #4
1926 Great Miami Hurricane
In 1893, two hurricanes hit Lousiana and one of them went over New Orleans before the Chenier Caminanda Hurricane. If there are any more hurricanes I can think of, I will add later. Hurricane Ethel is unlikely a Category 5 due to its lowest pressure being around 981 mb, which would make it a Category 1 to 2, or possibly a 3 hurricane.
DISCLAIMER: This is what I think. This is not to be taken as official by anyone.
