Halsey's Typhoon Cobra

On today's date in 1944, the Third Fleet, commanded by naval hero Admiral William Halsey, encountered the full force of Typhoon Cobra northeast of Samar in the central Philippines. Disaster soon followed for many of the ships in its path.

A few days earlier on the 11th, Task Force 38 of the Third Fleet had departed the U.S. Navy base at Ulithi Atoll for the Philippines to provide carrier air cover for the army's Mindoro Invasion. The fleet sailed from the harbor in clear weather, little knowing that a typhoon was beginning to form about 175 miles northeast.¹ On the 16th, the center of the storm passed north of the atoll, heading west toward the Philippines in the direction of the fleet.

Halsey's Task Force was comprised of 7 fleet carriers, 6 light carriers, 8 battleships, 15 cruisers, and around 50 destroyers. The carrier aircraft had been successful in conducting raids against Japanese airfields on Luzon, and now planes and ships now were trying to refuel about 300 miles east of Luzon. It was there that the worst of the storm hit. In spite of earlier warnings of severe weather, the admiral had led his force into the center of a severe typhoon, the worst of which hit the fleet on this date.

The damage was severe. One hundred mile per hour winds, high seas, and torrential rain battered the fleet. Three destroyers—Hull, Monaghan, and Spence—capsized and sank with almost all hands.

Twenty-one other ships were damaged. Fires broke out on 3 carriers² when planes broke loose in their hangars. Some 146 aircraft were lost or damaged by fires, destroyed by impact, or were simply swept overboard. Even more tragically for the fleet, 793 officers and men were lost in the storm, and at least 80 more were injured.

USS Cowpens experiencing the effects of Typhoon Cobra, December 18, 1944.
Some ships experienced even greater rolls, while 3 capsized and sank.

Concerning the typhoon's destructive impact Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz remarked that it "represented a more crippling blow to the 3rd Fleet than it might be expected to suffer in anything less than a major action."

Destroyer escort USS Tabberer, December 1944

Tabberer lost her mast and radio antennas in the typhoon. Although damaged and unable to

radio for help, she remained on the scene to rescue 55 of the 93 survivors of the 3 sunken ships.

By Christmas Eve, most of the returning fleet had arrived at Ulithi, the most crippled arriving first. The USS San Jacinto was one of the carriers damaged in the storm. Hangar deck planes broke loose and destroyed air intakes, vent ducts, and sprinkling system, which caused widespread flooding. The injured carrier was taken alongside my dad's repair ship, Hector, whose crews worked until December 27th repairing the ship.

The Navy soon convened an 8-day court of inquiry at Ulithi and found Halsey had committed an error in judgment in heading into the storm, the "preponderance of responsibility" resting on him. However, it stopped short of recommending discipline. It cited "errors of judgment committed under stress of war operations" rather than "offenses." Admiral Nimitz was satisfied that any mistakes Halsey may have committed were done so "under stress of war operations and stemming from a commendable desire to meet military requirements." Therefore, no action was taken against him.

Amazingly, only 6 months later, Halsey again sailed the fleet into the path of a typhoon. While ships again sustained crippling damage from Typhoon Viper, none of them were lost. Six men were killed and 75 planes were lost or destroyed, with almost 70 badly damaged. Another court of inquiry was convened, and it suggested that Halsey be reassigned. However, Admiral Nimitz again chose not to take action against Halsey.

¹ The Mighty90 webpage, the Official Website of USS Astoria CL-90, provides a very helpful chart and description of the path of Typhoon Cobra.

LCDR Gerald Ford

38th U.S. President

² One of the light aircraft carriers to be damaged was the USS Monterey. The carrier suffered a hangar deck fire as aircraft broke loose, crashed into each other and the ship’s structure, and ignited aviation fuel. On board was future President, Lieut. Gerald Ford, who assumed responsibility to go below to assess the conflagration and report back to the captain. Although the fire killed 3 sailors and injured nearly 40, and the ship went dead in the water for more than an hour because of smoke being sucked into the engineering spaces, the crew extinguished the fire and got the damaged ship underway to Ulithi, and then on to the West Coast.

At one point or another during the war in the Pacific, my dad's path crossed with those of 3 future U.S. presidents: Ford, Bush, and Kennedy.

Sources: Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue, Bob Drury & Tom Calvin; Sea Cobra: Admiral Halsey's Task Force and the Great Pacific Typhoon, Buckner F. Melton, Jr.; Naval Historical Foundation: "Lieutenant Gerald Ford and Typhoon Cobra"

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, 1944

The naval Battle of Leyte Gulf, was fought from October 23-26 in 1944.¹ Four major engagements took place in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon between combined American and Australian forces of the Third and Seventh Fleets, and the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was the largest and most complex naval battle in history, and it ended as a massive American victory that effectively destroyed the fighting capability of the Japanese navy.

In late 1944, the Allies began a campaign to recapture the Philippines, lost to the Japanese in 1942. On October 20, ground forces commanded by Gen. Douglas MacArthur made a successful amphibious assault on the island of Leyte.

Expecting an invasion, Japan ordered its force naval force of 4 fleets to sea at the very first sign of Allied landings. One of these fleets, whose carriers' planes had almost entirely been destroyed in the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" of the Battle of the Philippine Sea, would serve as bait to lure the Third Fleet away from Leyte. The rest would approach from the west and destroy the U.S. landings at Leyte. Part of that force would move through the Sibuyan Sea and the San Bernardino Strait for its attack. The 2 other smaller fleets would move up from the south through the Surigao Strait.

In committing to this action the Japanese command was throwing into combat just about everything it had left of its navy and air force. It hoped to be victorious in a decisive battle against the United States Pacific Fleet as well as stopping MacArthur's army's advance at Leyte.

Two American fleets were stationed in the Pacific at that time: Admiral William Halsey's Third Fleet and the Seventh Fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Thomas Kinkaid. Both shared significant roles in defeating the Japanese in the Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf. Kinkaid's 7th Fleet was assisting Gen. Douglas MacArthur's amphibious assault at Leyte by providing close support, while Halsey's Third Fleet provided cover further out to sea.

Battle of Leyte Gulf
Source: Wikimedia Commons

As the Japanese forces were converging into position southwest of Leyte, submarines of the U.S. Seventh Fleet discovered the first enemy attack force and sank 2 of its heavy cruisers in the Palawan Passage on October 23rd. A series of almost continuous surface and air clashes followed, especially in the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on the 24th. In those American air attacks, a Japanese battleship was sunk along with a cruiser. The light carrier USS Princeton was sunk and other American ships were damaged.² 

Meanwhile, Admiral Halsey had allowed his Third Fleet to be drawn away by the Japanese decoy force, leaving the San Bernardino Strait completely unguarded. This part of the Japanese plan seemed to be working.

On October 25th, 3 major engagements of the Battle of Leyte Gulf were fought almost simultaneously. At the Battle of Surigao Strait, battleships and cruisers from the Seventh Fleet destroyed one of the Japanese forces and compelled a second to withdraw. In the meantime, another attack force passed through the unguarded San Bernardino Strait and inflicted heavy damage on the Seventh Fleet escort carriers in the Battle off Samar. But, unexpectedly the enemy force withdrew just as it seemed ready to attack. In the Battle of Cape Engaño in the north, the Third Fleet sank 4 Japanese carriers, which had been acting as bait to lure the fleet away from Leyte Gulf. Except for some final air strikes on the retreating enemy on the 26th, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was over.

In the fighting the Japanese lost 4 aircraft carriers, 3 battleships, 8 cruisers, and 12 destroyers, as well as more than 10,000 killed. Allied losses were much lighter, about 1,500 killed in addition to the loss of 1 light aircraft carrier, 2 escort carriers, and 3 destroyers. Crippled by its losses, this was the last time the Imperial Japanese Navy would conduct large-scale operations.³ 

The naval victory in the Battle of Leyte Gulf didn't immediately change the situation for the Allied ground forces. However, it did secure the beachhead on Leyte won by the invasion force on October 20th. It also contributed to the eventual liberation of the Philippines. And, Japan was soon cut off from its conquered territories in Southeast Asia, which greatly reduced the flow of supplies and resources it required to win the war.

¹ During this action my dad, Frank Dolan, was at Ulithi with his repair ship USS Hector, tending to USS Houston, seriously damaged on October 14. During this part of the war, Hector supported Carrier Task Force 38, which was confronting the Japanese navy at Leyte on this date. Four months later, Hector will be stationed in San Pedro Bay in Leyte Gulf, repairing ships, while battles continue nearby.

² When the Princeton was hit by a single 550-pound bomb the explosion quickly turned into a raging fire. Fire-fighting crews were not able to control the flames fast enough, and massive explosions ripped apart the flight deck. Other ships moved alongside to take on nonessential sailors from Princeton and to help pump water onto the ship. The light cruiser Birmingham was assisting alongside when Princeton's magazine exploded, sweeping Birmingham's deck. Hundreds of men were killed instantly or horribly wounded—over half of her crew. Because of its condition, Princeton had to be sunk. But, amazingly, the damaged Birmingham was still seaworthy. It carried the wounded to Ulithi where they and the ship were cared for.
³ The Battle of Leyte Gulf was Japan's first use of its Kamikaze Special Attack Force. During the battle, several modern day samurais piloted suicidal missions into American and Australian ships. The American escort carrier, USS St. Lo, was one of the ships sunk as a result of a kamikaze attack. To compensate for its losses, Japan will continue to use kamikaze tactics, and by war's end the desperate empire will send over 2,500 suicide aircraft against American and Allied ships.

Sources: The Two-Ocean War, Samuel Eliot Morison; The Battle of Leyte Gulf, Thomas J. Cutter; Battles Lost and Won, Hanson W. Baldwin; USS Birmingham War Diary, October 1944; Encyclopedia Britannica

Situation critical in the Guadalcanal Campaign

The Tokyo Express was the name given by the Allies to Japan's use of its navy at night to deliver personnel, supplies, and equipment to Japanese forces operating in and around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the Pacific campaign. The enemy's tactic involved loading personnel or supplies onto submarines and destroyers for quick and stealthy delivery, then return to base the same night. The ploy was so successful that Allied aircraft could not intercept them.

By mid-September, the Japanese were strong enough to make another attempt to capture the Marine's Henderson Airfield on Guadalcanal. On September 12, General Kawaguchi Kiyotake led his men against Marine positions on a low grassy ridge south of Henderson Field, soon known as "Bloody Ridge." For 2 days and nights, the Japanese repeatedly assaulted the Marine line, pressing it back to the strategic airfield. The Marines held, losing 40 of their own men to 600 Japanese, and by dawn September 14, the Japanese were in retreat.

By this time, a fundamental shift in Japanese strategy had taken place. They now believed the key to success on Guadalcanal was to take back Henderson Field from the Marines and use it to fly there in planes. That would enable them to sweep the seas of the American fleet. As long as the Americans could operate the airfield, the Japanese couldn't build up a sufficient force to push the Americans out of the area.

The fighting around Guadalcanal steadily intensified. Nearly every night, the Tokyo Express landed more soldiers on Guadalcanal, while their daily air raids and nighttime bombardments continued. The Americans fought back, though. Between October 16th and 25th alone, Marine and Navy pilots downed 103 enemy planes and sank a cruiser, losing only 14 planes of their own. On the night of October 11-12, Rear Admiral Norman Scott's naval force, blasted a Japanese cruiser and destroyer force off Cape Esperance, west of Savo Island, in the Second Battle of Savo Island (Battle of Cape Esperance).

The situation was still critical for the Americans. In a bleak assessment of the American position, on today's date in 1942, Admiral Nimitz wrote:

It now appears that we are unable to control the sea in the Guadalcanal area. Thus our supply of the positions will only be done at great expense to us. The situation is not hopeless, but it is certainly critical.

That same day, Admiral Nimitz reached an important decision. Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley, Commander South Pacific Force, and his exhausted staff must be relieved. Nimitz chose Vice Admiral William F. Halsey to replace him. Ghormley, while understandably disappointed to be relieved, greeted Halsey graciously, later conceding to Nimitz that Halsey was the best man for the job ahead.

Halsey's arrival in Nouméa in New Caledonia boosted American morale throughout the region, as did his assurances to General Alexander A. Vandegrift, the Marine commander on Guadalcanal, that the Navy would give the Marines all possible support within its means. Halsey will be a man of his word.

On October 16th, the aircraft carrier, Enterprise, sailed to join the battleship, South Dakota, and together raced southwest for the Solomon Islands to meet the anticipated new Japanese offensive. On October 20th, the Japanese attacked the American position on Guadalcanal.

On October 23rd, as the American Marines and soldiers repelled a second violent Japanese assault, the "Big E" and her task force rendezvoused with the carrier, Hornet, east of Espiritu Santo, forming Task Force 61, under Rear Admiral Thomas Kinkaid. Halsey, anticipating a Japanese move near Guadalcanal, ordered Kinkaid to sweep north of the Santa Cruz Islands to engage the enemy's fleet.

On the 24th, in heavy rain, the Marines and soldiers fought off still another Japanese assault. At dawn  the next day, the US Navy force was steaming aggressively towards confrontation with the enemy in what would be called the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on October 26.

As the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal neared, my dad's repair ship, Vestal, was sailing for Nouméa. It arrived on October 31, almost simultaneously with South Dakota and Enterprise, which were both damaged in the battle and awaiting repairs.

Source: USS Enterprise CV-6: The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands