The powerful U.S. Third Fleet under Admiral had just won the Battle of Leyte and was steaming east to get out of range of Japanese bombers on this date in 1944. Five hundred miles east of Luzon, U.S. oil tankers were waiting to refuel the fleet.
On the morning of the 17th, Halsey had received a weather report that there was a typhoon four hundred miles to his east, moving to the north. In fact, the powerful storm was actually just 120 miles away and unfortunately, its forecast track was wrong. Halsey believed his course to the refueling area would avoid the dangerous typhoon. As weather conditions deteriorated during the day, Halsey ordered his fleet, which covered a thirty mile diameter area, to move northwest, thinking it would take them out of harm’s way.
Before the satellite era, it was difficult to keep track of typhoons in the Pacific during World War II. Large stretches of ocean are unbroken by islands, so there are few observation locations. Powerful Typhoon Cobra was beginning to strike the task force when the fueling operation began. By nightfall, the fueling operation was abandoned and the fleet was trying to outrun the typhoon.
Over the next 24 hours, Halsey made several maneuvers that managed to put much of his fleet right into the middle of the storm. There was mass confusion as the ships rolled on monstrous waves as high as sixty feet and dealt with shrieking winds 145 mph and gusts to 185 mph in the Philippine Sea. The central pressure in the storm was estimated to be 26.30 inches. Winds and high seas tore life vests from the backs of some survivors. Three destroyers and numerous other ships were sunk by the storm. A total of 778 sailors and marines died and 146 aircraft were destroyed.
On the morning of the 17th, Halsey had received a weather report that there was a typhoon four hundred miles to his east, moving to the north. In fact, the powerful storm was actually just 120 miles away and unfortunately, its forecast track was wrong. Halsey believed his course to the refueling area would avoid the dangerous typhoon. As weather conditions deteriorated during the day, Halsey ordered his fleet, which covered a thirty mile diameter area, to move northwest, thinking it would take them out of harm’s way.
Before the satellite era, it was difficult to keep track of typhoons in the Pacific during World War II. Large stretches of ocean are unbroken by islands, so there are few observation locations. Powerful Typhoon Cobra was beginning to strike the task force when the fueling operation began. By nightfall, the fueling operation was abandoned and the fleet was trying to outrun the typhoon.
Over the next 24 hours, Halsey made several maneuvers that managed to put much of his fleet right into the middle of the storm. There was mass confusion as the ships rolled on monstrous waves as high as sixty feet and dealt with shrieking winds 145 mph and gusts to 185 mph in the Philippine Sea. The central pressure in the storm was estimated to be 26.30 inches. Winds and high seas tore life vests from the backs of some survivors. Three destroyers and numerous other ships were sunk by the storm. A total of 778 sailors and marines died and 146 aircraft were destroyed.
on December 16, 2005, 10:07 pm
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