He had to have a berth or he couldn't get to sea...
Halsey's Flagship USS New Jersey, November, 1944
Posted on 06/03/2007 7:30:58 PM PDT by BGHater
Bob Drury and Tom Clavin's "Halsey's Typhoon" is man-against-nature drama at its best. It's an inspiring and thrilling read.
It is a true story of heroism and hardship at war. It's also an account of the occasional cowardice, incompetence and cock-ups that occur in every military conflict. It's a story worth knowing and well told, with the pace and riveting immediacy of a good novel.
In December of 1944, while supporting Gen. Douglas MacArthur's "I will return" invasion of the Philippine Islands, Adm. William "Bull" Halsey's 170-ship armada suffered a sneak attack from Typhoon Cobra, an unexpected enemy that did more damage to Halsey's fleet than the Imperial Japanese Navy had managed to inflict in the preceding three years.
The battle against Cobra, which packed winds up to 150 mph, was as intense as any fight the American Pacific fleet waged during World War II. In three hellacious days in a part of the Pacific known as "Typhoon Alley," this perfect storm broke up and sunk three American destroyers, badly damaged dozens of other ships and destroyed on decks, or blew overboard, more than 100 war planes. Almost three times as many sailors died in this dust-up with Mother Nature than were lost fighting at the Battle of Midway.
Almost 900 young American sailors were washed overboard, trapped below decks or taken down by their sinking ships. Hundreds spent up to 60 hours in the Pacific, clinging to any flotsam they could find, fighting to stay afloat and alive. Their formidable opponents were wounds, dehydration, exhaustion, opportunistic sharks and a clamorous sea that threw up 70-foot waves. All in all, it was a hell of a couple of days at the office.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Excellent read.
I was reading the threads to see if this was the typhoon that undid Captain Quegg. Thanks for the info.
I just printed this review out. There's an old salor I know who sailed through this storm. He told me about the three miserable days he was stuck below deck riding this one out. I think I'll pick up the book for him.
“I Know This Book. Your Conclusions Were Wrong, Ryan. Halsey Acted Foolishly.” CAPT Ramius
My dad's ship was on the fringes of this storm, and he said it was pretty nasty -- hard to imagine being on a ship in the middle of it.
He said the hardest part was trying to go down stairs as the ship rolled. As the ship rolled one way the stairs would get really steep and slippery, and as it rolled the other way the low bulkheads would reach out and bash people's heads.
My late Father-In-Law was aboard a navy patrol bomber (Martin PBM Mariner "flying boat") in late 1944. He rode out this typhoon aboard his PBM while moored to a channel marker buoy, IIRC. He said it was the worst thing he experienced during the war.
The modern Navy is pretty good at keeping ships out the worst of bad weather using a system called Optimum Track Ship Routing (OTSR). Merchant vessels use the services of commercial companies that do the same thing. But sometimes you’re trapped by geography or restricted by speed or just plain have to get somewhere. Then you suck it up and take it. I’ve taken 50+ degree rolls quite a few times when I was on LSTs. I’d rather not think about 70+.
Halsey's Flagship USS New Jersey, November, 1944
One of the survivors said they thought the damaged ship was Japanese, since they didn't recognized it from the storm's reconfiguration effort.
Looks like he had a bath, not a berth. Quite a photo!
"When we are finished, the Japanese language will only be spoken in Hell!"
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