The FReeper Foxhole Revisits Typhoon Cobra ~ Disaster at Sea (18 December 1944) - Dec. 27th, 2003

http://www.history.navy.mil ^

[Light Speed]

Good Morning : )

From research journeys with navy vets..mostly DD types...learned that they were very aware of what had happened to other ships in the fleet as the war progressed.

Most DD's were crewed by kids with a sprinkling of salty vets from the 30's....often this balance was critical to see a ships harmony endure under the strain.

Off Okinawa...many Destroyers could see their sister ships fight for their lives..yet they had to stay their station..witness their Bluejackets ship come apart in violent detonations as superstructure went up in the sky hundreds of feet.
knowing that this fate could be theirs too in moments.

2 cans would sail out from the American anchorage at Keramma Retto just west of Okinawa....wave at each other as they parted for station keeping.
Hours later...wether witnessed visually..or learned by com traffic..their freinds were in peril..or lost.

Coping with the Kamikaze off Okinawa saw Bluejackets demonstrate a range of behaviours.
Some grew marrose and withdrew.....some would no longer sleep inside the ships spaces,
choseing to curl up somewhere topside..cut deals with officers who wished they would overcome their fears and hit their bunks below.

As mentioned..the sprinkling of Older salts did matter on these ships...a 17 yr old needed the comfort and presence to cope.

On deck....busy about the ships needs....a sunny day....then a hulk is towed by...the mind starts wandering.

[bandleader]

I believe that The US Navy lost a number of ships in this Typhoon.One cruiser had it's bow-section ripped off but survived anyway.

[snippy_about_it]

P.S. Nice pics from WASHINGTON.

Our "scrounger extraordinaire" alias SAMWolf found those pictures for me.

Good night Gator Navy. Sleep tight.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you bandleader.

[SAMWolf]

The DD's took a real beating at Okinawa and later. Being the Fleets pickets a lot of kamikazes chose them as targets, either through inexperience at recognizing ships or just because it was the first target they saw.

[snippy_about_it]

Off Okinawa...many Destroyers could see their sister ships fight for their lives..yet they had to stay their station..witness their Bluejackets ship come apart in violent detonations as superstructure went up in the sky hundreds of feet...knowing that this fate could be theirs too in moments.

This had to be tough. Thanks Light Speed for the post.

[Light Speed]

Thanks for the post and article link.

What was Halsey thinking?....he knew the cans were in jeopardy...

Ballast the ship by seawater in the fuel tanks....do so in severe running conditions....calculating how long the can could run ....the awarness of the storms strength and the time interval to clear..with the minute by minute request for remaining fuel count.

The series **Victory at Sea has some film stock of the Typhoon...its remarkable to see the cans ride completely out of the water with their props spinning free 20 ft in the air.
The ships would shudder violently when this occured...locked inside..the crew could only live out the noises happening around them and cope with the fear.

USS Pittsburghs damage from a Typhoon incident in June 1945

[Light Speed]

Hi Sam.

Night time was a spectacle for those on duty station off Okinawa.

Alot of cans rotated duty from outer Radar picket..to inner transport screen or *Ping Line which saw them doing circuits in outer lanes listening for subs .

in the late afternoon..the transports off Okinawa would form up...by 6 PM their screen of DD's would set out to sea for the night..[Night retirement] as deck logs go.
So too for the TF task groups of crusiers and BB's .

Japanese Betty's and other planes would hunt for them in the dark...their glowing green canopies seen at times...flares dropped for illumination.
Commands for evasive turns as torpedo's and mines hit the water ahead.

Flashes from radar controlled gunfire....Laconic voice comment over TBS....."Bogey destroyed"

In the morning,ships parting to different station keeping,
a burned hulk of a DD towed by.

another day's start off Okinawa.

[quietolong]

Hi Sam, snippy


Thought I would flag a good book for you and everyone else.

It’s
Corregidor
Oasis of Hope

By Asbury Nix 1991
ISBN 0-942495-19-5

Mr. Nix was a Pfc statined in the Philippines in 1939 and in Jan of 1942 Fort Mills Corregidor. And was one of the very lucky ones.
After his capture was assigned to clean up and salvage of Corregidor. And afterwards shipped to Japan to work in a Copper mine. And because of this had relatively good living conditions and treatment as compared to many others.

A Stevens Point, Wis., resident, served with the 34th Light Maintenance Company on Bataan. He recounts the experiences of his unit during the campaign at Corregidor and goes on to relate his prisoner of war experience, work details and the Noto Maru prison ship. Also included are complete rosters for those held at POW Camp Number 9, names and statistics about the Japanese "Hell Ships," rosters of those on work details and a roster of people aboard the Noto Maru.

Shows another side to the war and POW. It a very good read! Being a local book I hope you can find it.

[SAMWolf]

The last place I'd want to be is at sea in a DD during a typhoon.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the lead on the book quiettolong.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks so much quietolong!

[Light Speed]

Came accross this site while searching on Guderian and Rommel.

Third Reich Forum

[SAMWolf]

WOW! They really cover the topics. Thanks I have it bookmarked.

[Darksheare]

WOW.
That's luck, and the internet.

[WaterDragon]

It is humbling to read about what these sailors lived through, and that killed so many of them. My dad was aboard an oiler in the Western Pacific that December. Didn't encounter that storm, though.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hello friends. Good job, Snippy, thanks.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

[snippy_about_it]

Good afternoon Victoria.

[SAMWolf]

Afternoon WaterDragon.

Stories like this make me want to stay a landlubber. thi

[SAMWolf]

Afternoon Victoria.