The Tragic Loss of U.S. Navy Task Force 38 During Typhoon Cobra
One of the worst losses of life experienced by the U.S. Navy during WW2…. And it was not due to enemy action.
The Approach of a Deadly Storm
In December of 1944, U.S. Navy Task Force 38 was operating just about 300 miles east of Luzon in the Philippine Sea when news about potential bad weather reached them. Usually, the Navy would do their best to avoid sailing into storms. But from the initial information they had received, the approaching storm was not seen as “serious”.
But as it would turn out, the patch of bad weather would in fact be a full-on typhoon and the fleet would unknowingly sail right into it. Eventually, the weather did indeed get worse and too late did the fleet realize that they had indeed sailed into a serious storm. Worse still, the ships were refueling when the weather began to change. Some of the ships were quite literally running on fumes when operations were suspended.
The Devastating Impact
By the time the storm had passed, three destroyers and 780 men were lost. Numerous other vessels were seriously damaged, some of which would have to return to port for repairs.
An inquiry was launched and charges were brought up against Admiral Halsey himself for the losses. But it was determined that the information he had received about the weather was incorrect, so he was not held directly responsible for the disaster. Though he would transfer command of the Third Fleet to Admiral Raymond A. Spruance.
Lessons Learned and Future Measures
Now, this event was a real kick to the pants for the U.S. Navy and the military as a whole, as it showed that the current system of detecting and tracking storms had some serious flaws and needed to be fixed. This would eventually lead to the establishment of what would eventually become the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, which is currently based in Pearl Harbor and is responsible for tracking storms in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
~NC
