Late in WWII two United States Navy (USN) fleets clashed with typhoons in the Pacific. Both these fleets were commanded by Admiral William F. Halsey Jr., one of America’s most audacious, aggressive, respected and experienced naval commanders.
William F. "Bull" Halsey
After each typhoon, due to the severe loss of life, ships, and aircraft in these incidents the Navy convened court of inquiry investigations. These courts were ordered to decide if Admiral Halsey should be charged with endangering his fleet against, not the Japanese but against nature.
At the first court of inquiry, Halsey was cleared of the most serious charges, the court finding that Halsey’s “mistakes, errors and faults” were “errors in judgment under stress of war operations and not as offenses”.
The court of inquiry after Halsey sailed his fleet into the second typhoon found Halsey primarily responsible for the damage and losses incurred. The court recommend a letter of censure pointing out the errors committed and lack of sound judgment displayed be sent to Admiral Halsey. The court went even further by recommending “serious consideration” be given to assigning Halsey to different duties. Halsey’s superiors did send the letter of censure but did not relieve him.
Halsey’s responsibility and culpability is still debated. For some "Bull" got off lightly when he should have been relieved, for others the criticism is unwarranted.
Typhoons
The word “typhoon” describes a strong cyclonic storm occurring in the Pacific Ocean. The word’s origin is most likely thought to have derived from the word “tufa’n” (Arabic or Hindustani.) The Chinese also had an earlier expression, “t’ai fung” meaning strong wind, which may well have evolved into the later Arabic term.
Typhoons quite simply are the hurricanes of the Pacific. Although most prevalent from December until June typhoons, unlike hurricanes, may occur any time in the year. An average typhoon will cover 75 to 300 miles of ocean in diameter with winds from 34 to 130 knots and with gusts exceeding 150 knots.
A typhoon is a clockwise spinning mass of wind and water. It is a whirlwind in which as much water is driven horizontally from the crests of breaking waves as comes down in the torrent of the storm. Typhoons, like their Western Hemisphere cousins hurricanes, which rotate counterclockwise, are not to be trifled with. Military naval forces throughout history have learned this lesson by experience. Unfortunately the American Navy had little.
The Divine Wind
Mongols were the first recorded military force to experience the fury and dangers of typhoons. These learning experiences occurred twice in the 11th century when the Mongols attempted to invade Japan. Both invasion attempts failed in complete disaster due to the arrival of typhoons.
During their first attempt to invade Japan a Mongol fleet of 200 hundred ships was swept aside and sunk on November of 1274 by a typhoon with a loss of 13,000 soldiers. The invasion was called off due to the simple fact there was no one left to carry it out.
Perhaps figuring the first setback was a fluke the Mongols then attempted another invasion of Japan. Their plan even more ambitious and grandiose than the first was launched seven years later. It also ended in total failure when on August 12, 1281 another timely typhoon smashed into their invasion fleet. This second typhoon sent 4,000 Mongol vessels to the bottom along with the 100,000 Chinese, Korean and, Mongol invaders still aboard. This last attempt by the Mongols resulted in their permanent loss of interest in invading Japan and was in fact the last attempt of any invader of the Japanese islands in their history until WWII.
These two typhoons which history records as having saved Japan from invasion have been so honored and ingrained in Japanese history and mythology that Japanese tradition to this day holds that if ever Japan is in dire threat a “kami kaze” or divine wind will save them. It is no surprise then that this name “kami kazi” was bestowed with great honor on the Japanese suicide pilots in the last years of WWII. Ironically it was these same “kamikaze” pilots which were a catalyst leading Admiral Halsey to the typhoons.
US Navy Encounters With Typhoons
The USN’s first ship encounter with a typhoon did not occur until 1854 when the USS Porpoise was presumably lost in one between China and Taiwan.
The next encounter of note was March 16, 1889. Three American warships that year had been ordered to Apia in Samoa in the South Pacific in an attempt to stop the Germans from influencing the Samoan civil war. At the time of the visit three German and one British warships were already in the harbor at Apia the time.
A sudden typhoon rolled in after the USS Trenton, the USS Vandalia and, the USS Nipsic arrived at Apia. All the American ships were destroyed with a loss of 51 of their sailors. The German Navy suffered similar losses at the time when all three of their warships were also sunk accompanied by 150 men of their crews. The disaster was such that after the typhoon all three navies co-operated completely in rescues attempts.
The final United States Navy encounter with a typhoon of note before World War Two occurred on November 13, 1900 at Guam when the USS Yosemite floundered when it encountered a typhoon.
US Navy Experience with Typhoons in WWII
A word of caution to the reader at this point, large, United States Naval forces were active in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. The following does not imply the only typhoons that occurred during World War Two in the Pacific during this period are the one described below. Rather they are the typhoons which inflicted such significant damage to its ships, personnel and, operation that the United States Navy officially records them as notable.
The First Typhoon
On December 17, 1944 in the Philippine Sea a typhoon met and defeated Task Force 38. Task Force 38 was composed of 7 Fleet Carriers, 6 Light Carriers, 8 Battleships, 15 Cruisers, and 50 Destroyers. All under the command of Admiral Halsey.
The typhoon caused three of the destroyers to capsize and sink during the storm with the loss of almost all hands, three other destroyers, and one cruiser and, three of the carriers suffered serious damage. A total of 790 men were lost or killed, 80 men were seriously injured and between the fires which erupted on various carriers and those aircraft lost over the side 146 aircraft were totally lost. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief USN Pacific, had this to say in a confidential letter to his commanders after this typhoon on January 13, 1945:
- "It was the greatest loss that we have taken in the Pacific without compensatory return since the First Battle of Savo.”
778 officers and men lost, nine other warships seriously damaged and 146 aircraft destroyed.
Admiral Nimitz was concerned enough by the losses that he personally flew out to get a first hand evaluation and ordered a board of inquiry on the circumstances regarding the event to be convened.
Second Typhoon
It was once the Third Fleet , under Halsey, which again managed to tangle with a typhoon on June 3, 1945. This typhoon had sustained winds of 70 knots, gusts of up to 127 knots and. waves 75 feet high. This typhoon managed to maim the Third Fleet -- 33 ships suffered serious damage, 76 aircraft were destroyed. Miraculously only six officers and sailors lost their lives.
The USS Pittsburgh, a heavy cruiser, had 104 feet of bow wrenched off. Two other cruisers suffered frame damage. Carrier damage included the USS Attu, USS Salamaua, USS Windham Bay, and USS Bougainville. Both the USS Hornet and USS Bennington suffered the collapse of their forward flight decks, Aboard the USS Belleau Wood the starboard forward catwalk was carried away. The heavy cruiser USS San Jacinto’s hull buckled.
The Third Typhoon
The third and final typhoon that materially affected the Navy during the WWII period occurred approximately one month after Japan’s surrender. On October 9, 1945 this typhoon smashed into a major USN Fleet anchorage at Nakagusuku Wan (Buckner’s Bay) Okinawa. Winds, recorded from 80 to 100 knots with gusts up to 120 knots, were accompanied by 35-foot waves. This typhoon had been forecast to miss the area completely but then unexpectedly sped up and turned right, directly into Okinawa. Ships present in the bay ranged in size from large cargo ships to small landing craft. Twelve ships were sunk with 222 driven onshore and another 36 damaged by collisions. Ships damaged and wrecked included 107 amphibious landing craft, four tank-landing ships, two medium landing ships, and two infantry landing craft. Aircraft lost and damaged totaled 60. Personnel losses were 36 dead with 47 missing presumed dead.
From these encounters the United States Navy learned lessons and implemented measures to reduce unexpected losses of this type in the future. By the last few months of the war the navy had pressured the Army Air Force to utilize their B29’s for long-range weather patrols, the navy also established numerous additional weather reporting stations in the Pacific, taught their weathermen how to use radar to identify and track the storms and, ordered that weather alerts be sent out in plain language (un-enciphered) to save time, ships and sailors.
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© Copyright 2002 by David W. Tschanz.
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