Remembering Halsey's Typhoon

in mid December 1944, the US Navy was hit by a typhoon east of Luzon that sunk three ships and damaged many others.

this incident occurred two months after the largest Naval battle on record, the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Wikipedia article on Typhoon Cobra

here in the Philippines, typhoons usually hit in July through September (often destroying the harvest), so a December typhoon is less common this far south.

StrategyPage discussion of how storms impact the military,
especially aviation and naval deployments,

These typhoons also severely disrupt all military aviation operations. Aircraft must be sent away, often far away, and bases battened down to minimize storm damage. Airbases can be out of action for weeks per typhoon. Warships are also at risk, although these days, weather satellites have eliminated the surprise factor. Not so in the past. On December 17, 1944, Task Force 38 was blindsided by a typhoon off the Philippines. Over 800 sailors were killed, three destroyers were sunk, and twenty other ships severely damaged, while many aircraft were damaged or destroyed. This was not the only time a Task Force ran afoul of a storm, simply the worst.

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and a recent book on the incident:


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a book written by an ordinary sailor who lived through those battles is the book The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.

another sailor's story is in this film:




one of my cousins was on a destroyer later hit by a kamikazi, and survived: but I don't know if he was in this battle.

But the brother of my aunt's cousin was on the Enterprise and killed in a later kamikazi attack on the ship.



it says a lot that for ordinary younger Americans, the Enterprise means StarTrek's ship, not the Gray Ghost of Midway and Leyte.

(the Gray Ghost refers to the fact that the Japanese reported her sunk at Midway, and she reappeared.)

a summary of the various ships with the name Enterprise.