Task Force 38 had faced a lot of “divine wind” (kamikazes) during the Philippines campaign, but on Dec. 18, 1944 it faced an actual wind. This storm was officially Typhoon Cobra, but it is better known as Halsey’s Typhoon. Admiral Halsey’s fleet was involved in air attacks on Mindoro, which was the site of Gen. MacArthur’s next invasion in the Philippines. The fleet was going through refueling operations starting on the 17th. The fleet consisted of 7 large aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, and numerous smaller ships. A few days earlier, Commander George Kosco, the fleet’s aerologist (similar to a meteorologist) had informed “Bull” Halsey that there was a tropical storm coming, but it would be weak. Halsey decided to conduct business as usual. Considering Halsey was still chafing over his huge mistake in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, he would have been better off being overly cautious. (In the battle, Halsey had left San Bernadino Strait open and a Japanese fleet had come close to destroying the Army’s transports.) On the 18th, conditions worsened rapidly. Halsey’s flagship, the battleship Iowa, was tossed like a cork on a pond. But the real danger was to the little destroyers. Not only did their size make the day nightmarish, but many had not been refueled yet. The nearly empty fuel containers made the destroyers very unstable. The 70-foot waves threw the ships around and the lists were as much as 70 degrees. On some of them, the smokestacks were inundated with so much water the engines were disabled, leaving the destroyers vulnerable. Three destroyers sunk. One of them, the Monaghan, lost 256 of the crew. Only 6 sailors survived. (The Monaghan had been at Pearl Harbor and rammed and sank a Japanese midget sub on Dec. 7.) A total of 790 men were lost in the fleet. 9 ships were damaged. 146 planes were destroyed or went overboard. Some planes in the hangars became loose cannons and started fires. On the USS Monterey, a young officer named Gerald Ford was sent to report on the fires in the hangar. He was almost was knocked off the ship by a giant wave.
A board of inquiry determined Halsey was responsible for the losses, but it was not negligence. Incredibly, about six months later, Halsey’s fleet was hit by another Typhoon. Once again, Halsey took no action to avoid the storm. In fact, he sailed into it. This time Halsey was given more fault, with Chester Nimitz calling his actions gross stupidity. (He also adjusted his take on the first typhoon and deemed it gross stupidity as well.) The findings in both cases were kept from the public because Halsey was a hero in the public mind.
An investigation after the disaster found that Halsey was responsible for the losses, but he was not negligent. Halsey argued that he had been let down by his weather experts. Coming off his mistake in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, his reputation had taken a beating. But the beating was not over. Six months later, a second typhoon hit his fleet. Halsey had made the bad decision to sail in the direction of the storm. Typhoon Connie was as ferocious as the first one, but no ships were lost this time. The same could not be said for Halsey’s reputation. A second inquiry again assigned him responsibility, but he was not reprimanded because the war was winding down and he was a hero to the American public. The same could not be said the actual commander of the aircraft carriers, Admiral John McCain, Sr.. He was removed from command and died soon after.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Cobra
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/two-typhoons-crippled-bull-halseys-task-force-38/
https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2017/october/seven-decades-debate
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