USS Langley (CVL-27 rolls 37 degrees starboard in the storm Following the three days of strikes in support of the Mindoro invasion, Admiral Halsey ordered the Third Fleet to head east into the open Pacific to rendezvous with the Ulithi fueling group to refuel and transfer aircraft from the five CVEs carrying replacements to the seven fleet carriers and six light carriers of Task Force 38, as well as the eight battleships, 15 heavy and light cruisers, and 50 destroyers which comprised the Third Fleet. That day, the aerologists received warnings of a new typhoon, code-named “Cobra.” Seas became increasingly heavy as the typhoon approached, but Halsey wanted to finish fueling because many of the destroyers were nearly out of fuel. Because they were due to take on fuel, several of the “little boys” did not take on sea water to maintain stability, since it would only have to be pumped overboard again before they could receive the precious fuel oil.
Quite a report, TC and so well written I felt the horror of it. 800 lives lost and an experience that probably haunted the survivors for the rest of their lives. Those patriots fought to save the world from dictators who didn’t care about freedom. The cultists who are eagerly supporting an American dictator/psychopath need a good shake.
The Navy passed judgement on Halsey posthumously. Raymond Spruance lent his name to a large class of destroyers (the "Spru-cans") that served for decades and were a notable departure from prior designs. Arleigh Burke was the namesake for the Burke class destroyers, still building an in serve. Halsey got two ships named after him, but not a class. I think the typhoon and leaving Samar undefended was not talked about that much but definitely noticed.
My family lived through a typhoon while we were living on Guam in the '50s. Thank goodness we were not at sea! Your report is so full of frightening facts. Thank you for sharing this.
This is the first I've heard of President Ford being something of a naval war hero. I kind of like that! And the first I've heard of Halsey being overly reckless. A lot of brave men lost needlessly IMO.
It's interesting that all World War II generation presidents served in the USN in the Pacific: Kennedy, Johnson (USN for his 1942 tour of SWPA), Nixon (when Guadalcanal was a backwater), Ford, GHW Bush (torpedo bomber pilot).
Yes, Halsey had that reputation throughout his career, exacerbated by the early 1942 coverage of him as "America's fightin'est Admiral." His public reputation was what saved him with "The Battle of Bull's Run" at Leyte Gulf, the December typhoon and the repeat in June - Nimitz sent him the letter that was too frank to declassify for the December typhoon and after he survived the court of inquiry in July for the June typhoon, Nimitz notified Spruance he would need to take command of the fleet in late August rather than late September for the invasion. Halsey never met a reporter he wouldn't talk to for 30 minutes; Spruance never talked to reporters for 30 minutes in the entire war.
That is interesting, though hard to know exactly what to make of it, especially since I know nothing except the above on what LBJ and Nixon did. Nixon, of course, was driven to curry his father's favor, which was very little if at all forthcoming, and he had a complex and difficult personality, but he was capable of trying extremely hard. Kennedy was a natural. Quite a contrast between the two. GHW Bush had some planning capabilities--did a good job in kicking Iraq out of Kuwait and then getting us out of there in a very short period--something his son lacked. After reading your account, Ford seems to me well put together.
LBJ was a congressman, and was given a temporary commission as a Lt. Commander when he made his tour of the Southwest Pacific with his "assistant," John Connally (commissioned a Lt j.g.); MacArthur gave him an "immediate" Silver Star for going along on a mission that his airplane aborted for mechanical problems and the rest got badly shot up over Rabaul (props to him for being willing to go on a mission to the deadliest target in the Pacific at the time) - which Mac hoped would mean he would "remember us" when he went back to DC, which he did. Nixon was a JAG officer on Guadalcanal, by then a backwater staging area, and he played poker well enough that he paid cash for his home with hi winnings when he came back after the war.
Bush was the youngest Navy pilot of the war - 19 when he was shot down over Iwo Jima (his gunner and radioman didn't get out due to a design fault of the airplane, that it was hard to get out the hatch in back in time). It was said he left Yale and joined up because of his father's role in financing the Nazis .
Preston Bush began financing the Nazis in 1928, from advice by his German financier friend (name escapes me at the moment, Fritz something) who was the party's conduit to German industrialists. When the Nazis came to power, his investment firm was allowed to buy controlling interests in companies that had been confiscated from Jewish owners. Bush never let go of them, despite later events. In 1942, he was investigated and nearly charged under the Trading with the Enemy Act. He thwarted that by delaying everything and then running for Senator from Connecticut, which he won.
Grandpa Bush was a full partner at Wall Street firm when it was revealed that companies he was associated with owned assets that were seized under the Trading with the Enemy Act. Bush seemed to do then what Trump is trying to do now, hide behind a powerful title and position. I hope history about Trump will be more detailed and solid than it was regarding highly-placed, money-grubbing enemy sympathizers during WWII.
Then came the infamous “Where is Task Force 34? The world wonders.” incident. In 1982, Hurricane Iwa passed close to Oahu before going up the channel between Oahu and Kauai. All ships that had power were ordered to leave Pearl Harbor and those undergoing overhauls were to bev double lashed to their moorings. The USS Goldsborough left late in the afternoon as huge waves started building outside the harbor entrance and one man on the anchor detail was killed when high waves washed over the bow of the ship. Luckily, there was only minor wind damage on Oahu but Kauai got the brunt of the Category 1 hurricane, but nothing like the smashing it got in 1992’s direct hit by Category 4/5 Hurricane Iniki.
I appreciate this, TC, especially with the “inside scoop” about Herman Wouk (The Caine Mutiny was one of my Dad’s favorite “Navy books”. Wish i could talk with my Dad about that now.
Although his advice to me was “Anything but the Goddam Army, I’m sure he was pleased when I did not enlist.
Yes, Ally: "This part of the struggle against the storm was dramatized in both the novel and the motion picture of “The Caine Mutiny,” where the event that leads to the “mutiny” is Captain Queeg’s refusal to alter course into the wind, as he blindly follows his last orders. Author Herman Wouk actually experienced Typhoon Cobra and was writing from memory.)"
Hollywood's best attempts at naval history (in no particular order):
"The Enemy Below": destroyer captain Robert Mitchum and U-boat commander Kurt Jurgens play a game of cat and mouse; this is the first Hollywood war movie that portrayed the Germans as human beings and not just the "Nazi enemy". Screenplay by my writing mentor, Wendell Mayes.
Wendell also wrote "In Harm's Way" done for Otto Preminger, starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas in a story about the Navy in the first year of the war. It doesn't refer to any particular incidents, but it's OK.
"PT-109" - stars Cliff Robertson as JFK, tells the story of the sinking of PT-109 and Kennedy's effort to save his crew. Factually accurate.
"Sink the Bismarck!" - factually-accurate British WW2 movie. Battle scenes done with miniatures and look OK.
"Battle of the River Plate" - another accurate English WW2 movie, done by Michael Powell. The story of the sinking of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee. The actual former HMS Achilles (by then in the Indian Navy) which was one of the three British ships that fought the battle, is in it. The sea battle is done with real ships (USS Salem stands in for Graf Spee) and gives you a really good idea of what a naval gun battle was really like. An unrecognizable Peter Finch in his first film role plays the German captain.
"Destination Tokyo" - Cary Grant stars in a story of the submarine that gave the weather forecast over Tokyo for the Doolittle Raid. The scene about the Pharmacist Mate taking out a sailor's appendix really happened on USS Silversides.
"Task Force" - dramatization of the development of carrier aviation in the 1920s and 30s and its payoff in World War II. Stars Gary Cooper. The final story about the carrier that survives the Kamikazes is based on the real story of USS Franklin.
"The Bridges at Toko-ri," based on James Michenor's novel which was based on real events during the "Cherokee Strikes" in the Korean War. One of the few war movies where the hero is killed. Most naval aviators who were in Korea consider this the best and most accurate Navair movie ever made - far superior to Top Gun. Stars William Holden as Lt. Harry Brubaker, a recalled reservist who doesn't want to be where he is, is afraid of what he has to do, and does it anyway - an accurate portrayal of war. Mickey Rooney is unforgettable as helicopter pilot Mike Forney. It turns out that the real "Brubaker" and "Forney" - who were reported killed - actually survived and walked across the Freedom Bridge at Panmunjom about the same time Paramount bought the rights to the novel. Considered "controversial" at the time (middle of McCarthyism) for the portrayal of the hero. Now considered one of the Ten Best War Movies Ever Made.
"Devotion" is the story of Jesse Brown, the Navy's first black Naval Aviator, and his friendship with fellow pilot Tom Hudner. Factually accurate throughout. They do use another guy's story of tangling with a MiG-15.
The book "The Enemy Below" and the movie share nothing but a title and the fact the book's movie rights were purchased for the movie. As Wendell told me, the book is by a Royal Navy captain who was an ASW specialist and is a nonfiction account of the U-boat war. Wendell used nothing from the book but the setting for the screenplay the movie is based on.
Quite a report, TC and so well written I felt the horror of it. 800 lives lost and an experience that probably haunted the survivors for the rest of their lives. Those patriots fought to save the world from dictators who didn’t care about freedom. The cultists who are eagerly supporting an American dictator/psychopath need a good shake.
The Navy passed judgement on Halsey posthumously. Raymond Spruance lent his name to a large class of destroyers (the "Spru-cans") that served for decades and were a notable departure from prior designs. Arleigh Burke was the namesake for the Burke class destroyers, still building an in serve. Halsey got two ships named after him, but not a class. I think the typhoon and leaving Samar undefended was not talked about that much but definitely noticed.
Exactly right. The second typhoon fakakte in June 45 was the icing on the cake.
My family lived through a typhoon while we were living on Guam in the '50s. Thank goodness we were not at sea! Your report is so full of frightening facts. Thank you for sharing this.
This is the first I've heard of President Ford being something of a naval war hero. I kind of like that! And the first I've heard of Halsey being overly reckless. A lot of brave men lost needlessly IMO.
It's interesting that all World War II generation presidents served in the USN in the Pacific: Kennedy, Johnson (USN for his 1942 tour of SWPA), Nixon (when Guadalcanal was a backwater), Ford, GHW Bush (torpedo bomber pilot).
Yes, Halsey had that reputation throughout his career, exacerbated by the early 1942 coverage of him as "America's fightin'est Admiral." His public reputation was what saved him with "The Battle of Bull's Run" at Leyte Gulf, the December typhoon and the repeat in June - Nimitz sent him the letter that was too frank to declassify for the December typhoon and after he survived the court of inquiry in July for the June typhoon, Nimitz notified Spruance he would need to take command of the fleet in late August rather than late September for the invasion. Halsey never met a reporter he wouldn't talk to for 30 minutes; Spruance never talked to reporters for 30 minutes in the entire war.
That is interesting, though hard to know exactly what to make of it, especially since I know nothing except the above on what LBJ and Nixon did. Nixon, of course, was driven to curry his father's favor, which was very little if at all forthcoming, and he had a complex and difficult personality, but he was capable of trying extremely hard. Kennedy was a natural. Quite a contrast between the two. GHW Bush had some planning capabilities--did a good job in kicking Iraq out of Kuwait and then getting us out of there in a very short period--something his son lacked. After reading your account, Ford seems to me well put together.
LBJ was a congressman, and was given a temporary commission as a Lt. Commander when he made his tour of the Southwest Pacific with his "assistant," John Connally (commissioned a Lt j.g.); MacArthur gave him an "immediate" Silver Star for going along on a mission that his airplane aborted for mechanical problems and the rest got badly shot up over Rabaul (props to him for being willing to go on a mission to the deadliest target in the Pacific at the time) - which Mac hoped would mean he would "remember us" when he went back to DC, which he did. Nixon was a JAG officer on Guadalcanal, by then a backwater staging area, and he played poker well enough that he paid cash for his home with hi winnings when he came back after the war.
Bush was the youngest Navy pilot of the war - 19 when he was shot down over Iwo Jima (his gunner and radioman didn't get out due to a design fault of the airplane, that it was hard to get out the hatch in back in time). It was said he left Yale and joined up because of his father's role in financing the Nazis .
I had no idea GHWB's father had financed the Nazis.
I'm not feeling "leader" in anything you're saying about Nixon, but I'm not surprised he played poker that well.
Preston Bush began financing the Nazis in 1928, from advice by his German financier friend (name escapes me at the moment, Fritz something) who was the party's conduit to German industrialists. When the Nazis came to power, his investment firm was allowed to buy controlling interests in companies that had been confiscated from Jewish owners. Bush never let go of them, despite later events. In 1942, he was investigated and nearly charged under the Trading with the Enemy Act. He thwarted that by delaying everything and then running for Senator from Connecticut, which he won.
Grandpa Bush was a full partner at Wall Street firm when it was revealed that companies he was associated with owned assets that were seized under the Trading with the Enemy Act. Bush seemed to do then what Trump is trying to do now, hide behind a powerful title and position. I hope history about Trump will be more detailed and solid than it was regarding highly-placed, money-grubbing enemy sympathizers during WWII.
What an evil SOB! They should have charged him.
Then came the infamous “Where is Task Force 34? The world wonders.” incident. In 1982, Hurricane Iwa passed close to Oahu before going up the channel between Oahu and Kauai. All ships that had power were ordered to leave Pearl Harbor and those undergoing overhauls were to bev double lashed to their moorings. The USS Goldsborough left late in the afternoon as huge waves started building outside the harbor entrance and one man on the anchor detail was killed when high waves washed over the bow of the ship. Luckily, there was only minor wind damage on Oahu but Kauai got the brunt of the Category 1 hurricane, but nothing like the smashing it got in 1992’s direct hit by Category 4/5 Hurricane Iniki.
I appreciate this, TC, especially with the “inside scoop” about Herman Wouk (The Caine Mutiny was one of my Dad’s favorite “Navy books”. Wish i could talk with my Dad about that now.
Although his advice to me was “Anything but the Goddam Army, I’m sure he was pleased when I did not enlist.
Your Dad was a wise man, and it sounds like he is still talking to you.
I wish. 36 years gone this month.
Mine's been gone 65 years, served in the war we are reading about. I never heard a word about it before time ran out. Maybe that's why I'm here.
It certainly is part of why I am here. My condolences on the loss of your Dad, which must have been at a very young age.
Yes, Ally: "This part of the struggle against the storm was dramatized in both the novel and the motion picture of “The Caine Mutiny,” where the event that leads to the “mutiny” is Captain Queeg’s refusal to alter course into the wind, as he blindly follows his last orders. Author Herman Wouk actually experienced Typhoon Cobra and was writing from memory.)"
Phew.
Great piece of storytelling again, TC.
On an entirely different note regarding films that do an adequate job with history.
I know in the past you said you might put together a film list of must-sees.
You got me thinking about this. What's your take on the Clark Gable/Burt Lancaster Run Silent, Run Deep?
What are Hollywood's best attempts on naval history?
Hollywood's best attempts at naval history (in no particular order):
"The Enemy Below": destroyer captain Robert Mitchum and U-boat commander Kurt Jurgens play a game of cat and mouse; this is the first Hollywood war movie that portrayed the Germans as human beings and not just the "Nazi enemy". Screenplay by my writing mentor, Wendell Mayes.
Wendell also wrote "In Harm's Way" done for Otto Preminger, starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas in a story about the Navy in the first year of the war. It doesn't refer to any particular incidents, but it's OK.
"PT-109" - stars Cliff Robertson as JFK, tells the story of the sinking of PT-109 and Kennedy's effort to save his crew. Factually accurate.
"Sink the Bismarck!" - factually-accurate British WW2 movie. Battle scenes done with miniatures and look OK.
"Battle of the River Plate" - another accurate English WW2 movie, done by Michael Powell. The story of the sinking of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee. The actual former HMS Achilles (by then in the Indian Navy) which was one of the three British ships that fought the battle, is in it. The sea battle is done with real ships (USS Salem stands in for Graf Spee) and gives you a really good idea of what a naval gun battle was really like. An unrecognizable Peter Finch in his first film role plays the German captain.
"Destination Tokyo" - Cary Grant stars in a story of the submarine that gave the weather forecast over Tokyo for the Doolittle Raid. The scene about the Pharmacist Mate taking out a sailor's appendix really happened on USS Silversides.
"Task Force" - dramatization of the development of carrier aviation in the 1920s and 30s and its payoff in World War II. Stars Gary Cooper. The final story about the carrier that survives the Kamikazes is based on the real story of USS Franklin.
"The Bridges at Toko-ri," based on James Michenor's novel which was based on real events during the "Cherokee Strikes" in the Korean War. One of the few war movies where the hero is killed. Most naval aviators who were in Korea consider this the best and most accurate Navair movie ever made - far superior to Top Gun. Stars William Holden as Lt. Harry Brubaker, a recalled reservist who doesn't want to be where he is, is afraid of what he has to do, and does it anyway - an accurate portrayal of war. Mickey Rooney is unforgettable as helicopter pilot Mike Forney. It turns out that the real "Brubaker" and "Forney" - who were reported killed - actually survived and walked across the Freedom Bridge at Panmunjom about the same time Paramount bought the rights to the novel. Considered "controversial" at the time (middle of McCarthyism) for the portrayal of the hero. Now considered one of the Ten Best War Movies Ever Made.
"Devotion" is the story of Jesse Brown, the Navy's first black Naval Aviator, and his friendship with fellow pilot Tom Hudner. Factually accurate throughout. They do use another guy's story of tangling with a MiG-15.
That's enough to get you going.
Thanks, TC. Started with "The Bridges at Tokyo-ri. "I read the book in high school and I think it is time for a reread.
"Run Silent, Run Deep" any thoughts about it?
It has been a long time since I saw "The Enemy Below." Time to look for that. How's the book?
Thank you again, TC.
The book "The Enemy Below" and the movie share nothing but a title and the fact the book's movie rights were purchased for the movie. As Wendell told me, the book is by a Royal Navy captain who was an ASW specialist and is a nonfiction account of the U-boat war. Wendell used nothing from the book but the setting for the screenplay the movie is based on.