Dec. 16, 2012
The ships of Task Force 38, after supporting the landings of American troops on Mindora and bombing targets in and around Luzon and Manila Bay, headed for a fueling rendezvous east of the Philippines. The ships were getting low on fuel, especially the destroyers and destroyer escorts. However, the ships found themselves struggling in the increasing winds and the seas were becoming increasingly heavy. By afternoon, it was no longer possible for the ships to refuel. They were in the edge of a typhoon that had managed to escape detection.
TYPHOON COBRA engulfed the fleet with relentless fury. I have had the great fortune to interview some of the original crewmembers about their memories of this typhoon.
Pat Fedele: Another time of great excitement was the big typhoon where we lost those destroyers — the Spence, the Hull and one other. They couldn’t tolerate being so badly bounced around. Our bow was under water. It actually went under water. Man, we got slammed around! The USS Washington, I think, a great big battleship, floated right in front of us. Their steering mechanism was gone. We couldn’t see anything — so we dodged them by blowing two horns and they blew two horns and then we used lights to locate each other. The lights were barely any use because all you could see was water anyway. We just barely missed ramming them.
I saw a life raft go by with a couple of guys hanging on it. Just their bodies — their legs were gone — eaten off by sharks. It was an awful, awful mess the typhoon. We got knocked around like a toy and we’re a heavy heavy ship — we were a lot safer than the destroyers. The carriers got knocked around because they’ve got a squareness to them — the sharper the shape of a ship, the more it catches the wind. They had a tough time with planes breaking loose and catching on fire.
More on Typhoon Cobra over the next couple of days . . . .
steve