Sea Cobra: Admiral Halsey's Task Force and the Great Pacific Typhoon

by Buckner F. Melton Jr.

In the tradition of Joseph Conrad and Herman Wouk comes a gripping, real-life story of men versus the sea—and against the typhoon named Cobra. In the final year of the Second World War, as the United States Navy fought Japanese forces in the largest sea battle in human history, none could foresee that just a few weeks later the Pacific Fleet would be fighting another the Pacific Ocean itself. At the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Imperial Japanese Navy had unleashed a new weapon of desperation, the dreaded kamikaze squadrons, in an effort to stave off defeat. Admiral “Bull” Halsey, his reputation clouded after controversial decisions at Leyte, grew obsessed with destroying kamikaze air bases in the Philippines. Meanwhile, a tropical storm in the Pacific was slowly gaining power, unseen, untracked, unsuspected. It was headlong into this storm, dubbed Typhoon Cobra, that Halsey would lead his fleet.
Sea Cobra tells the dramatic story of the ships and men of the famed Fast Carrier Task Force as fate lands them squarely in the path of this killer typhoon. Using survivors’ interviews and other firsthand accounts, seasoned historian and author Buckner F. Melton Jr. tells the story of a modern fleet encountering one of the most destructive forces of nature. As bomb- and gasoline-laden aircraft carriers—and destroyers critically low on fuel—are overtaken by towering waves and hundred-plus-knot winds, the fleet is pushed to the brink of disaster. Melton recounts the many heroic efforts in the fleet’s struggle to survive, and he also examines the ensuing court inquiry ordered by Admiral Chester Nimitz, as officials sought to make sense of this perilous mission.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Richard Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to understand the power of a Mother Nature when she comes at you with the fury of a Hurricane or Typhoon, then this is the book that really sets forth the whole picture in a well laid-out fashion for those of us who are not hardened sailors as well as for those who may have captained or voyaged on their own ships through major storms. Admiral Halsey was already a seafaring legend by the time he took his task force 38 north from the East Indies to support General Douglas McArthur in his 1944 invasion of the Phillipine Islands. Yet weather predictions during that time in history were hardly much better than they had been back at the time of Admiral Nelson, some one-hundered and fifty years previously. In fact, the addition of modern radio transmissions and the infantile profession of weather predictions in 1944 actually put Halsey's military task force at a disadvantage with regard to some foul weather because reliance was placed on distant transmissions of fragmentary information from Hawaii and Guam, to Admiral Halsey more than a thousand miles away. Thus, instead of relying on the local wind direction and the fact that the local barometer reading was falling very rapidly, the weathermen aboard the Admiral's fleet chose to predict that a major typhoon was hundereds of miles away when their old fashioned charts would have indicated a severe storm in under 24 hours. Consequently, the efforts of the fleet to avoid the storm resulted in their passing almost directly into its center. The descriptions of the damage that was done to Admiral Halsey's destroyers, battleships and aircraft carriers and their superstructures is almost beyond comprehension. Author B.F. Melton Jr. has taken original reports from the commanders of the various ships, the survivors of sinkings and the final navil inquiry into this naval disaster and let the facts speak for themselves rather than trying to be an armchair admiral. Totally engrossing reading and lessons for the modern world about remembering how to use old fashioned technology when the modern techno-world fails us.

[Lee Donohue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sea Cobra was a highly interesting book about a different kind of enemy in a war. Not guns or bombs, but a massive typhoon in the Pacific. This wreaked havoc on the Fast Carrier Task Force, which was the main seafaring military force the U.S had at the time. Using survivor's interviews and input from seasoned historians, Melton created a dramatic and gripping account of one of the most devastating episodes in the Pacific theater during World War II.

[Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad was in the Navy and went through this. It's amazing to see the whole picture.

[Quinby6696 Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this book, I liked Halsey's Typhoon: the True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin about the same subject much better. The story is so exciting (and terrifying!) it practically tells itself. While Melton occasionally waxes poetic especially in his descriptions of nature and the sea, Halsey's Typhoon does a much better job of limning the personalities of the participants. Cdr. Henry Plage gets barely a mention in Melton's account and he was clearly a major hero. The Drury book's comparison of Plage's superior nautical abilities to those of Captain Marks of the Hull (one of the ships that sunk) gives a telling picture of the realities of command in the US Navy. Chief Quartermaster of the Hull, Archie DeRyckere, is a character not to be missed in the Drury book and his account brings the terror experienced by the sailors alive. He is not mentioned in Melton's account.

[K.H. Vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonably well-written but unfocused. Opens with a discussion of Halsey's abandonment of his post at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, then covers the typhoon in question and subsequent inquiry. Finishes with Halsey repeating his error with a second typhoon. Reads more as an indictment of Halsey (although the author goes to great effort to state that he is not attempting to make such judgments). On the one hand, it does tell a story of the Pacific War I did not know, and cements my view that Halsey's decision-making under pressure was suspect, and his culpability in a lot of unnecessary deaths. On the other hand, the alleged subject of the book (the typhoon) is not discussed for significant portions, and was not presented in as gripping a fashion as the subject matter could have commanded.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonably well-written but unfocused. Opens with a discussion of Halsey's abandonment of his post at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, then covers the typhoon in question and subsequent inquiry. Finishes with Halsey repeating his error with a second typhoon. Reads more as an indictment of Halsey (although the author goes to great effort to state that he is not attempting to make such judgments). On the one hand, it does tell a story of the Pacific War I did not know, and cements my view that Halsey's decision-making under pressure was suspect, and his culpability in a lot of unnecessary deaths. On the other hand, the alleged subject of the book (the typhoon) is not discussed for significant portions, and was not presented in as gripping a fashion as the subject matter could have commanded.

[Quinndara · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I know almost nothing about the U.S Navy's operations in the Philippines, or the men who commanded the fleets, during WWII, this was an engaging and informative story of Admiral Halsey's famed Fast Carrier Task Force as fate lands them squarely in the path of a killer typhoon. This is a . . . "real life story of men versus the sea--and against the typhoon named Cobra." The struggles of the various vessels, especially the destroyers, are given in gripping and intimate detail. It is as if the author was omnipresent during the disaster. It is a worthwhile read.

[Mark Darling]

Very interesting account. Rounded out my knowledge of action in the Pacific.