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[0:50]The US Navy's third fleet confronts a killer typhoon. It was so extremely strong that you could not face it. It was just kelting in force. 2,000-ton ships tossed about the ocean like bathtub toys. That would shutter and shake and wobble back and forth the whole time. It was rising up out of that wave and then bang down again. Not all ships survived the storm. Here I was by myself in the middle of South Pacific, hanging in a life jacket, wondering what's going to happen next. I never thought I had a chance of making it in that water.
[1:46]Dawn crept ominously over the horizon on December 17th, 1944, as savage winds gathered strength across the South Pacific. Torrential rain and mammoth waves pounded the sturdy ships of the US Navy's third fleet. The wind was howling and it was driving spray and rain horizontally so that if you faced into it, it cut your face. Sailors struggled to hang on as the USS Dewey ricocheted off 60-foot walls of water. The ship would rise out of the wave and slam down into it with such an impact that it made you think that it was possible that it would break it in half. As the storm tore through the region, the sailors got a crash course in battling an enemy more treacherous than the Japanese. The third fleet was being ambushed by a killer typhoon. A typhoon is the Pacific's version of a hurricane, a spiraling mass of wet gusting air that gathers speeds up to 150 miles an hour, bringing with it blinding rains and punishing winds. The eye is the most intense part of a tropical cyclone. And so that's where the most intense winds and the most intense seas are created. It's like a big vacuum cleaner and in that eye there's a big giant sucking sound and that low pressure is what causes the intensity of the storm, the intensity of the winds and the concomitant intensity and height of the seas. Typhoons are one of the strongest forces of nature on the planet. A typhoon has a huge extent, their effects can be felt over 800 miles away and it can be over many, many days. Most typhoons sputter and die out before reaching killer status. But if conditions are right, a typhoon will slowly pick up power and momentum until it explodes upon the ocean. 90 fighting ships of the third fleet were on a collision course with just this kind of typhoon. And Admiral William Bull Halsey didn't see it coming. Born on October 30th, 1882, William Halsey seemed destined for glory. He entered the US Naval Academy in 1900 and a brilliant military career was launched. Halsey was revered for his victories at Guadalcanal and Leyte Gulf. General Douglas MacArthur considered him to be the greatest fighting admiral of the war. Bull Halsey really was a icon to us. We were really enthrall with the guy. He had a heart for his sailors and we knew that. The word was out that Halsey was a sailor sailor. He was the kind of a guy that uh always wanted to get out there and get them. His first message to the fleet was one word, attack. By the fall of 1944, US forces were waging a ferocious battle against the Japanese in the Philippines. Halsey and his men were taking a beating from Kamikaze bombers. The Kamikaze was in fact the first guided missile only using a human pilot as the guidance system. The bomb hit you, along with the plane itself, it was pure hell. By December, Halsey was determined to rebound. General MacArthur ordered Admiral Halsey to provide the air support vital to regaining control of the Philippine Islands.
[5:48]He desperately needed this air support. And Halsey above everything else felt that that was his main mission to provide that air support. Halsey accepted this job with characteristic gusto. He helped devise a plan nicknamed "The Big Blue Blanket" after the Navy football team. The strategy was for the third fleet to support MacArthur's ground troops by covering or blanketing all enemy air installations on the Philippine Island of Luzon with round-the-clock air raids. On December 9th, 1944, the third fleet anchored at an island about 1,200 miles from Luzon, prepared for battle. The third fleet was an imposing force as it cruised into the Philippine Sea. Much of the fleet was made up of inexperienced, but fiercely patriotic young sailors. These were young men, many of whom were absolutely incensed over the attack on Pearl Harbor. They wanted to support their country. These kids who came from all walks of life and all strata of society, no matter whether rich or poor, they all went in there and they did a great job. 22-year-old Patrick Douhan was one of 263 men who made his home aboard the destroyer the USS Hull. After Pearl Harbor, I felt it was my duty to go to join the Navy and go to war for my country. As chief quartermaster on the Hull, Archie DeRykere's duties included setting all clocks on board, bringing him in contact with everyone from the officers on the bridge to the enlisted men down below. They used me as their walking newspaper, they'd like to know what was going on up in the bridge. What's the latest scoop, hey, Archie, what's going on? Ray Schultz, chief boats and mate who had survived Pearl Harbor, was in charge of ordering supplies for the ship. I issued everybody a new life jacket and we ordered whistles and lights, one sell flashlights to go with the jackets. To help diffuse the tension about the dangerous mission that lay ahead, sailors in the third fleet were also given a chance for a little rest and relaxation at their home base, Ulithi Atoll.
[8:25]Sunshine, blue sky, smooth water. Ulithi was the place where we relaxed for what little relaxation there was. What recreation we could get out of it, we did. They had what we called Iron City beer. We understood it had a little formaldehyde in it to make sure that it didn't spoil and after we'd have a beer party, all of us had a little formaldehyde in us, too.
[8:50]But as the men of the third fleet prepared to sail, forces of nature were conspiring to cause a catastrophe unlike any mortal enemy could inflict. And Admiral Halsey's winning combat record would do little to prepare him for the terrifying battle that lay ahead. On December 10th, 1944, Bull Halsey's third fleet sailed into the Philippine Sea. Its mission to help General Douglas MacArthur reclaim the Philippines. For the next few days, they cruised into formation and prepared for battle.
[9:34]The weather was overcast, but the seas were fairly calm. When dawn broke on December 14th, the fleet had sailed into their ocean position 200 miles northeast of Manila. They were ready to provide air cover for the tiny island of Mindoro. Admiral Halsey's command echoed through the loudspeakers. Pilots, man your planes. He was possessed with the overriding necessity of getting the aircraft in the air to deliver their weapons against targets selected by MacArthur. For the next three days and nights, the men of the third fleet suppressed the deadly Kamikazes and dropped bombs on enemy hangers. The air support had proved to be very effective. and MacArthur had been able to make the landings he planned on Mindoro and establish the fields that he wanted to establish for ground support. Bull Halsey was ready to prepare for the next attack on Luzon.
[10:41]On December 16th, as the victorious ship sailed east to their rendezvous point for refueling, a tropical disturbance was gaining speed, power and moisture over the open seas.
[10:56]Halsey was unaware of this approaching danger. By modern standards, they were really operating in the dark.
[11:06]Weather satellites didn't exist. They had not established a a technique of weather aircraft and weather surveillance by aircraft. And so they had to make judgment calls.
[11:16]As a matter of fact, it was sometimes luck of the draw that a that a plane returning from mission would see weather. That's exactly what happened on December 17th. As the storm moved closer and the weather began to deteriorate, one of the fleet's search pilots spotted the storm from his plane and sent a report to Halsey's flagship, the USS New Jersey. Since weather data was considered tactical information, the message had to go through a lengthy decoding process. The report didn't reach Admiral Halsey in time. He was leading his fleet straight into the storm. The smaller vessels, such as destroyers, were at greatest risk. Destroyers are called tin can because uh they're they have a lot of armor but not much armament. They're very light. They're made for speed. 300 feet long they sound like a pretty big ship but compared to some of the other ships, the other ships we were operating with were pretty small. By early morning on December 17th, the so-called tin cans were being bounced around at the mercy of the heavy winds and waves, as they tried and failed to refuel. Refueling is vital in bad weather because the weight of the fuel helps keep the ship stable. By 11 a.m., the seas were getting rougher and the barometric pressure was falling rapidly. And when it starts dropping, you've got a problem. The storm is near. That's that's the warning and when the bottom started dropping out of it, we all said, oh oh, there she goes. Bull Halsey was perched on his post aboard the New Jersey, trying to balance the considerations of weather and military maneuvers. Archie DeRykere at his shipmates on the Hull waited for official word to take precautions. They were surprised when it didn't come. Other ships had determined that we were in the path of a typhoon. And they couldn't understand why Com third fleet did not take action to avoid it. That struck us as something that was peculiar and almost unbelievable. When we could see, as plain as day, that the weather was not going to improve, it was going to get far worse. Halsey had to weigh the options. A challenge, I think for he and the battle staff was to make decisions that not only kept the safety of the fleet in mind, but also the fact that they were supposed to be dropping bombs on target. Halsey persisted with the command to refuel and stay in formation. Individual ship captains started to prepare for the worst. Charles Calhoun was a 31-year-old graduate of the Naval Academy from Philadelphia and captain of the USS Dewey. I had been told by my favorite executive officer, if you're encountering weather where the barometer falls at a rate of 0.03 inch per hour or greater, you're encountering a typhoon and you had better in his quaint phrase, "haul ass."
[14:30]Captain Calhoun knew it was time to take care of his ship before all else. We moved everything that could be moved from stations high in the ship to stations low in the ship with the idea that everything we could reduce or lower into the bottom of the ship would improve our stability. Just a mile away from the Dewey, Henry Plage, the 29-year-old captain of the USS Tabarer, gave his sailors the order to prepare their ship for severe conditions. We told them to batten down all hatches of the general term with storm is approaching. Take all precautions and they have been trained in what to do in those situations and so they did it.
[15:15]By the time the sailors of the Hull tried to take action, it was too late. The storm was hitting them at full force. That night it was pure havoc on the bridge. The waves were so great and the wind was at such a high velocity that the rain would just about cut your skin. It was coming down at such a force. The ship was plunging pretty badly and up and down motion and starting to roll pretty badly. When I arrived up on the second deck and stepped out behind the charthouse, I realized that the starboard side of the ship was submerged. It was actually a wash. And the ladder, the starboard ladder to go to the bridge was a wash. I said, good Lord, we're really laying over.
[16:10]By midnight, the third fleet was cruising into the eye of one of the most destructive storms to ever hit the US Navy. Finally, at 8:00 the next morning, Halsey informed General MacArthur that refueling was impossible. Halsey's fleet would not be able to provide cover for MacArthur on December 19th. The first priority was to avoid what was now clearly a deadly typhoon.
[17:05]Ships rolled and pitched as mountains of water enveloped their decks. Charles Calhoun remembers hearing the worried crew members of the Dewey out on the open bridge reciting the words of the Navy hymn. Eternal father strong to save, whose arm doth bound the restless wave. Oh, hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea. Then Captain Calhoun made a critical decision. He abandoned attempts at getting back into fleet formation. I had a squadron commander aboard who also happened to be the screen commander in command of all the destroyers in that unit. So I was able to simply turn to him and say, "Commodore, I'm concerned about my ship and I'm just going to save the ship." And he said, "I agree with you." The skippers of some of the other destroyers didn't have that privilege. The USS Hull was one of those unlucky ships. The morning of the 18th, conditions aboard the Hull were unmerciful. Second-class petty officer Pat Douhan was up on the bridge in the afterdeck house, trying to hold on. Just hanging on for dear life because the ship was rolling at such a rate and the waves when they'd break over the bow, they'd come clear up practically over the bridge. And a destroyer being a small craft like that, why, you're at the mercy of the elements. Waves were pouring onto her decks while the rolls submerged entire sides of the ship.
[18:46]Supply officer Ray Schultz was up on deck as the wind velocity approached 100 knots. The ship pitched and rolled wildly. The only thing you can do is hang on to anything close by you just grab and hang on to it until the ship come back up. With zero visibility and unrelenting rain, the Hull suffered electrical failures. As the destroyer withstood her body blows, she lost radar, radio, and shortly before noon, steering capabilities. The Hull was now rolling at 70-degree angles. Each time you think, well, this is the last time it's going over, then something would happen and a wave would push it back up. Pat Douhan struggled to get on deck and grab a life jacket. When I came out of the compartment where there was a life jacket hanging out a gun, a spare life jacket out a gun and I put it on. The ship steadied momentarily. Then came a huge gust of wind that forced her to her starboard side at a nearly 90-degree angle. Water poured into her hull and superstructure.
[20:01]Just after 12:00 noon, the 1,400-ton destroyer surrendered to the sea and capsized.
[21:19]I felt the ship explode on me. I mean, you could feel the pressure. And uh then I was by myself. The ship sunk right under us, just dropped down below us. And uh as it sunk it it the suction took us down pretty deep. I recall my ears hurt pretty bad.
[21:40]With their ship gone, the men were left alone to battle the elements. Some had made it into lifeboats. Others, including Ray Schultz, were washed into the sea with only life vests to help keep them afloat. Big wave just beats the tire out of you. It just threw you around like a just like a ball of cork to beat you up and down. The wind during the typhoon was so extremely strong that you could not face it. It was just kelting in force. I mean it's just like somebody throwing sand in your face, terrific sand blaster. Between the heavy rain and the tumultuous sea, the sailors were completely disoriented. When you go down deep, you don't know which way is up. You start swimming as half as you can to get to the surface.
[22:35]And if you come up in a trough, well you get another one. But if you come up on the peak of a wave, then you shoot up out of the water. The wind will pick you up and blow you up against the next wave. When the best indications you had that you were back on the surface was that you would hear the wind screaming and feel it the spray blowing against you. The spray was so heavy, you'd put your hands over your face like this to breathe.
