The history of one of the most dramatic and underreported stories of WWII.
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From Publishers Weekly
The ripple of interest in the typhoon that struck the U.S. Third Fleet in December 1944, sinking three destroyers and drowning 800 sailors, swells onward in this absorbing naval adventure saga. Historian Melton (Aaron Burr) paints a wider canvas than do Bob Drury and Tom Clavin in Halsey's Typhoon (reviewed Oct. 9). Like them, he regales readers with firsthand recollections of the shrieking winds and titanic waves that battered ships to pieces, the ordeal of survivors besieged by thirst and sharks, and the heroism of sailors who rescued them in mountainous seas. He recounts at length the subsequent navy inquiry into the performance of meteorologists, Adm. William Halsey and Cmdr. James Marks of the sunken destroyer Hull, who are pilloried by Drury and Clavin but largely exonerated here. Melton pads out the story with a blow-by-blow of the preceding Battle of Leyte Gulf, an account of another typhoon Halsey sailed the Third Fleet into in 1945, and a chapter on Japanese kamikazes. Melton's prose can be purplish—"The beast was still growing in the heart of the sea... feeding on the heat of the water as if it were mother's milk"—but when the storm breaks, he settles down to a straightforward, gripping narrative. Photos. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
The author of A Hanging Offense (2003), on the 1842 Somers mutiny, takes to sea again in fine style in this powerful account of the great typhoon off the Philippines in the autumn of 1944, which inflicted major damage on Admiral "Bull" Halsey's U.S. Third Fleet. This book ranges more broadly than Bob Drury and Tom Clavin's Halsey's Typhoon (2006), covering more kinds of ships (the light carriers really took a pounding) and the subsequent court of inquiry in greater detail. It adds an afterword on Typhoon Viper, which struck the Third Fleet off Okinawa in 1945, and at no point does it err on the side of charity to either Halsey or the U.S. Navy's weather forecasting. It does offer unstinted praise for the men of the Third Fleet, few of whom, except the Annapolis graduates, had seen saltwater before Pearl Harbor but who fought their ships through the worst weather disaster ever to strike the U.S. Navy. A solid shelf mate for Halsey's Typhoon and the burgeoning numbers of nautical-calamity tomes. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Men and an Angry Sea, Part I,
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This review is from: Sea Cobra: Admiral Halsey's Task Force and the Great Pacific Typhoon (Hardcover)
In 2007 two different publishers released two different books on the 1944-1945 typhoons that sank three ships in the U.S. Third Fleet. Under the command of Admiral William Halsey, the U.S. Navy lost more men due to these natural disasters than it did at the battle of Midway. Bob Drury and Tom Clavin's "Halsey's Typhoon" was the first one to make it to book stores and garnered more attention and sales than Buckner F. Melton Jr.'s "Sea Cobra." Given the timing and focus of these two books, this review will compare and contrast the two. In short, there is no question that Melton wrote the better book.
The illustrations of carriers, battleships, oilers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts compared to 30, 60, and 90 foot waves is the best feature of Drury and Clavin's account. It gives landlubbers a good idea of how rough seas are problems for some ships and not for others. The shortcomings of this book, however, are much more significant. First, the book ignores altogether the second typhoon Halsey sailed into. Melton discusses this one, but not at length. This brevity is understandable, the second typhoon did less damage and sank no ships. It does show, though, that the commander and staff of the Third Fleet learned little from their experiences with the first typhoon despite efforts to do so. The problem that Drury and Clavin have is that this second storm undermines their argument that Halsey was largely blameless for sailing into the typhoons. The mechanics of publishing also favor Melton. Drury and Clavin have only one map. Melton has nine. He also provides an extensive bibliography and footnotes, whereas Drury and Clavin have a brief bibliography and make no effort to provide any sort of documentation on their sources. Drury and Clavin also make a number of basic mistakes when it comes to nautical matters and use maritime terms incorrectly. Examples include "helming" a ship; calling a battle jack a "battle guideon" (an Army term); referring to a ship's mess deck as its "mess hall." They also put generals in the Japanese Navy Ministry and refer to the Army Ministry as the "War Department" (an American term). Stylistically, Melton is the better wordsmith. Drury and Clavin use too many editorializing adverbs ("legendary" or "untold") to exaggerate the significance of their story. Much more significant is the thesis of each book. Drury and Clavin make Lt. Cmdr. James Marks, captain of the USS HULL, out to be the main villain in this incident. The HULL was one of his ships lost in the first typhoon. This charge seems reasonable at first, but Marks' seamanship does not explain why the USS MONAGHAN and SPENCE sank, nor does it explain a number of close calls on other ships. It seems that the two authors allowed crewmen from the HULL that they interviewed for the book to use the opportunity to settle old scores with Marks. In fact, Drury and Clavin do not spend much time talking about ships other than the HULL while Melton does. Melton also gives much more attention to the post storm investigation. Since Marks was the subject of an official investigation, Drury and Clavin argue this was proof enough of his guilt. The fact that there was no court-martial or that the other captains died in the storm makes this observation rather weak. Melton gives a much more nuanced description of the investigation. Halsey rather than Marks was the main target of the investigation and the board placed primary blame for sailing into the storm on the Admiral. There were a number of mitigating circumstances, though, and Melton is good at describing them. This incident is no black and white morality play. In short, Melton offers a much better book than Drury and Clavin.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
tombo01,
By tombo "Tom" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sea Cobra: Admiral Halsey's Task Force and the Great Pacific Typhoon (Hardcover)
A great story and a great story-teller! The most user friendly book I've read. There was no over blown technical term or military acronym that I couldn't understand. You didn't have to have 20 years service time in the Navy to know what was happining to the sailors and what the command leadership was doing right or wrong. You felt you right there with the sailors in their battle to survive! An amazing story of heroes and tragedy. The story of Commander Henry Lee Plage of the destroyer USS Tabber is awesome! He stands 3 times taller than John Wayne ever did! He was a 29 year old reservist with only one and a half years of sea time. He amazingly avoided direct orders and rescued over 50 sailors inside the fury of a killer typhoon (almost a thousand sailors died and many ships were sunk or nearly sunk). The other current book on this event "Halsey's Typhoon" doesn't even come close to the passion or power of "Sea Cobra".
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Exciting Story Of Men vs.The Sea,
By
This review is from: Sea Cobra: Admiral Halsey's Task Force and the Great Pacific Typhoon (Hardcover)
During the autumn of 1944, Task force 38, commanded by Admiral William Halsey, had the task of supporting General Douglas MacArthur's drive through the Philippines. Halsey's task force was to provide air support by knocking out Japanese air power along with kamikaze staging areas. Halsey, having made a controversial decision during the battle of Leyte Gulf to attack the empty Japanese carriers rather than guarding the invasion beaches, was determined to atone for his mistake. After several strikes against the Japanese, Halsey moved his fleet to refuel and replenish. But, there was a menace even greater than the Japanese waiting for him; a monstrous typhoon packing 100-plus miles-per-hour winds and towering seas which sent waves over the tops of Halsey's fleet carriers.
In this powerful book, author Buckner F. Melton does a magnificent job of describing the struggle Halsey's ships faced during this ordeal. He even devotes a chapter to discussing how a typhoon forms, which I found very helpful while reading. The ships that suffered the most were the destroyers and destroyer escorts. With dwindling fuel supplies after the attacks on the Philippines, these ships were riding high in the water, which made them vulnerable to extreme rolls caused by the winds. Even the heavy battleships and carriers were not immune, and many planes (along with sailors) were swept overboard. Three ships and upwards of 800 men were lost as a result of the storm. Buckner next describes the events of the court of inquiry, called immediately after the task force sailed into Ulithi. Again, Buckner does an excellent job of describing the testimony and ultimate outcome. Halsey was found to have made errors in judgment, due to the effects of battle. In June, 1945, Halsey once again sailed his fleet into a typhoon, this one called Viper. Although the damage was nowhere near the level caused by Cobra, the fact remains that Halsey did the exact same thing a second time. I've read two other books on this subject, and neither of these did as good of a job covering the facts as "Sea Cobra". I was impressed with Buckner's inclusion of the chapter relating to typhoon formation, and his coverage of the struggles of men and ships against the sea was first-rate. I give this book my highest recommendation. Well-written and well-researched, this book is a must-read for readers of World War II naval history.
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