![]() ![]() Escort carrier Kwajalein, attempting to transfer replacement planes and pilots to the fast carriers, canceled all air operations and personnel transfers. In one incident, destroyer Maddox had a fuel line break, almost causing a collision with her oiler Manatee. All hands were called up to carry supplies.Ĭonditions worsened throughout the morning as ships attempted to refuel. USS Astoria sailor Deno Dolci recalled that "we had a hell of a time getting the lines over, the waves were so high. This error was to be the first of many in identifying the track of the storm.įueling was difficult from the very start as wind and seas began to pick up. The storm was first recorded as a "tropical disturbance" estimated to be moving north-northwest on a course that would take it hundreds of miles from the fleet. Navy Aerological Division, was later referred to as Typhoon Cobra. The storm, the first to be christened by the U.S. The rendezvous point was beyond the range of Japanese fighters, yet allowed for the quickest possible return to coverage of Luzon airfields.Īlthough it would only later become clear, this underway replenishment placed the fleet directly in the path of a growing pacific storm. Late in the afternoon, Task Force 38 broke off from the Philippines and began the 400 mile trip east to rendezvous with their logistics support group, Task Group 30.8. This track chart depicts the collision course of USS Astoria and Third Fleet attempting to refuel while the typhoon closes in on 17 December 1944. The weather progressively worsened throughout the day. Waves break over the bow of an oiler from Task Group 30.8 as refueling attempts begin in the late morning of 17 December 1944. The fact that so few images exist illustrates the intensity of the storm. This section on the Typhoon of December 1944 (re-named Typhoon Cobra in the 1950s) will only include photographs that can be confirmed associated with the December 1944 storm. Most were taken in the South China Sea in January 1945. Author's note: Most photographs published in books and other sources said to show ships caught in the Typhoon of December 1944 were not taken during this storm.
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