Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue

This is a great book, which I can highly recommend. In all honesty I had a bit of difficulty of getting into it at first. I did not like the Dramatis Personae listing in beginning (in all reality I am probably not experienced enough to maneuver this with a Kindle), I felt the introductions to what a typhoon is were introduced in the wrong locations, but once I got into this book I could not stop reading. Bob Drury and Tom Clavin excel in describing the personality of a man, who was driven by the wish to take revenge for the Pearl Harbor attack, who was haunted by that he could not participate in the Battle of Midway, in short, a man, who had a ‘personal agenda’ with Japanese Admiral Yamamoto. His reaction to Yamamoto’s assassination, “… Halsey silenced him with a wave and a scowl. “What’s good about it?” he demanded. “I’d hoped to lead that scoundrel up Pennsylvania Avenue in chains, with the rest of you kicking him where it would do the most good.”…” The authors also give credit to Yamamoto’s skills, “… The Japanese navy never won another major sea battle…” The decisive language of the book makes it memorable. I also liked how the authors managed to sum up military events in short precise sentences every reader can remember, forever. “… The American victory in the Battle for Leyte Gulf was, and remains to this day, the largest naval engagement in the history of the world…” Most American students do even not know where Leyte Gulf is located, so this short crisp sentence can be understood as an encouragement to look it up to know this one very important historic event. I liked that a lot. Bob Drury and Tom Clavin also excelled in explaining concepts in a colorful and outspoken way that makes them more real than some of the abstract writings I have read. [Kamikaze] “… But it was not the ancient Japanese Bushido – the “way of the warrior” code of conduct and moral principles – that concerned Halsey. It was this bomb-laden steel hurtling from the skies and sending his vessels to the bottom of the sea…. Even the Marines charging into the meat grinders of Guadalcanal and Tarawa believed they had a fighting chance to come out alive…” Most interestingly the first time I had heard about Halsey’s typhoon was in middle school, in biology class. The teacher showed a picture of hundreds of stranded sailors who treaded water waiting to be rescued. Around them swam in circles hundreds of sharks ready to devour the helpless sailors. (This picture was supposed illustrate that sharks are vicious predators.) Reading ‘Halsey’s Typhoon’ told a totally a different story. There were no hundreds of sailors swimming together. Few sailors, who managed to survive the going down of their vessels found creative ways to stay alive (or not). Their ‘little stories’ matter in this huge story of big fleets, driven admirals, bad weather forecasting, a vicious typhoon on a unusual path, and the bad luck of these forces colliding. By bringing them together Bob Drury and Tom Clavin have created a fantastic book, which I can highly recommend to everybody who is interested in history, psychology, and strategy. Readers who are interested in politics will be delighted to find detailed information about Vice Admiral John Sidney McCain, the senator’s father, and Gerald Ford, the future president, whose bravery shone during the dramatic events. Loved the book, 5 stars, Gisela Hausmann, author & blogger

The story of Halsey's typhoon is not well known, which is very unfortunate since more sailors were killed by it than were killed in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway combined. When it is discussed in a general history of WWII it is generally just treated as a footnote or with a brief paragraph or two. This book rectifies this omission in a most dramatic manner. This is not a dry naval history; rather it reads more like an exciting novel. I got to really care about the characters, to the extent of continually jumping to a list of casualties provided at the back of the book to see if someone about whom I was reading made it through the horrific storm, and when I found that they did not I was deeply saddened but elated if they did make it. To me this is the mark of a book that involved me in a way that few non-fiction books do. I addition to a list of those who died in the storm the book also includes several maps, a glossary of terms and a list of people that are discussed (a dramatis personae). There are 16 pages of high quality black and white photographs, printed on glossy paper. Some reviewers have commented on a misuse of naval terms and I also found several statements that I questioned. For instance, the battle of Santa Cruz is designated as a Halsey victory, whereas most historians believe that owing to the loss of the US aircraft carrier Hornet and damage to the US carrier Enterprise it was a Japanese tactical victory (in spite of damage to two Japanese carriers and the loss of more pilots than American pilots), or at best a Japanese Pyrrhic victory or even a strategic draw. However, I do not feel that this, or any of the errors cited by other reviewers, in any way detracts from the book. This book is not meant to be the definitive history of the typhoon or a book for specialists. It is meant to be a popular history of an overlooked event, and in this regard to succeed admirably. I heartily recommend this book to those interested in American History, the history of WWII and to those who just want an exciting non-fiction book.

Very informative book, a lot of research went into putting this book together.

This book was awesome. The authors tell the story of Typhoon Cobra which stuck Task Force 38 in December, 1944. They analyze Adm Halsey's complicity in it. Halsey was trying to get his task force in place to support Gen MacArthur's invasion of the Philippines. Weather reporting and forecasting aren't what they are today, and weather reports are far down the message priority chain in wartime. Halsey was trying to refuel his ships at sea in preparation for the invasion when the typhoon hit. Several ships could not refuel in the worsening seas. Being low on fuel, they were already riding high increasing their instability. Adding to that, at least one ship had a captain of questionable competence. Three ships foundered and capsized in the typhoon due to several factors, such as being low on fuel, being too topheavy, and poor seamanship. The topheaviness was related to the addition of RADARS and other equipment that wasn't in service when the ships were built, and added later. Only a small percentage of sailors were recovered from those three ships, mostly thanks to the excellent CO of the Tabberer, who disobeyed orders and continued his search for survivors. His ship saved 55 men. He figured he'd either get a medal or a courts martial. Fortunately, he got the medal. I spent 6 years in the Navy. I've sailed through several typhoons in the Pacific. None were anywhere near as gruesome as Cobra. The destroyer I served on hit a typhoon leaving Hong Kong. I think the worst roll we took was 38 degrees. Still, that was far enough over to be looking straight down at the water. I can't imagine a ship going past 70. That must have been terrifying. The Spruance Class destroyer I was on was more than 4 times larger than the Destroyer Escorts that sank in Typhoon Cobra. I didn't want to put this book down. It kept me glued to my iPhone. Excellent account.

Most sailors are a little scared when they go into combat and that is a good thing. You are taught to fall back on your training. What do you do when your enemy is a typhoon? These brave men, many of whom had never seen the ocean a year before, tried to save their ships and their shipmates in the face of a powerful, relentless foe. You can rejoice with those who survived, mourn those who didn't, and curse the leaders that failed them. It is well written and I felt the desperation of men who were surviving minute by minute and who called upon God for salvation. The stories of men who would not leave any one behind and how they cared for the survivors at the cost of disobeying orders. I won't say that I enjoyed this book; it shook me to the core and made me remember my shipmates who have already crossed the bar. It is well worth reading and remembering those brave men. "O hear us when we cry to thee For those in peril on the sea."

I got this thinking it was about a naval battle in WW2, and it was, but man vs nature. In December 1944 "Bull" Halsey's task force, an armada really, was supporting MacArthur's invasion of the Phillipines, and needed to refuel out of combat lanes. They sailed into Typhoon Cobra, a massive 100 mile wide hurricane that caused the loss of three ships and almost 800 men, more than lost in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway combined. Whether it was due to incompetence on Halsey's part or poor meteorological techniques at the time, this is not taught in the history books. History, btw, sides with the former, esp knowing Halsey's penchant for aggressive tactics. The real story here is the men, what they went through when their shops were tossed about like toys, when the sank, floating in life vests in a Typhoon, and the brave men who rescued them. It's a tale of incompetence, the CO of the Hull, one of the ships lost, does not fare well. But men, many of them under 20, put in a perilous situation, shine through. A gripping tale, much better than I expected. Don't know who the people and events mentioned are? Read the book. It is, btw, about 20% acknowledgements and references, so a quicker read than it looks.

I purchased this audio book for my father who served on a small patrol craft in the South Pacific during WW II. He was in Leyte Gulf and was a few days behind the ships that experienced this typhoon. He still recalls seeing the flight deck of the Wasp smashed up by a typhoon. He found the book very insightful and found out a lot of information about plans and tactics that he did not know before. Since I'm a history buff, he passed it along to me. I looked at the 9 CDs and wondered when i would ever have time to listen to them, but once I got started I'm HOOKED! Once you get past the first few perfunctory background chapters, the story is very well told. I encourage anyone who served in the US Navy in the South Pacific to buy this book. Or better yet, if your father served in that theater, buy it for him! It's a GREAT gift, especially if you can surprise him with it.

Couldn’t put the book down. This is angriest story of what happens in war when multiple factors intersect at the wrong time.