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Typhoon Cobra, also known as the Typhoon of 1944 or Halsey's Typhoon (named after Admiral William 'Bull' Halsey), was the United States Navy designation for a tropical cyclone that struck the United States Pacific Fleet in December 1944 during World War II. Task Force 38 (TF 38) had been operating about east of Luzon in the Philippine Sea, conducting air raids against Japanese airfields in the Philippines. The fleet was attempting to refuel its ships, especially the lighter destroyers, which had small fuel tanks. As the weather worsened it became increasingly difficult to refuel, and the attempts had to be discontinued. Despite warning signs of worsening conditions, the ships remained in their stations. Worse, the information given to Halsey about the location and direction of the typhoon was inaccurate. On December 17, Halsey unwittingly sailed Third Fleet into the heart of the typhoon. Because of winds, very high seas and torrential rain, three destroyers capsized and sank, and 790 lives were lost. Nine other warships were damaged, and over 100 aircraft were wrecked or washed overboard; the aircraft carrier was forced to battle a serious fire that was caused by a plane hitting a bulkhead. —a small ''John C. Butler''-class destroyer escort—lost her mast and radio antennas. Though damaged and unable to radio for help, the ship remained on the scene to recover 55 of the 93 total sailors who were rescued. Captain Henry Lee Plage earned the Legion of Merit, while the entire crew earned the Navy's Unit Commendation Ribbon, which was presented to them by Halsey. In the words of Admiral Chester Nimitz, the typhoon's impact "represented a more crippling blow to the Third Fleet than it might be expected to suffer in anything less than a major action". The events surrounding Typhoon Cobra were similar to those the Japanese navy itself faced some nine years earlier in what they termed the "Fourth Fleet Incident." This typhoon also led to the establishment of weather infrastructure of the US Navy, which eventually became the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. A typhoon plays an important role in the novel ''The Caine Mutiny'', which is thought to be based on the author's own experience surviving Typhoon Cobra. ==Meteorological history== On December 17, the typhoon was first observed, surprising a fleet of ships in the open western Pacific Ocean. Barometric pressures as low as 26.8 inHg (907 mbar) and wind speeds up to in gusts were reported by some ships. The storm was last seen on the 18th. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Typhoon Cobra (1944)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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