Hull received 10 battle stars for World War II service, having sailed to Europe, and serving in the Pacific before and during the war in combat. After addition of equipment that made her more top-heavy, she was one of three destroyers sunk by heavy seas encountered in Halsey's Typhoon. 11 officers of the Hull, including the executive officer, and 191 enlisted sailors perished in the sea, while seven officers and 55 enlisted men were recovered.[1]
Construction and commissioning
Hull was launched by New York Navy Yard 31 January 1934; sponsored by Miss Patricia Louise Platt; and commissioned 11 January 1935.
Pre-World War II
Following a shakedown cruise which took her to the Azores, Portugal, and the British Isles, Hull arrived San Diego, California, via the Panama Canal 19 October 1935. She began her operations with the Pacific Fleet off San Diego, engaging in tactical exercises and training. During the summer of 1936 she cruised to Alaska and in April 1937 took part in fleet exercises in Hawaiian waters. During this increasingly tense pre-war period, Hull often acted as plane guard to the Navy's Pacific aircraft carriers. She continued these operations until the outbreak of the war, moving to her new home port, Pearl Harbor, 12 October 1939.[citation needed]
Pearl Harbor
The pattern of fleet problems, plane guard duty, and patrolling was interrupted 7 December 1941 when the Japaneseattacked Pearl Harbor. Hull was alongside tenderUSSDobbin(AD-3) undergoing repairs and put her anti-aircraft batteries into operation. As the main object of the raid was battleships and the absent aircraft carriers, the destroyer suffered no hits and departed next day to join carrier USSEnterprise(CV-6) and escort her into Pearl Harbor. During the next critical months of the war, Hull operated with Admiral Wilson Brown's Task Force 11, screening USSLexington(CV-2) in important strikes on Japanese bases in the Solomon Islands. She returned to Pearl Harbor 26 March, and for 3 months sailed on convoy duty between San Francisco, California and Pearl Harbor. Hull was sailed 7 December for Suva, Fiji Islands, to prepare for the amphibious assault on Guadalcanal. She departed 26 July for the Solomons and on the day of the landings, 7 August 1942, screened cruisers during shore bombardment and then took up station as antisubmarine protection for the transports. Next day she helped repel bombing attacks, shooting down several planes. That evening she intentionally sank the transport George F. Elliott, burning beyond control. On 9 August the destroyer sank a small schooner off Guadalcanal, departing that evening for Espiritu Santo. During the next difficult weeks on Guadalcanal, Hull made three voyages with transports and warships in support of the troops, undergoing air attacks 9 and 14 September.
Aleutian Islands
The ship returned to Pearl Harbor 20 October, and spent the remainder of the year with battleship USSColorado(BB-45) in the New Hebrides. She sailed 29 January from Pearl Harbor bound for repairs at San Francisco, arriving 7 February 1943. Upon completion she moved to the Aleutian Islands, arriving Adak, Alaska 16 April, and began a series of training maneuvers with battleships and cruisers in the northern waters. As the Navy moved in to retake Attu in May, Hull continued her patrol duties, and during July and early August she took part in numerous bombardments of Kiska Island. The ship also took part in the landings on Kiska 15 August, only to find that the Japanese had evacuated.
South Pacific operations
Hull returned to the Central Pacific after the Kiska operation, arriving Pearl Harbor 26 September 1943. She departed with the fleet 3 days later for strikes on Wake Island, and operated with escort carriers during diversionary strikes designed to mask the Navy's real objective—the Gilbert Islands. Hull bombarded Makin during this assault 20 November, and with the invasion well underway arrived in convoy at Pearl Harbor 7 December 1943. From there she returned to Oakland, California 21 December for amphibious exercises.
Next on the island road to Japan was the Marshall Islands, and Hull sailed with Task Force 53 from San Diego 13 January 1944. She arrived 31 January off Kwajalein, screening transports in the reserve area, and through February carried out screening and patrol duties off Eniwetok and Majuro. Joining a battleship and carrier group, the ship moved to Mille Atoll 18 March, and took part in a devastating bombardment. Hull also took part in the bombardment of Wotje 22 March.
The veteran ship next participated in the raid on Truk 29–30 April, after which she arrived Majuro 4 May 1944. There she joined Admiral Willis Lee's battleships for the next major invasion, the assault on the Marianas Islands. Hull bombarded Saipan 13 June, covered minesweeping operations with gunfire, and patrolled during the initial landing 15 June. Two days later Hull and other ships steamed out to join Admiral Marc Mitscher's carrier task force. The American and Japanese fleets approached each other 19 June for the biggest carrier engagement of the war, and as four large air raids hit the American dispositions fighter cover from the carriers of Hull's Task Group 58.2. With help from American submarines, Mitscher succeeded in sinking two Japanese carriers in addition to inflicting fatal losses on the Japanese naval air arm during "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" 19 June, Hull assisting in several of these engagements.
During July the destroyer operated with carrier groups off Guam, and after the assault 21 July patrolled off the island. In August she returned to Seattle, Washington, arriving on the 25th, and underwent repairs which kept her in the States until 23 October, when she anchored at Pearl Harbor.
Typhoon Cobra
Hull was ordered to join a 3rd Fleet refueling group, departing 20 November 1944, to rendezvous with fast carrier striking forces in the Philippine Sea, at the instructions of South Pacific Commander William Halsey Jr.
Fueling operations with the fast, carrier strike-force in the Philippine Sea began on 17 December 1944, but increasingly heavy seas forced cancellation later that day. The fueling group became engulfed next day in an approaching typhoon, designated Cobra, with barometers falling to very low levels and winds increasing above 90 knots.
After Hull was ordered to change course to 140 degrees, ostensibly by Admiral Halsey "to see what they were doing,"[2] the wind increased to over 100 knots. At about 11:00 hours, on 18 December, Hull the point of sail became locked "in irons", in the trough of the mountainous sea. Unable to steer with the north wind on her portbeam, yawing between 80 and 100 degrees, the whaleboat and depth charges were swept off. As the roll increased to 70 degrees, she was pinned down by a gust as the sea flooded the pilot house and poured down the stacks. All hands worked feverishly to maintain integrity and keep the ship afloat during the heavy rolls, but finally, in the words of her commander, Lt. Cmdr James A. Marks, "the ship remained over on her side at an angle of 80 degrees or more as the water flooded into her upper structures. I remained on the port wing of the bridge until the water flooded up to me, then I stepped off into the water as the ship rolled over on her way down".[3] A later finding was that additional sea water ballast could possibly have helped the ship recover from the 70-degree roll.[4]
Reportedly, some time before Hull became locked "in irons," some officers had debated whether to remove captain Marks from his command in order to turn the ship to a safer course, but the executive officer, Greil Gerstley, refused to do so on the grounds that there had never been a mutiny on a US Navy ship. This incident provided novelist Herman Wouk with the inspiration for the climax of his novel The Caine Mutiny, in which a captain is actually relieved of his duties by his officers in the course of Typhoon Cobra.
Rescue work by USSTabberer and other ships of the fleet in the days that followed saved the lives of 7 officers, including the captain of the ship, and 55 enlisted sailors.[5] 11 officers of the Hull, including the executive officer, and 191 enlisted sailors perished in the sea.[5] In all, 790 men of the Fleet lost their lives in the typhoon.[5]
The subsequent Court of Inquiry found that though Halsey had committed an "error of judgement" in sailing the Third Fleet into the heart of the typhoon, it stopped short of unambiguously recommending sanction.[6] Admiral Nimitz, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, presented a six-page document to the Court, stating in his conclusion, among other recommendations directed strictly to ships' commanders, that "steps must be taken to insure that commanding officers of all vessels, particularly destroyers and smaller craft, are fully aware of the stability characteristics of their ships; that adequate security measures regarding water-tight integrity are enforced; and that the effect upon stability of free liquid surfaces is thoroughly understood".[4]
The executive officer was the father of rock journalistGreil Marcus.[7] Years later, Marcus wrote that in December 2006 the survivors of the Hull held in Las Vegas what they determined would be their last reunion, and one of Marcus' daughters went. The people in the reunion related to his daughter, Marcus claimed, that when the original captain of Hull was told by one of the survivors that if he had still been the captain the ship would never have gone down, he shot himself.[2]
A few weeks after the events at sea, in January 1945, Halsey passed command of the Third Fleet to Admiral Spruance (whereupon its designation changed to Fifth Fleet). Halsey took over command of the Fleet again in May 1945. In June 1945, Halsey sailed the ships into the path of yet another typhoon, designated Connie, resulting in six lives lost, and 75 airplanes destroyed, with 70 more planes badly damaged. While ships sustained crippling damages, none were lost on this occasion. A Court of Inquiry was convened and, after lengthy deliberations, recommended that Halsey be "reassigned," but Admiral Nimitz rejected the Court's recommendation on account of Halsey's "prior service" to the Navy.[6] Halsey remained in command for approximately eight more weeks, until the cessation of hostilities on 14 August 1945. He was promoted to Fleet Admiral on 11 December 1945, and retired in March 1947.
↑ Clavin, Tom & Bob Drury. Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue; Grove Press; reprint edition: 10 November 2007; ISBN978-0802143372
William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. was an American Navy admiral during World War II. He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others being William Leahy, Ernest J. King, and Chester W. Nimitz.
USS Monaghan (DD-354) was the last ship built of the Farragut-class destroyer design. She was named for Ensign John R. Monaghan. Monaghan was laid down on November 21, 1933 at the Boston Navy Yard, and launched on January 9, 1935. She was sponsored by Miss Mary F. Monaghan, niece of Ensign Monaghan, and commissioned on 19 April 1935. During the next few years Monaghan operated primarily in the North Atlantic, training US Navy personnel who served in World War II. Monaghan was present during the Pearl Harbor raid on December 7, 1941. She participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway in 1942. Monaghan was sunk in Typhoon Cobra east of the Philippines in 1944.
USS Cowpens (CV-25/CVL-25/AVT-1), nicknamed The Mighty Moo, was an 11,000-ton Independence-class light aircraft carrier that served the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947.
Mahan-class destroyers of the United States Navy were a series of 18 destroyers of which the first 16 were laid down in 1934. The last two of the 18, Dunlap and Fanning, are sometimes considered a separate ship class. All 18 were commissioned in 1936 and 1937. Mahan was the lead ship, named for Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, an influential historian and theorist on sea power.
USS Helm (DD-388) was a Bagley-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Rear Admiral James Meredith Helm. Helm received 11 battle stars for her World War II service in the Pacific.
USS O'Bannon (DD/DDE-450), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon (1784–1850), the Marine Corps's "hero of Derna".
USS Halsey Powell (DD-686), was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy.
USS Kidd (DD-661), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named after Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who died on the bridge of his flagship USS Arizona during the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Kidd was the first US flag officer to die during World War II and the first American admiral ever to be killed in action. A National Historic Landmark, she is now a museum ship, berthed on the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is the only surviving US destroyer still in her World War II configuration. She is one of four remaining Fletcher-class destroyers in the world.
The third USS Worden (DD-352) was a Farragut-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for John Lorimer Worden.
USS Aylwin (DD-355) was a Farragut-class destroyer, and the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lieutenant John Cushing Aylwin (1778–1812).
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USS Haggard (DD-555) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy named for Captain Haggard of the Louisa, who fought in the Quasi-War.
Typhoon Cobra, also known as the Typhoon of 1944 or Halsey's Typhoon, was the United States Navy designation for a powerful tropical cyclone that struck the United States Pacific Fleet in December 1944, during World War II. The storm sank three destroyers, killed 790 sailors, damaged 9 other warships, and swept dozens of aircraft overboard off their aircraft carriers.
USS Downes (DD-375) was a Mahan-class destroyer in the United States Navy before and during World War II. She was the second ship named for John Downes, a US Navy officer.
USS Harrison (DD-573) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She was second Navy ship of that name.
USS Healy (DD-672) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy.
USS Hickox (DD-673) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Lieutenant Commander Ralph Hickox (1903–1942).
USS Tabberer (DE-418) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1959. She was scrapped in 1973.
USS Waterman (DE-740) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. She was sold to Peru in 1952, where she served as BAP Aguirre (D-2/DE-62) until being sunk as a target, in 1974.
Henry Lee Plage was an American naval officer best known for his role in the recovery of sailors from Task Force 38 during Typhoon Cobra.
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