Typhoon Cobra (also known as Halsey’s Typhoon) formed on December 14, 1944 and dissipated five days later. It struck the U.S. Pacific Fleet operating in the Philippine Sea during WWII. Bath-built USS Spence (DD 512), along with USS Hull (DD 350) and USS Monaghan (DD 354), capsized and sank. Only 24 of Spence’s crew survived. One of its survivors, David Moore, was an African American who floated at sea for two days and saved the lives of two other men. This typhoon led to the establishment of weather forecasting infrastructure of the U.S. Navy, which eventually became the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
