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The only food available was cold cuts and it was “Stack” your own if you dared make the journey to the Galley. It seemed like the storm went on forever when in reality it was probably less than 24 hours. And we were only in the outer boundaries of the storm. Having grown up in “Tornado Alley”, I was accustomed to extremely severe weather, but this was a whole ‘nother ball game. The wind ‘s howling was so loud it was like 50 Jet Planes turning up at the same time. The wind forces were so strong you didn’t dare go above deck anywhere on the ship. Safety lines were strung along every companionway for personal safety. It was an experience I never want to repeat! But when the storm was over, the ocean was like glass; not a ripple to be seen. Growing up in Texas, I always envisioned the ocean as always on the move; never still. But to see it in a state of absolute calm after a storm of the magnitude we had just endured was awesome to say the least. To see a sight like that, especially when it occurs at sunset has all the earmarks of God’s work. Anyway, we endured the storm with no ill effects and resumed flight operations as scheduled. It turned out to be the biggest storm to hit Japan in ten years. Joe Dunegan, AE2/AC, VS37 |
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I'm told by many of my Ship Mates that the winters in the Sea of Japan are brutal.
I was never in the Sea of Japan during the winter months but I can tell you what it
was like during Typhoon season. I don’t remember the exact date, after all it has been over 45
years and I’ve had a few “Senior Moments” since then, but it was sometime around the end of May
or early June of 1957, I think, when we had to leave Sasebo 2 days early due to a building
Typhoon in the Sea of Japan. We headed east to skirt around the storm but it was so big we
couldn’t move far enough fast enough to miss it. Swells were hitting 50 to 60 feet which put
the bow of the "Phil Sea" under water half the time. Wave breakers had been erected at the bow
end of the Flight Deck. As most of you know, on an Essex Class Carrier, it’s 67 feet from the
water line to the Flight Deck. I’m here to tell you that waves were breaking as far back as 150
feet on the Flight Deck. At that point, I wouldn’t have dared venture a guess as to how far the
expansion joints were moving! Down below on the second deck and all the way aft where our
compartment was located, it was rough. It felt like we were riding a giant Roller Coaster.
