USS Cascade (AD-16) - Court of Inquiry

Court of Inquiry

In December 1944 a court of inquiry was held in the wardroom of the Cascade, at Ulithi, regarding the loss of three ships and over 800 men from the US Third Fleet during a typhoon. The Third Fleet was under the command of William F. (Bull) Halsey, Jr. during the typhoon in mid-December 1944. Admiral Chester A. Nimitz, CINCPAC, was in attendance at the court. Forty-three year old Captain Herbert K. Gates, of the Cascade, was the Judge Advocate for the court. Gates was an expert in mechanical and marine engineering. The story of the typhoon, the loss of ships and the court of inquiry is told in the book "Halsey's Typhoon — The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue", Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, 2007.

It is said that Herman Wouk was in attendance at the court of inquiry and that testimony given during the court about the typhoon formed the basis for his book "The Caine Mutiny."