S1C Clyde Walter Pierce (Typhoon Cobra, WWII)

Remembering S1C Clyde Walter Pierce (Fairmont)

November 24, 1924 - December 18, 1944

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"As a sailorman on the Hull he was intensely proud of his ship and of its ability to meet any situation presented by the enemy. But it was not the Japanese, but an unprecedented storm, that caused the Hull to founder and go to the bottom." -Clyde Peirce [SIC] Was Lost at Sea (The Fairmont Times)

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S1C Clyde Walter Pierce (Service Number 05600436) was born in 1925, the son of Hinton "Doc" and Edna (Merrifield) Pierce. In some records, and on Hinton and Edna's gravestones, their last name is recorded as Peirce.

Hinton was no stranger to war, having served in Headquarters Co of the 342nd Field Artillery during WWI. He and Edna married in 1922.

In 1930, their family was living at 507 Guffey Street in Fairmont, WV, where Hinton was a clerk at a local printing office (1930 Census). By 1940, still at 507 Guffey Street, he was listed as a linotype operator for the Fairmont Newspaper (1940 Census).

Clyde attended East Fairmont High School for two years, where he would have graduated in 1944.

Military Service:

Clyde enlisted in the Navy on August 6, 1942. After being stationed primarily at the U.S. Navy Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn and taking short duty assignments aboard a variety of ships (see full list at bottom), Clyde boarded the U.S.S. Hull on May 21, 1944, where he would spend the rest of his days.

Typhoon Cobra

Also known as Halsey's Typhoon, Typhoon Cobra struck Task Force 38 of the US Third Fleet beginning December 17, 1944, and worsening on December 18, 1944. Task Force 38 was off the coast of Leyte and in dire need of re-fueling when they began to encounter hurricane-strength winds.

Samuel Cox with The Naval History and Heritage Command says of the USS Hull in Typhoon Cobra:
"By 1100 the destroyer Hull (DD-350), commanded by Lieutenant Commander J.A. Marks, was in serious trouble. Marks was responsible for screening a group of four oilers and maintained station for too long. Hull was at 70% fuel state and had not taken on saltwater ballast in the tanks. (The Court of Inquiry determined that standard procedures at the time did not require re-ballasting with that much fuel on board, but the failure to do so nonetheless contributed to her loss. Although regulations didn’t require it, re-ballasting was a lesson from an earlier typhoon that had not been learned.) In addition, as an older Farragut-class destroyer, Hull had over 500 tons of extra weapons and equipment added, making her top heavy. By 1100 the wind had reached 100 knots, and Hull was rolling 50 degrees, which just before noon reached 70 degrees. She survived several such rolls before a gust of wind estimated at 110 knots pinned her on her beam ends, and water poured down her funnels and into the pilothouse and she capsized and sank a few minutes after noon with 202 of her crew (62 survived.)"

Unfortunately, S1C Clyde Walter Pierce was one of the 202 lost crew members of the USS Hull. His body was never recovered.

Legacy and Survivors:

While Clyde's body was never recovered, his name is immortalized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. He was survived by his parents, Hinton (1895-1968) and Edna (1899-1968), six sisters, and one brother: Edwin. Edwin (1923-1989) was serving in the Navy when Clyde was lost in Typhoon Cobra.

S1C Clyde Walter Pierce is honored at the  West Virginia Veterans Memorial in Charleston, WV, and on the USS Hull Memorial wall plaque at the National Museum of the Pacific War.

Note: Clyde's six sisters are: Twins Regina "Jean" (1926-?) and Jane Pierce Cavallo (1926-present), Patricia Pierce Lazorko (1928-2016), Marjorie Pierce Tanner (1931-2012), Ileane (~1934-?), and Mary Pierce Dailey (1938-2021).

Sources and More Information:

  • Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Personnel Profile: Clyde W. Pierce
  • American Battle Monuments Commission Profile: Clyde W. Pierce
  • East Fairmont High School Mound Yearbooks: 1941, 1943, 1946. Accessed through the EFHS Historical Files Database
  • Family Search Profile: S1C Clyde Walter Peirce [SIC]
  • Findagrave Profile: S1 Clyde Walter Pierce
  • Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF): Clyde W. Pierce. Accessed with help from Fort Knox
  • U.S. Census (Accessed through FamilySearch): 1930 Census,1940 Census
  • US, World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 (Accessed through Ancestry)
  • West Virginia Veterans Database (West Virginia Memory Project): Clyde Walter Pierce

Newspaper Articles, in Chronological Order:

  • Clyde Pierce, USN, Missing. The Fairmont Times. 8 January1945. Accessed with help from the West Virginia Regional History Center.
  • Clyde Peirce [SIC] Was Lost at Sea. The Fairmont Times. 25 January 1945. Accessed with help from the West Virginia Regional History Center.
  • Some Fail To Return After World War II. The Fairmont Times. 12 November 1945. Accessed with help from the West Virginia Regional History Center. (Source of the photo above)

Navy Muster Rolls Available Through Ancestry:

  • October 1942: Received at the USN Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn from the NTS (Armed Guard) in Chicago on 10/23/1942, Detached Duty aboard the S.S. City of St. Louis starting 10/29/42
  • December 1942: USN Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn
  • January 1943: Promoted from Seaman Second Class (S2C) to Seaman First Class (S1C) on November 5, 1942 
  • March 1943: USN Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn
  • April 1943: Detached Duty Completed on the S.S. City of St. Louis, 4/26/43
  • May 1943: Detached Duty on the S.S. Jefferson Myers 5/10/1943 to 5/18/1943. Detached Duty on the S.S. Mormacrey began 5/19/1943
  • June 1943: USN Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn
  • September 1943: Detached Duty Completed on the S.S. Mormacrey (date listed as unknown), received at the U.S. Naval Hospital in St. Albans, NY for treatment on 9/4/1943.
  • October 1943 (USN Hospital Muster Roll): Transferred from the U.S. Naval Hospital in St. Albans, NY to the USN Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn on 10/8/1943
  • October 1943 (USN Armed Guard Center Muster Roll): Received at the USN Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn on 10/8/1944, detached duty on the S.S. Kansan 10/12/43
  • December 1943: USN Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn
  • February 1944: Transferred from the U.S.S. LCI (L) 553 on 2/15/44, received by the Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn on 2/25/44
  • February 1944 (USN Armed Guard Center Muster Roll): Transferred to the USS Hancock 2/25/1944
  • May 1944: Received at Pearl Harbor from California aboard the U.S.S. Cambria on May 7. On 5/21/1944, Clyde boarded the U.S.S. Hull.
  • June 1944: Aboard the U.S.S. Hull
  • October 1944: Aboard the U.S.S. Hull

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