The USS Fitzgerald's recent collision with the container ship ACX Crystal and the extraordinary seamanship of her crew to keep their ship afloat recalls another disaster at sea off the coast of Japan that unfolded 72 years ago this month.

In June 1945, Allied Forces were preparing for an invasion of the Japanese mainland to bring World War II to a close. Already the Japanese islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa had been secured by Allied forces. But the forces of nature would prove to be an even more formidable opponent than the Japanese. That month a typhoon struck the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet about 350 miles southeast of Okinawa. No ship had a greater battle against the typhoon than the heavy cruiser USS Pittsburgh (CA72).

My father, shipfitter third class Russell W. Barr, was aboard the ship when the typhoon struck. No doubt he and his shipmates faced the storm with apprehension. Just six months earlier a different typhoon had struck the fleet. In that storm, three destroyers (like the Fitzgerald) capsized and sank. More than 800 sailors were lost.

Through the night of June 4-5, the seas grew heavier and the winds intensified. At 0625 (6:25 a.m.) on June 5, Capt. John E. Gingrich ordered the ship to Condition Zebra — the highest level of preparation for danger. Gingrich kept Pittsburgh's bow pointed into the waves. If a wave caught the ship broadside, she could capsize.

Think of a ship as a long series of rooms connected by steel doors (hatches) in the walls (bulkheads) that spanned the ribs (frames) of the ship. Condition Zebra called for each hatch to be sealed to help make the ship watertight. My father was in one of several three-man crews sent to the lower decks to close hatches beginning at the bow and working toward the stern. At frame 26, my father and another crew member had just stepped through the hatch when the ship began to crack on the bow side of the frame. They yanked the third man through the hatch, sealed it and continued their way toward the stern.

Behind them, 104 feet of ship — 15 percent of the Pittsburgh's length — separated completely from the rest of ship and floated free. Had my father and his shipmates been seconds later, they would have been swept out to sea.

For the next seven hours, the Pittsburgh battled the storm. At the storm's peak, the waves measured 100 feet high and the winds exceeded 100 knots (115 miles per hour). In the most dangerous of conditions, the crew worked to shore up the bulkhead at frame 26 with wooden timbers. If the bulkhead buckled, the sea would flood the ship and she would sink.

At the helm, Capt. Gingrich faced four dangers that also could doom the ship. He had to keep the exposed bow pointed away from the towering waves. At the same time he had to protect the stern from breaking off from the ship, while simultaneously keeping the Pittsburgh from being struck broadside by a wave that could capsize her. Finally, he had to avoid a collision with the ship's bow, which had not sunk because it, too, was watertight.

When the storm subsided, the Pittsburgh was still afloat. None of the more than 1,100 men on board had been lost or seriously injured, thanks to the extraordinary seamanship of the commander and the crew.

Over the next five days, Pittsburgh sailed 900 miles at 8 knots to the naval base in Guam. There she was fitted with a temporary bow. On June 26 she set sail for Pearl Harbor. From there, she sailed to Bremerton, Wash. Pittsburgh was still undergoing extensive repairs when the war ended on Sept. 2, 1945.

A minute-by-minute account of the Pittsburgh's epic battle with the typhoon can be found in my article "The Pittsburgh's Typhoon Battle" in the October 2015 issue of Naval History magazine.

In all, 33 ships suffered damage in the typhoon, including the light cruiser USS Duluth (CL87). She suffered structural damage at frame 20, but her bow did not separate. Duluth also sailed to Guam, where she was repaired. She rejoined the fleet in July.

An investigation of the failures on the Pittsburgh, the Duluth and the USS Baltimore (CA68) found structural weaknesses in their bows that caused the steel to buckle under the relentless pounding of the high waves. Further, the separation of the Pittsburgh's bow was attributed to a faulty weld that occurred in April 1943 as the ship was hurriedly built. Why the fleet was allowed to sail into the storm in the first place was also investigated.

No doubt there will be an investigation into what caused the collision between the Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal. Fingers will be pointed, lessons will be learned and policies and procedures will be altered. But for now let's respect those who gave their lives in service to their country and honor the Fitzgerald's crew for their bravery and their extraordinary seamanship. Their accomplishment stands alongside that of the crew of the USS Pittsburgh, the ship that triumphed against the forces of nature.

Roger Barr is a St. Paul writer. His father served on the USS Pittsburgh during 1944 and 1945.