Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 5 Q K, ki! . ff Edsel Uuvst, a, buy frwnz, X1ll-SSI-SSIIIIIIII, Il'llS mmf uf lllllIffH't1S Il'fIU hill! fu .v14'1'nz in ffm' ivy IMI

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riosion rffizned. l,t. Donald Gary. still trapped in 4' an flooring beconzes .slippery on. Big H011-S Il'SfI.lIg' flight fleelf for nwn uzmitizzg their turn on fire hoses iortv min. quad lorward. manned hy a volunteer Crew. and it fould fire only under local control. A dozen twenty mm. maeliine :uns on the forward port side. commanded hy l.t. les- Xlltritton. Hns. ldghtlioot. and hoatswainis mate lfuller. fornpleted the ltattery. Like Father Uiflallahan. who distinguished himself in the tlf'alJf'i'dl4' aetions on the flight deek. where hre and ex- -loonn-fl mf--sing' f-ompartrnent with those three hundred men. had 1 flash of inspiration. Nearly two hours they had ht-en if4'lv-fl in. f'Xl Q'fll l1 UTY moment to he their last. :X ineni- ozt flash'-fl to him ol a possililr' means of est-ape. ilihrowuli the srnokj. rnurk. whivh ilu- strongest light would not pffritftmte. sluinloing over rovkt-ls and ltoinlls. with an Ninos? ffwliaiz-tw-tl rr-sf-ue lrl'l'2JllIl'l'. he ln-gan ln- Hf'LlTf'll lor the 'lr'-T tl. ttwuri' intal-ge -parte leading upto ilu-star-k strueture. ile '1 f:lVtIr,1lllf'fl lm lfl2if'lllIllel.e niate 5iuull'y Kram- ' fir-,png through lIllf'Ilef' hr-al. wht-re ilu- hulkheads ff-' ti if 'fl rl iflf 'floxes lit, soon lorrziletl llI1'1'llll'2lIIf'Q'lu i ,,i,1r., . . t ff -uisfmiulioif one- ul Ihr- lungs- uplzllxes smoke- ' of 1 ii, from :lui l,4,il1'l-A through whivh lrw-sh 1 Mr fin lgrf lix flllllllltlllf pziinlully up live' dr-1-ks-. ' .4 lol lllff ml ni. llo' uplnl-,l'-, llu- Iwo Illt'lI the found light and LllI'. lly dropping down on the outside they eould reach a gun platform and make their way forward to safely. llut l.t. Donald Cary did not go forward to safely. or even to ask aid for the men trapped helow. Knowing that momen- tarily the homhs might explode and the men could not live niuvh longer in the smoke. he descended alone into that hole. where a slip meant death. to luring his shipmates out. He refused lo let Kramer. who was exhausted. aeeompany him. ln his words: l hroke my llashlight knocking on the Com- partment door as a signal to the men inside. When I stepped through tht- door there was a look of hope and anxiety on eaeh man's fare that l shall never forget. All were ohlivious to the sound of exploding ammunition. waiting for me to speak. I explained that l had found a way out and. although they would have lo hreathe some smoke. it wouldnit hurt them il' they kept their heads and followed instructions. Slowly. painfully. lit. Gary guided the nien to safety. 'lilll'l'4' trips he made. eaeh a little faster than the last. the knowledge ol' the lvoinlvs and rot-kels rlose lu the llanies. spurring his l'llltll'lS. l.t. Cary and llr. l ut-lling were the last In lt-uve: :Inf wounded lnzin had dit-tl. Today nearly three liunnlit-nl nn-n illllltlel lutll ol those who lvroupht liig lien 1 U ff: if IL. up va i 1 1 I -.fil

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hack thank ll-'nald t-any .ind llovlot l lu'llin:g for saying their lixes. ilu' list ot tlu' ship was now tu'-irly siytt-1-11 tho,- ' ' - - '- UCS, titmulr. .lnrika coolly l'l't'Ulmll'tl. as lu' tnaintai1u'd his 11051 ml tlu' lvruige with tlu' captain, tlu' Ulltt't't' ol' the deck. Nlelyin llgppett. and ilu- luidue l'or1'1'. l.t. littltltlll lxranter. the coin- intinitxttitm otlu'1'1', had a portulvle radio oper-tliyio 1,11 UW ttigtu deck. assisted lu ilitwltnician Stone lt tdio V K . 1 I.lectrician Nlodeen. and l.l. til-'se licports ot' radar warnings of enemy planes u ere eounng tn. l.t. tiomdr. lioliert ltownes' Datnage lfontrol Department, though its ranks were sh.ttte1'ed. fought tires. laliored to keep pressure on ttu- water mains hy closing oil' ruptured liraiu'hes. lihey were assisted hy the engitwers. All water for tire-tighting now came front a tiny diesel pump forward. which tnacliinists mate. .Xl Collins had started at his liattle station and tended all morning. Une of the Sllllfll Feis hoses, stretched to the Fr1111H1i11. was ruptured hy fragments of dehtis. thrown up in an explosion. Without hesitation, sea- man George 5. Smith crawled into the dangerous gap he- tw een the great steel sides ot' the two warships and replaced the damaged section. The tight went on. :Xt noon Captain Gehres conferred with the engineering othcer. Lt. Comdr. Greene. and procured three additional rescue hreathers from the Stlllftl Fe. for an attempt to get hack to the engineering spaces. Until this time it had heen impossihle. due to tires and smoke. hut now the explosions were diminishing in violence and the hangar deck fires were lieing l-rought under control. If the engineers could get the screws turning there might yet hc hope for Big lieneeif the .laps 1Iidn't get her hrst. Nearly eight hundred men were on tl1e.S1111111 f 1'l1y12:f,illg hardly that many remained ahoard the Fr1z11l.'l1'11. Captain tlehres ordered the cruiser to clear the side. hut not liefore the Stlllfll F12 had furnished inyalualile aid to Iciig lien hy assisting in getting her under tow, using the powerful winches on the cruiser's focs'i to pull the line ahoard from the l'1'll.sf1urg. Thirty sweating stewards mates and forty sailors. under iioatswain Frishee. were helping Comdr. Tay- lor with this operation. Hardly had the cruiser cleared the side than the long ex- pected Japanese attack came. Just hefore 1:00 p.m. a Judy homlier slipped past the comhat air patrol and came in on a fast glide-in run. headed straight for Big Ben. Fr1111lr11'11's remaining guns fired desperatelyg the ships of the screen opened up their hatteries. His homh dropped. a hig one. that exploded short on the starhoard quarter. 200 yards away. The comhat air patrol shot down that Jap in sight of the screen. The towing line was hnally connected: Chief Carpenter ifddins and shipfitter Locke had cut loose one of Fr1111l.'l1'11is anchors with the last acetylene on the ship and ninety fathoms-5-'IO feet M- of heavy chain was paid out to the l'1'1'tsl1z1rg with a two-inch steel hawser on the end. Shortly after 2:00 p.m. the 1 1'lIs11urg succeeded in gettinf1Fr1111k11'11 underway and headed south. at three and one-half knots- at that rate Big Ben would he a landmark in Japanese waters for a week to come. But the engineers were working. under the direction of -we!! L f..1 - gt H , 1, ' 1 ' 1 S1 nm I 'is s1'1'f'rl111y' '1 1 1 11 '111,1,'11-fl' ffl 111111111l1'1f, .SVIIIIIIIII fm l11111111g4l1111. III lfld 1 1 n