Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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' a 'Els 1d1 1 eent ie chinisls Macomhei and Gieen were the lust n1e11 to struggle past the still hlalinv compartments O11 the lllllfl deck and Hain e11try to the forward auxiliary 100111 and NllI1lllL1 One nded l1y electrician s mates l indheia and Valloni attempted to 17111117 llollts and ventilation to the spaces Macomhei and 111611211 with machinist s mates billi lxliehei and Heck, 111 1est1ffate1l the forward fiierooms a11d envineroom Lt Comdr Greene set up headquarters 111 the waiiant oflicei s mess the closest spot to the envine spaces that H1611 could live without masks and directed operations 111111 expeii s 1 1 11 W1 1101 s 1 NN trapi 1 1r 111- IU 1 lt L 1 1 e 1111 e t1 Nl! I I HOU' 5 N 1 ni 11111 t 111 apa111 se 111.1111 fame roarirff 111 11 ack 11111 111 was 11111111 o ly anti airriaft fire and 1 patiol shot 111m down scxcral miles a11a1 111 1 110 pm lt Lomdi bieene knew it would he impossible to ffft the for 11.1111 t!lU1IlC5 11011111111 since Numher One and Numher T110 hieiooms were hopel1 ssly damaffed llhe 11o1lers of Numher ' Lt. Con '. fir ' 1. Lts. Cary, Wvlrt . Ellis. and Tiara, Ma- l'lILll'tf!4' ol' 1111- .'pa1:', 111' 111112, il rnask. linally made- his ' 1y ij ' 5 - - 1 - 1 ' , ' 'Q . ' jf 1111111 nl and LlfSlIl't'tl tl11:s1e 1111'11. 111 1 ' Iffl lf 1. 1 urs , 1' 5 1 , 1 ' ' anl wlieving 11111 ship a11a111l1111:1l. tl1'1t 11. 1 1111 ggt 1er11 ff U- ' ' ' ' 'c .' ' ' ' as Q 1 o11t 1' l Il 1111- fires that lllflfflicfl escape hal 1111111 1 gyht 1 lfireroom. Wfhile the electrical ollicers. Tiara and Ellis. 1111111-1' 1-1111t1'11l. It was 5:1111 l1.1n. 11111-11 lll1'Y 11r1-atherl their ki 1' , ' if ' S Q , 'k' ' ' i. ' ' lirst l'1'e.'11 air alter ten hour: of hell. -' D '5 1 '-' 3' 5. 1 Al2:f31p. .' 1l1'1' ' ' 1: 5' , ' '15 t 1 f V. 1 . .S .S I i 1. . Q A V p . - im. IV 1 V. H. , Y . y I de i , a ' . , . ., .' , . -. ' W I, 1, ,- ' V. f -1 1 7 1 . A 1 C D I lA-- JI ' D, . l I .A s , 5 - 1 - 1- 1- at -. ' ' - f H . mfg Cf , - K - e ' Z3 rf af- A A p A 1. 1, 1 1 .Au D Q 1,1 - ! 3' .... PV?- H 31- -1 3-1 W 1 E3 S31 .... .-.1 .1-1 1 C11 9.1 R951 .Ma M. n. N 1 H .1 hli 1.-1 1.., 11-. ...l ...1 nn 11-I .1 31 .11 .- ..- .11 1.1 .11 1 1 .1 1:1 .1 1. .11 , . ,,. 1.- .111 ,.. ,,11 .QM ence horn of fifteen years naval service. ITltlCl1 of it helow decks. The electricians found the forward emergency diesel still running. Expertly they disconnected all damaged circuits from the fllalll distrihution hoard. 111611 connected the diesel- drive11 generator to the panel. Lights flashed on in some of the smoky spaces. Ventilators cominenced spinning. though it was still so hot that men gasped for hreath. ln the evap- orator compartment. beneath the generator platform. 011 which six me11 lay dead. seven others were trapped with their faces i11 the hilges that they might l1reathe. Lt. Gary. in Une were flooded with salt water and the uptakes of hoth lireroonis were damaged hy explosions. The only hope was to get the after engines steaming from Firerooms Three and Four. By 6:30 the electrical gang had penetrated aft and were sweating to get power to these spaces. By seven p.m. they had succeeded Elllfl. as the fires had heen hrought under control. it was possihle to go anywhere on the third deck. By 9:00 p.m. Lt. Gary. mPop Turner. uSpeedyH Brumfield. R. Barry. g'Cl1ul1hyi' Scott. Heck and Machinist Green were at work lighting olf Boiler Five i11 Fireroom Number T11ree. 14 .sllllfll f1'S gllllS are lr111111'1l 1111111 flu' sky 11.1 nfwrfx 1'1111lir1111': 1 r1111H1'11 .vur1'1'1'11rx rcs! 1111 IIVI' 11111

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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

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l I the alter Vllllllltl K-.' lll .ippealell inl.n'l and l,Is, Swanson .ind Xllnle, asslsltwl lw it-niimii lxnlwvll and sexeral nia- tllllllslis inates, lil ull when sleznn IlI't'N5lll'l' was olltaintwl. lty nndniglit with sletnn np on one lloilt-ig warming-np nt the nmnn engines was t'UtIllllt'llt't'tl. Ilofl-ns ol t'IlQlllt't'l'r iesniinwl lln-ii' stations .ind t'ttllllIlllt'tl tln' work. lly dawn tlltllltbl' lloilvr was in operqilioll and vnl in on the nlaln engines. With two slnills doing Jill i',p,in. Ilia lien was 1 .ing ahead six knots. llnl still under tow, and aliont 125 nnles lroni japan. nt liread and tinned sausage with a little water to wash it down. lint to all hands it was manna. A-Xliter dark the laps were again ont in l'oi't'e. dropping llares on the horizon, exidently looking for Ilia lien. Instead, they encountered other task groups. and a eontinnons lvattle was fought all night. ten miles away. ldorty Japanese planes were shot down hy ships and night lighters. lletween the fires that in- termittently hroke out. a muster was held and 75 ollieers and Qlttl men were found lit for duty. However. at this time. many were away on tire parties. or helow decks, and eonld not he counted. lt was iniperative that the fires he kept ' W ' innler vonliol. Xny light lroni the ship and the ,lapane-se ' ' lfoliilit-rs. only len miles away. wnnltl write :1 qnir-k end In tht- stniy. l'artit-s nntler l,ls. llc-flu Nlorpan. Cordon A 1 llassig. l,t-wis llaxis. lloli lliayer. and many others. fought lln- snioltlerina t-niln-rs. iliwire destroyers froni the sf-reen . . , . . were alongside lo assist. lhe Qllllfwr drew up at lizllll p.m.: at midnight the destroyer lfulllzrfl pulled r-lose to the fantail and longhl for two honrs against a particularly stnhlvorn tire. Une lad ol' the ship. directing dest1'oyer's hose from a dangerous perch on a jagged. out-thrust strip of metal, was ll had het-n 11 rough night. The lirst fond in nearly twelve nnallle to reuain the deck until morning. UUYS N 35 SPIN tltl lt! llltl IIIUII till llll' litM'5-l ill Ililfli. klllff slice DllI'il1g Iliff day llundfgdg had digtinguiglwql lhelngelyeg, i I I i i i Nearly every man alloard had eontrihuted Somethingg toss- ing away hot ammunition: hanging on to fire hosesg help- ing w onnded comrades to safety: working on the tow' linesg starting the engines: serxing food and water. Doctors Sher- man. Smith, and lfuelling had lahored tirelessly. Chaplain Uffallahan had earned the respect and admiration of every man hy his fearless c'onduet. a vital spark that kept men go- ing on when they felt like lying down to die. lly dawn. Marc-h Zllth. H5 miles from the Coast of Shikokn. the t'LtlIlL1lIliS lvullelin hoard had a cheering message: We are nnder nnr own power and will he making hfteen knots l l l l l l I l fwfr-A ill!! llllfll ull IIN nntn jI'lfliNlIll n f'lllIl'lAI'll pfunw. 1'lI'IIl'liIlQ II lllllll fllfltllgfl Ilia' llflllyilflf dwell' spurt-.Q ,--K J. l-- ,H Q l L F. F