Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 25 text:

n - ,,. .. . .....,... ,K ... . .. . . .... E 31 5 2 E X D E 0 Z B Q 1 i 5 : 7 - .-

Page 24 text:

WM fatal to planc and frcw lhe eight man teams of plane pushcrs braved thc rnenafe of whirhnff props in the half h ht of dawn to pull thc chof ks and lower the winffs, they shullled and rcshulfled planes from dawn to dusk that the Strikes might leave on time A few minute delay and re turning gasless aircraft mwht be forred to crash in the sea lihe catapult crews forward under It VI f Woodburn, if V . , f f , 1 - . V 8 0 f , f ' -1 . -fefk J ' J A' - 2 ., i:-:,f - . - . . . . V I -- -- ., g , . , O. 1524 . . . - - f ' ' . 1-pt - - f ' a V ',gr,g,z 94 ' ' , F7 ' ,. , Q . ,V ki lvl., ' . ' l V - x . , ' ' Y - ' . . . f U , , C , , . . . V ' ' V , if ,v , h r I ' . - W 1 - X . Q V ,V t , , , . . . J. f In . , .: V X V l . r . . r Comclr. foe Taylor, Air Officer until Dec. 1944, Executive Ojicer Dec. 344 to June, 1945, watches the plan-es come in, from Flight Deck Control captain. The Air Department is to its ninety planes what the plane captain is to his one. With Comdr. Joe Taylor at the head of its fifty ofiicers and twelve hundred men, the Air Department was the reason why Big Ben was in exist- ence, the reason behind all the other frantic activities which were readying her for combat. All the intricate construc- tion, all of the master plan, led up to that moment when the command comes: uPilots, man your planes! It was then, and only then, that an aircraft carrier became a fight- ing force, an element in actual warfare. The Air Department had its divisions, and what divisions! V-One, flight deck: arresting gear and barrier men must be quick of hand and true of eye. Misjudgment can be General storelteepers in their 'glVo cash-you carryn store on the Fourth Deck. STANDING: F. Melvin, C. Delellog Cene Levine, C. L. llelcDwHie. SECOND ROW: Robert Strielferg Charles Russell, Leo Smolinskig Leroy Vanet. TOP: Billy Slfibliflgi lwafllljf Solomon, David Laslrinslcy must be able to fire a dozen hghters into the air in a few minutes to meet the threat of approaching bombers. V-Two, on the hangar deck, was composed of mechanics and metalsmiths of superb skill, men to whom replacing a damaged wing was a minor operation. V-Three, the operations section, had yeomen and admin- istrators who plowed through the paper work and passed on the Air Ofhcer's commands. V-Four, the division for combat information, was most complex of all. Charged with responsibility for all radars and radios on ship and planes, it also supervised every sur- face lookout, the aerological department, the photographers and the recognition officers. Its fighter director team of a hundred radarmen and their officers under Lt. Comdr. Bob Bruning would be Big Benas first line of defense. Some day, when enemy planes would flicker on the radar screens, fighters of the combat air patrol would roar off to intercept, guided by Hvectorsw radioed from Combat Information Cen- ter-HCICH-where Lt. ,lim Griswold and his tense teams crouched over their plotting tables. V-Five, the service division, had its life-breath given it by Chief Otis Lee Corbett, a son of the old South, who died in action off Kyushu. It dispensed the ibombs, the machine gun bullets, the high-octane gasoline and torpedoes, because an aircraft carrier, as well as being a floating and movable airfield, must also be a service station of wide variety. And . . . V-Six, the squadrons: combat air crewmen for all planes, lads with the silver wings that testified they were aerial gunnersg others with the golden wings of pilots. Most l t The hfIlllfll'lI'I1.,0Sl,i supply oflieer in tlze Nzzzwx' Comdr, H, S, C0710 fSCl, USN, re-0111-fitterl tlze lzalfleslzip .Yez'aa'r1 alter Pearl Harbor, set a record 011, Big- Hpnq mmf 1,79 ,hp phil, on-ly lo outfit SOIlI,CllII'llg' bigger--Ilzf' szzper-carrier .llI.llIl'llgX'.

Page 26 text:

' w....i...,.-L. -. ..-.--' XJNLL.-, M-,,-.. 1. . V 1 'A-fmaf-.v,..1Y-.1--4,-..M-H M Lf, ,,.,...,.7L-,..,-,-,Uv irsl llllfl'-U11 lfffllrlwry 2701.7 l9fLfl. Pilot, 1,'mn.1lr. 7'u,ylnrg l'lml0grnpf11'r. lfllivf L. J. lIurr1.rNe'. kfllvrz' in lI'l'fl'UlI. AIIIIFCII lfltlz, IUJS