Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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kb f A 91 f? K, L, f Q 14 N, F I - 1 1 Y '1ffi Q , QM XC? 'l fl 1 FGX HQ Willyy' wanted to go to war on Big Ben . . I M The Toughest Sailor, alittle Berzf? te Us the SP fSh0re Patrolj where to 'ahead inf' X i

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'ri 491 .Nz 53? .5 4- , 'lit iii: Q... 1,4 'iii '1 1 . 392 -F: -. ,,, il fi, sl ,Q Q 4: 5' I: r. rr rf i ,. 1. - 5 bt if ., FW' f-2 'I . '1 .. V i perial Navy rode the high seasg it numbered battleships, carriers, cruisers, dozens of destroyers and submarines in its fleets. Millions of fanatical yellow troops garrisoned an un- defeated Empire. The air force that had sent the Prince of Wales, the Repulse, the Arizona, the Oklahoma, the Lexington, the Yorktown, and scores of other warships to the bottom, still patrolled the skies above .lapan and its island fortresses. Hawaii dropped quickly into the sea. Astern a thousand yards, the new cruiser Denver glided along in Big Ben's wake. Old friends, the Twiggs and Leary, with two other destroyers, tossed and plunged ahead. Shortly after clear- ing the harbor Comdr. Day spoke to the F ranklin's officers and the fliers of Air Group Thirteen: Gentlemen, on June 15th, fthat's todayl , the Amphibious Forces will land the Second Marine Division and the 27th Army Division on the Japanese island of Saipan, in the Mariannas group. The landings will be supported by the Seventh United States Fleet, Vice Admiral Kinkaid, com- posed of the battleships Tennessee, West Virginia, New M ex- ico . . f' the list sounded like a roll call of all the fighting ships of the Navy. '4The Fifth Fleet, Vice Admiral Spruance, consisting of carriers and battleships, in Task Force Fifty-eight, will operate between Saipan and the Philippines, the direction from which the laps are expected to counter-attack. The Fast Carrier Task Forcefof which the Franklin will be a unit-will cover the landings and destroy the Imperial Jap- anese Fleet if the opportunity presents itself. One group of fast carriers will neutralize by bombing the Bonin Is- lands, of Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima, from which the Japs might send air strength into the Mariannas. 4 'fAt last reports, an enemy concentration of six battleships five carriers twelve cruisers, and thirty destroyers was as- sembling in the Philippines and has been sighted by our submarines moving into the Philippine Sea Make no mis- take We think the Japs are going to come out and fight this time. We are going to be ready for them. The Franklin with her escorts, will remain in reserve in the Eniwetok area as reinforcements until called upon This is it To the crew of officers and men, to helmsman and lookout pilot and engineer, this was it, the first certain indication of where Big Ben might expect her entry into battle Of course, the pattern might change, as so often 1t did change but here was something more definite than mere scuttlebutt. On June 17th the Franklin crossed the International Date Line, longitude 180 degrees east The calendar moved back one day, there were two Sundays in a row Now the combat air patrol took to the sky, six Hellcat fighters to protect the little task group from a surprise attack Big Ben entered the circular lagoon of Eniwetok on June posts, and had been in Japanese hands only three months before Torn hulks of .lapanese ships, ripped to tatters by American steel and American courage, lay in the anchorage mute but eloquent tribute to the American boys from all sections of the nation, who had splashed ashore to cut down the fanatical Imperial Marines to the last man There were also rusted helmets of American type, rows of lonely white crosses. Meanwhile, meager and delayed reports of the action on Saipan came in. Marines were hanging on, an Army divi- sion was ashore, Jap planes were coming in from Guam to attack the transports as they lay along the beachhead. Then word came that the Japanese Navy was steaming toward the scene. It was the job of Task Force Fifty-eight to see that it never got there. Four hundred miles from Saipan, the Japanese launched a cloud of dive-bombers and torpedo planes which--the J aps believed-would seal the issue. How Admiral Mitseh- er's fighters took care of this Oriental dream is a part of history, but Big Ben never got into this First Battle of the Philippine Sea, since the Japanese Navy did one of its famous vanishing acts after Mitscheris men had blasted down its air cover. Big Ben, like a substitute at a football game, was still sitting on the sidelines when orders came on June 29th to break the inaction. The Franklin was to join Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison's Task Group 58.2, bound for Iwo Jima to maintain the enemy airfields and installa- tions in the Bonin Islands inoperative. She was to be in company with the carrier Wasp, the light carriers Monterey and Cabot, all escorted by the cruisers Boston, Canberra, and S-an Juan, with nine destroyers in the screen. The Bonins, only 600 miles south of Tokyo, were heavily patrolled and guarded. Their airfields were stepping-stones for the squadrons which might be flung into the desperate battle that still raged on Saipan. By July Ist the task group was steaming through waters constantly patrolled by Jap Search planes-usnoopersfi as they are called in Navy language. The American combat air patrols were doubled in strength and the radarmen never took their eyes from the screens that might disclose the ap- proach of a fbogey Since surprise is the essence of a carrier-borne attack, enemy search planes must he spotted and shot down before they could locate the task group and flash a warning to home bases It ts as that afternoon when Big Ben s first casualty in combat zones saddened all hands. Lt Clarence F Kelly Blair lanky hard-flying leader ofa division of the Thirteenth Air Group, suddenly side-slipped and plunged into the sea as he attempted to land after a patrol Neither plane nor pilot were seen again The task group was only 4100 miles from Iwo Jima on July 3rd when a long range Japa iese search plane sneaked in low over the formatlon dropped two bombs, which nar- rowly missed a destroyer, and fled The plane was identi- fied as an Emily a name well known to men who fought the Japs Types of enemy aircraft were designated by girlr or boys names-thus the Betty, Jack Jill Zeke Frances and dozens of others In the afternoon Admiral Davison decided the Japs might be aware of his approaching force and decided to do some across th remalmnff 300 miles to surprise the enemy on the ground and shoot up his planes The fivhters returned at sunset, reporting that they had knocked down a dozen .laps as they were taking off and had damaged many others on the ground Through that night the group sped on toward the morn ' 1 za Hl S , ' A 97 1 ' ' Q . . r 1 r x ' . tr 4 L6 - . gg 9, . 5 u n 3 7 7 , . l 7 , ' as . li X: , . ' . - 5 ' ' . U 1 - 1 X , . . . 9 7 is D ' . ' I , ' - cc - 997 C l 5 - ' . ' ' . ,O f si 2 ' ' r g g K i ' ' .2 1 . s ' . . . . . i : ' 21st. It was a dreary spot, but one of Amer1ca's farthest out- thing about it. Twenty Hellcats from the Wasp were flung - Q . . . .N ' . . b 'D t ' '-' . . D ' . . 52 , .