Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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HAPT I . . frlllllll 1111s I1 p11s11-1111r 1 guess-fxfept there s Il lot 0 Marines who laps p11 nty 1111111 Tokyo hose has had as sunk our times we ve even had a 11111 Done rom our allzes, the Arms' You 'llft 111111 llllllfllfl' st11e trip to make back to Iwo then an excurston p111n11e11 or Palau, th1 n ll stop-over at Yap and then 1 rn due or a 11111'r1 llf on the equator , BIG RI THE CARQLI E EYIWETOK.S ANCHORAGE was a sight every good American should have seen. A thousand men of war were anchored in its wide blue basin. Half a dozen heavy carriers, as many more light carrier: divisions of battleships and cruis- er: transport: destroyers, and ships of the train contributed to this nautical beeliiveg a constant interweaving stream of boats plied the water on ship s business. Xow, at last, there was time to overhaul Big Benis hard- worked equipment It was a busy time for engineers radio technicians, gunners, electricians, mechanics fire control- men. The planes of Air Group Thirteen had been landed on the island and were being serviced there by their own mechanics Badly damaged and missing aircraft were re- placed from the pool of new and refitted planes The sup- ply department was restocking from the Service Forces supply barges. The few repairs which could not be made C E R S X 11111 be st11y1'11g' there. 117e're ll fig11t111g ship nowg our planes have made the 3 I s - - f 5 ' N , N If . ' 1 ' Y ll I . , . f 1 f f B E ' D Y ' ' 7 7 r: SH i . s, N, , 9 . 9 M, he . 1 1 -1- -r V e 1 - ,'f. 'f v H 7x'0 'v jf' fiiazw 1 s i s W 1' at pr rf' is ' - -1 . , ,fi fi-4 32? -. - . gn' . R . Q Y v , Vt' ' ' 'v ' 1 - . X Y X '- '-' .- 'f' Q I . Q V1 . ' ' . f ' Q i s Q rr ,vm or 2, f A l K . if A g g , A X 1 A ' . V' 1 A ff!-foci!-fs ,.. .Numa ' iss I- but li- If I Q my sl t tw' -s .k,, Ga, K 1 1 x, 1 to up V 'lx E - x x X 4 We V ', , , ' ' ,1 ' Flvt t1,e 11? 1:11, at 1x'u111't ls111111'1, E1lI.1lil'10hT. Ill, the background is a wrecked VL 'If Btg Ben and nthar shzps nj 111 If on lf I fl . . . - . - y ' , , , . oon -lllijllfllfsf llflllllflllllfllilt shtp. Am,er1c11n 1,l,llfS,IIf7S are f1lI,C,l0f'!'d In the lag

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1'1 f'Y!9? 't'Pf'tw5'?Q 4'Hv ' E l 2 5 l L X. it ti if ,. ,. l 1? E t E Q. 3. r i 3 i I lr il il it F ri Zi? . H, .l 'E L E l l . I l E Q S f 5 9. E Qs ,t .F lt 11 i j. 1 E ? ft jt ii it August 5th, 1944 . . . It cost American lives to destroy these japanese ships in Cltichi Jima Harbor convoy, but only one bomb hit was registered on this flight. At 4' p. m. a third strike of forty planes went out, deter- mined to draw blood. This attack was well-planned and perfectly coordinated. The fighters strafed three destroyers, two of which blew up and sank. The third stopped dead in the water, on fire. The dive-bombers left two cargo ships burning. Nine torpedo planes attacked and registered nine hits out of nine torpedoes dropped. Four big cargo ships sank beneath the waves. Flying conditions were bad, making further flights too hazardous. During the night cruisers and destroyers of F ranklirfs screen raced ahead and finished off the convoy. Of 18 to 20 Japanese ships, only one old-type destroyer may have escaped. Though it had been a bad day for the enemy, there were several sadly empty seats at Big Ben's mess tables that night. Ens. Roger W. L'Estrange, the laughing boy whose brother was a major of Marines fighting on Guam, crashed in the ocean after his Hellcat had been struck by flak from the Jap- anese destroyers. Lt. Ancil C. Hudson, who had left his wife and year-old daughter in Kentucky, failed to return from the last strike. The right wing of his Hellcat was blown off by flak and the plane dove into the sea. Six strikes were scheduled against Chichi Jima for August 5th, a day that brought dismal flying weather. At dawn, twenty-five Hellcats, Helldivers and Avengers took off from the rain-drenched flight deck. They left three cargo ships sinking in the harbor and strafed another, ten miles to the west. A special search group that day, flying toward Japan, 500 miles north, located new targets. Comdr. Dick Kibbe, in his Helldiver, escorted by Ens. R. F. 'clVIoose Bridge, in his Grumman, met and bracketed a Betty', bomber, 240 miles from Tokyo, and shot it down. Returning, this pair also sank three landing craft, bearing troops from Japan to Iwo Jima. The radio station on Muko Island was knocked out by another team. But two of Big Ben's planes did not return. Lt. Comdr. C. B. I-lolstrom, from Washington state, a graduate of An- napolis and the executive officer of his squadron, together with his gunner, Walter J. Brooks, Jr., from flilst street, in New York, were plunged in their Helldiver into Chichi Jima Harbor by AA Hre. Lt. fjgj H. F. McCue7s torpedo plane, with aircrewmen llevey and llohinette aboard, crash-landed in the sea after being hit by flak. The words Hmissing in actionn were written alongside the names of these shipmates, although covering fighters reported that a rescue submarine had headed in their direction. Nearly two months later Lt. McCue was returned aboard. But Walter D. Hevey, a Yankee from the hills of North Attlehoro, Mass., and his comrade, Ralph T. liobinette, a lad with the Southern drawl of North Carolina, died in action that day. Heavy weather made further flights impracticable so the task group set its course southward for Eniwetok. Three small Japanese vessels blundered into the force through the fog. Two destroyers of the screen took them under fire and they sank at once, hardly a mile from Big Ben. No prison- ers were obtained. In the afternoon an HEmily was chased in the direction of the formation by the combat air patrol. As the Jap came out of the clouds Big Ben's gunners, and every gun in the fleet, opened up. Due to poor visibility some gun crews were firing at one of the friendly fighters. In the confusion the Jap fled into the clouds and the Hellcat crashed in the sea. Happily the pilot was soon rescued, uninjured, and a few minutes later the Emily was shot down by an alerted plane of the air patrol. Early in the morning of August 8th, the task group arrived in Eniwetok lagoon, after more than a month of combat operations. Big Ben, along with the other carriers, cruisers and destroyers of the group, received this climactic dispatch from Admiral Clark: - 'cWe are at the end of a long and arduous cruise. In the campaign of the Mariannas many damaging blows have been struck at the enemy. It is with great pride that I can tabu- late the record of the Task Group 58.1 as having contributed its full share. To all hands: Well Doneln ff. rf'1 M 4: ' R F If f-ass-aefra r... Wg' l' - ea 4237 3

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