Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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-,.-,--.-vxnvv tv-W--W f Y - 1 1-11111 111.111 1111 11111 ship. t111111l1. ll.1l1' 111111 l11-1'411111- tht- IIQIXI Elttlwl. S1-ptt-111l11'1 Qtlh, ltlll, lit'ill X1l11111:1l llzlxisoiiis lash .-1111111 1111t1f111.-11.1111tliif-411111111111-111.l1- set llNt'1HllM'l11llll' F . 5 9 - imillixwst tttttl lht' llillittl ggroiip. lilithi and tht- lti-1 ti111'11li111- islands had l41ll1'11, 1l111113gl1 llllllllllfill ,laps still hung 1111 :il l1l,1.11lx livlvlittii. lihv stage M114 st-1 lor Ll mighty S1'l'Ill' ill the l'11t1ili1' tlllltllil. l'l1ro11gl1 111111111-. like the xoit-11 ol. lltlllltt. l111t'lt11ye1'll11'l1l11111ly xvars itttfll tl.11'l1 liilliliilt. il ltnell Sttt1llllt'll lor tht' l1'Cl1t'lllQ'l't1llS, 1'11111l .l.1lH1111's1': l shrill l'0ltll'It . . :X xision ol' l11':11'1l0tl. 11112111 11111111 111011. stanthiig tlltttllilttl. 1s1't'11tl1e1l 111 the lust grey siiioltc ol' tft111'egitlo1'is guns. spurretl 1111 the LtY1'llglil'S. lf-.1111 1111111 011 iii: lien 11115 proutl to he there for his part i11 the l.il1e1'11ti1111 ot the llhilippines. 'lin 111.1lw seviire the l1e11cl1l1e111ls that would he estahlishetl 1111 l.c11e the third lileet must drive into the strongest hases of the liinpiree einto the jaws of the lieaviest trap the ,laps ctnxld close. Froin llki11awa. on the door-sill of Japan, to poiteitiil lioriiiosa. south through l.11zo11, huiidreds ol' air i-ases 1111151 he crushed i11to helplessness. The Imperial Navy 1111151 he Slltdilttttl if it tried to iiiterfere. - . J V lor a meek 111 the 5to1'111-swept seas east of lalau. lug P 'S . H.-.N 1 ,. ,.. ..,.... . --1 li1'Il.Ntf,lUllIl 111111111-1l il l1'Illlt'lX'lIIlS with1I1111w11111l11f1-sm-111111s 11l'Il11'llll1i1'1l l l1-1-t. l.1111g 1':111g1'1'11t-111y Sl'Ell'l'lI plaiws lltew out lu 11-1-11111111it1'1'. 'llhv 1-11111l1z1t air patrol lu-pt tht- skies wrist-- lt-ssly,1g11111'111g, 1111-11111111-1t1111slIy111g XH'2lllll'l'. Une patrol of ll11'1-1- liglilers II1111 into ll lufavy stplallg two liglilers 1-1111111 lltl'lPlIt!ll. lloptflvssly tht: HL'Zll'f'll plaiies Hf'HlII'l,'tl the area, l111l 1111 trait-1' ol' l,l. Warle ll. Vi'i11e1'oll'. ll l5Ollllll'y hwy liI'1Hlt North lI:11'11li11a1, 1111s ever lltjllltll. . . B .-- . l.l111s111g il haiitht llirongh tht- nnirky night, lit. llc-1111y Miles, ol' Mediiia, N. Y., and his Japanest- quarry siidtlenly tlisappeared lrom the radar sereens while ljll miles to the S0llll1XYCSl, over the stormy, blacked-0111 ocean. Though John Wineger called tirelessly through the static and search planes croinhed the area at dawn, no word was ever heard of night lighter Benny Miles nor of the Jap. Alter a week of this depressing wait orders came to moxe 11o1'tl111'ard. fjll the tail of a typhoon raging toward Formosa and Ukinawa, Admiral Wvilliam Halsey was preparing to take the seven Essex class carriers. the ten light carriers, seven last hattleships, twenty-live Cruisers and a hundred destroyers ol' his Third Fleet into the teeth of Japan's mili- tary might and strike the i1111er bases of the Empire. Nine thoiisand miles from the 'l'hi1'd Fleetis homeland. ill wateis 1 1 f l3q',f1 ,IVV . Y-2. - -.5 -1 rf: -- -els. 1 1111111114 f-1111111111 pfmln from mn' nf liig HVIIHN I'lIllllf'S . . . nkliflflvlltll 5 ' ' 1 ff,',n,,f...-11.-yi . Y... .... 1.1-1.1

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.411 Avenger takes a wave-0 sa erlg the fueling rlepot f-onlfl llll fi, ll'i ll' oil lfml.-. mofelem Ijiflflj wt-rg flank'-rl hy wuwzlmott-,f:s, on tllf' lPltlLflf'i- fzflgff. A lingo rer:rez,tI,lo1l park wire, fxtaiting lor lla: l'llf'!l ol rlaf' llerft, and the lifzffr ration x-.fra lirnitf:f,l only ily tllf- liar liozxr- allowod to ooneume it. Saxif: ljowellla lianfel, at home under the eucalyptus trees and alien eky, made rriarlg' nf' lrseml, as liig ljenis men minglerl with ladf from other flop: 'o map yarns ol' luattle, meet old slllpmatffe, talk ol' home. There were odd reunionseelot. ljgy .loe lleimloll, one-time Bronx cop, of lfighting Tliirteen, met two lliele from other Squadrons and in exchanging rerninisoeneef learnf'fl that ol the twenty-live fledgling pilots who came tllrougli PF4!t5d fOl3 together three years hefore, they were the only ones aliae. The others had smashed up in operational aefglfleiire, or fallen to llak over enemy targets. At Marius, Comdr. Day received a long-due promotion to the rank of Captain and was detached to command a new ee- eort carrier. Comdr. Benjamin Moore, who had heen Xavi- gator since the commissioning, lileeame Executive Ofhoer. Comdr. Day had worked hard to make Big Ben a line ight- ing machineg Comdr. Benny Moore was a litting relief. The L.S.E.-ULittle Short lfxecf' as he came to lie affectionately known, was admired and regarded as a personal friend hy r Here too, llierv Il'fl.S' time for II' few quiet lIl1OIIlt'lIfS in the Ifhrtrrv

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that lapped the eneniyis shores, would he decided an issue which armchair strategists had declared could have lint one outcome. lfleet-hased aircraft would meet sliore-hast-rl air- craft, on even terms. This would he no hit-and-run mission. Carriers would slug it out for days with dozens of hases on shore. pitting their hundreds of planes against thousands thr- enemy had at his instant connnand. The stakes would he the lives of a half-million soldiers and the fate of an empire. Admiral Halsey reckoned on the typhoon which would sweep across the enemy coasts a day hefore Task lforee Thirty-eightfs warplanes. He knew it would disrupt com- munications, ground enemy search planes, make detection of the fleet difficult. On October 9th, 194-L, the Third Fleet steamed in three formidable groups 100 miles south of Okinawais teeming harbor and airfields, 200 miles east of Formosa. The autumn rains and mist of the Central Pacific shrouded the ominous black and slate grey warships. Half a dozen Jap search planes had fallen to the guardian Hellcats without a glimpse of the fleet. ln the afternoon 200 rocket-firing Hellcats climlied from a dozen flight decks and plunged like a bullet at the heart of the Japanese defense Y the airfields and hangars. What the ,lapanesfz fktllfftl their rarlai liailwl again X ln-'wilflerf-rl fern- V'f'I't' shot flU II own their uv,-uit fllIlll'ifl- . , ,. v, ,. , w , , , , , . , . A . then hell 1-xplorlrrfl in front ol yellow laces dz the x:rif':ifgfn, lighters thunr.lcnzf.i in. llangars were demolished. llozens oi planes were ahlaze on as many air-strips. lfe'.ennf-ms c.-.ffm strafed. ljarrargks llamed. Vfilien the lighter sweep lanrlt-rl at sunset the disrupted, smoking defense of the E-land nm.-t have heen a headache to the frantic ,lapanese commander. lxfip radios erackled and whirled. Air stations on the home island of Kyushu, 2550 miles north. looked hastily to their defenses. Squadrons of replacement planes warmed up on fields at Kobe, Nagoya, Nagasaki. Tokyo. Xervoiis, slant eyed pilots trooped to their ready rooms. Up to this time, in their march across the Pacific, the flat- tops had mostly fought the naval aircraft of the Japanese. Now the Imperial Army Air Force, with its swarms of Betty and Judy homhers, its speedy Zeke and Tojo fighters. 'was the main foe. Heretofore the carriers had assaulted smaller is- land hases, with a few airhelds that could be swiftly crushed. Now the air liases of the Empire were in position to rein- force each other-only the hases close at hand could he ef- fectively neutralized. Big search planes, Kates and lfmilys. squadrons of Betty fi.iUllSfIlf lillSl-IIHIIIIIIIIIS nhlrzzf' uf Ulnfnlli-,,