Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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destroyers and the few planes of the escort carriers were putting up one of the most heroic battles of the war. Three of those destroyers and two destroyer escorts went to their deaths in the unequal struggle, but they did not die in vain. Months later, after the surrender of Japan, Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, commander of the Japanese Second Fleet, confessed that, incredible as it may seem, his enemy fleet of two dozen major warships was turned back at 11:00 a.m. by damage suffered from the torpedoes of seven Ameri- ican destroyers escorting the baby flat-tops and bombs from the escort carrier's planes-as well as the fear of further attacks. Assault groups from other flat-tops of the Third Fleet were now over the stricken Japanese carrier group 300 miles north of Leyte Gulf, and 75 miles from Big Ben. By the end of an hour every carrier in the force was hard hit, burning, or on .'.f'?1'x 1' ' .-a'l +T: . f fi.,-Q, . .J f..,y,sa. , -, 357311 is ' 2 rzfirtir' 1 ' f Q . ,, Comdr. W. M. :'W'ild Billn Coleman, hard-flying skipper of Figfzting Thirteen, the bottom. Cruisers were flaming, the two old battleships and one cruiser were steaming frantically northward. The destroyers milled around aimlessly, some trying to pick up Japanese sailors, now floating in the sea by hundreds, The seven fast battlewagons of the Third Fleet, detached from the carriers, were straining ahead at thirty knots, eager to bring the Japs to a battle which could have but one con- clusion. At 10:00 a.m. came radar warning of a large flight of en- emy aircraft approaching, 100 miles to the south. These, it was learned later, were the Jap carrier planes that sent the Princeton to the bottom off Luzon the day before. They had landed on Luzon and were flying out to rejoin their carriers. 30 Hellcats roared south to meet them, but the Jap planes were evidently in radio contact with their fleet. Before the Hellcats sighted them, they reversed course and turned south out of range, apparently informed of the disaster to their floating bases. At noon, 150 more bombers and fighters took off from Big Benls flight deck to add to the destruction. But now the calls for aid from the south were urgent. Admiral flalsey turned the heavy new battleships, then only 40 miles from their quarry, with the carriers and destroyers of Task firoup 38.2 to aid the embattled baby flat-tops of the Sf5Vfiflfll filfifff. At 1:30 Franlclirtfs fourth strike cleared the deck. The Jap- anese ships were in a panic-stricken condition. Undarnaged vessels steamed desperately at high speed, on independent courses, in any direction to get out of range of the bombers. Damaged ships, listing heavily, circled wildly, all guns fir- ing, with no effort at mutual support. Here and there two or three destroyers, or a destroyer and a burning cruiser. steam- ed in formation using their guns to best advantage. It was a wild, desperate, confused battle. And it cost the dive-bomb ing squadron from Big Ben heavily, for Lt. John H. Finrow, a University of Washington boy, who had flown 31 missions, went down in his Helldiver with his gunner, Henry E. Borja, the lad his shipmates called HHank. Lt. fjgj D. A. Mcphie, recommended for the Navy Cross and two Air Medals, died that day with his gunner, B. D. Chandler, a boy from old Alabama. It would have been ffMac'sH last mission, had he returned. Yet there was one thing certain about that battle. Squad- ron after squadron of America's finest air groups kept fill- ing the sky above the fleeing Japanese. As soon as the air group of one carrier had delivered its attack, the planes of another would come flashing down to attack. Through the afternoon the battle continued. Even Comdr. Coleman, of Fighting Thirteen, could only shake his head in the ward- room that night and say, HI wouldnft have believed it if 1 hadn't been there. 1 don't know half what happened and 1 was there all day. Theyill never get all of this one in their history booksf' As evening drew near, two cruisers and a destroyer-one cruiser limping-were all that remained of the force. The two battleships, one damaged, with no destroyer escort, were 100 miles north, fleeing at their best speeds. They would run the gauntlet of a dozen American submarines posted in their path. That night a submarine reported five torpedo hits on one and when last seen it was dead in the water. Admiral Davison asked for any carrier with a dozen fighter planes and a clear flight deck to volunteer for a rocket-armed sweep to get one of the cruisers. Big Ben's flight deck was crowded with the last returning strike. but the Enterprise volunteered. Half an hour later the proud voice of the strike leader from the Big E could be heard over the radio: Hello, Badger. This is Dodger Four. Break out the beer. Wife just sank a cruiser. Badger was Admiral Davison's radio call. The Admiral answered personally: This is the Badger. himself. Great going. Well have the band waiting for von, Now, as the sun dipped into the sea on the Japmiesim lin- perial Navyis last day on the Pacific. cruisers from the Third Fleet drew near to hnish the cripples. The Air Coordinator. still flying over the scene. directed them to the targets. His voice could be heard on the radio. though the cruisers were not audible. The airman's voice was clear and cold. Can't see 'em. eh? Do you see me? f'Well, watch these black bursts now . .

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l 1 E l i l l 1 l 4 l t l . l A t t See 'einif . . . That's the w ny to the cruisers. boys . . lie was flying down over the Jups. drawing their lire. and the bursts of flak in the evening sky directed the Anrerican warships to their targets. .-X brave man was llocket 77. Before the moon rose the last Japanese warship of tht group was on the muddy bottom of the llacilic. smashed by cruiser gunfire. As the task group steamed south. Jap de- struction complete to the north. the captain spoke solemnly and proudly to liig liens tense crew: You will never forget today. Today. October 25th, 19-1-l. we have defeated the Japanese Navy in one of the decisive sea battles of history . . Then he turned the speak-xr over to the fliers who had climbed from Franlrlinis deck. Vlfhen the men off watch that night rolled into their hunks they were as proud as Captain Shoemaker 4 they had put those planes in the air and kept 'em there . . . October 26111 was spent in contacting the tanker group and refueling. Nleantime complete reports were pouring in of the far-Hung Battle for Leyte Gulf. The Japanese Second Fleet, attacking Vice Admiral Kinkaidis escort carriers, withdrew at the last moment. after sinking the Gambier Bay, two de- stroyers. and three destroyer escorts. The Japanese admiral had reached his decision at 11 a.m. and steamed north to San Bernardino. passing through the strait at midnight, ev- ery ship in his squadron damaged by destroyer torpedoes or air attack. As the fast battleships of the United States Third Fleet passed the straits at 1:00 a.m. only one crippled Japanese cruiser lagged behind. It disintegrated so swiftly under thc sixteen-inch guns of the super-battleships that not until some of the stunned survivors were pulled out of the water was it known to be a cruiser and not a destroyer. To pursue the group of enemy warships into the heavily mined straits would be imprudent, so Admiral Halsey contented himself with launching heavy air assaults over the escape route through the islands. The Japanese force beaten in the Suragaio Straits had truly been annihilated. Only one crippled battleship made its way back into the Sibuyan Sea and it was sunk by air attack before Admiral Kinkaid could Htake a picture of the darn thingf: As a fighting force the Imperial Japanese Navy had ceased to exist. MacArthur,s heachheads were secure and no power on the face of the earth could stop Americafs re- conquest of the Philippines. Franklin and Task Group 38.4. steamed back to the Leyte area the next day, furnishing combat air patrol for the trans- ports in the Gulf. and launching search sweeps for Japanese warships still trying to escape. Sixteen Hellcats. each armed with a 500-pound bomb, located a cruiser of the Aoba class with two destroyers, south of the island of Mindoro. Four direct bomb hits and fourteen rockets were slammed into the cruiser. lt was left blazing, leaking steam, and listing heav- ily to port. The two destroyers were damaged. Half an hour later another hghter sweep, launched by the lfrttcrprise, ar- rived to hnish them off. The two destroyers were still there, one already abandoned by its crew. The cruiser was never seen again, almost certainly sent to the bottom by llig lierfs strike. The airmen from the llig AFI made strafing runs over the destroyers. leaving them both sinking. A Lt. f. B. Johnson, Corning through hatch on the Flight deck of the Franklin . . . fohnnfy's experiences were so numerous and unusual that Quentin Reynolds wrote him up in a Colliefs article During the 28th and 29th of October heavy calls were placed on the Fleet's fighter squadrons by MacArthur7s em- battled forces. Combat air patrol was flown over Leyte, and searches were conducted off the island of Samar for carrier pilots shot down in the previous actions. The Hellcats shot down eight Oscars and one Zeke which were trying to attack the transports in Leyte Gulf. Vlleather was rainy and the new- ly constructed airfields at Dulag and Tacloban on Leyte were in poor condition. Crack-ups were frequent on the muddy fields, and often grounded pilots were under bombing attack as the Japs continued to slip in groups of bombers to strike the invasion forces. On the evening of the 28th, six of Franklin's patrolling Hellcats attacked twelve Jap fighter planes at dusk. When the Oscars had been driven away, Big l3en's airmen were forced .rfs , , , Q j ,, ' V1 Flight rlcclt crews arming a dcclcloaa' . . . Note rockets being loaflcfl on llcllcats . . . Air Group I3 was one Of first to use this weapon against japanese