Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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Un Novcrnber 7th, on the battle-scarred liangljar deck. in the gray light from Ulilhiis cloudy sky, that filtered down through the bomb crater. Captain Shoemaker sadly relin- quished command of Big lien, with a word ol' farewell to the men who had served with him, Captain Cehres, a tall. hand- some. powerfully-built man, of erect military bearing. ae- cepted his grave responsibility with modesty and determina- tion. The crew stood in ranks while the new commanding otiicer made his Hrst inspection. Other battle-tired warships of Task Group 38.-lt anchored in Ulithi during the next days. Battles for control of the Philippines sky still raged and two task groups were Hghting alongside MacArthur's newly-arrived air forces to stem the menace of Japanese Kamikaze planes-suicide dives were now an accepted method of attack. During the brief period after October 29th when the Army had assumed all respon- sibility for air control, 30,000 Japanese troops had landed on Leyte to reinforce Yamashita's men. The Navy was brought back into the fight. Crews from the repair ship, after assessing the shattered decks, decided that it would require all available steel stock and more than a month to put Big Ben temporarily back in the fighting line. Ulithi's limited facilities must be kept available for quick repair of ships which would return to ar,-l,i4ni in weeks. lfrrrllfrtflill rniist eo barli to l'f-'ati llariiur. Adiniral llalsfy. v-ith rillim-r'-. of his stall., xiaitefl lil: lien before she sailed. lien eagerly throng'-fl the dr-:f'lf1 to glimp-ff this legendary warrior. in his crumpled khaki uniforrri. shirt open at the throat. with the four .silver stars of a full Ad. miral on his r-ap. fjonulr. Moore showed the A-Xliffilfdl f,,t,,,, the torn decks for an hour. and talked of the -hip. Vt her, Admiral Halsey departed he had the highest praise for the conduct of Frczfilrfift and her men. in battle and after. Hip autographed photograph inscribed: Milo Frrmkfrri and hey splendid crewf? became a shipis treasure. The night before liiig lien sailed for Pearl, sad new ,-,e s came from the fleet. The carrier Lexington, flagship. had been hit by a Kamikaze. which crashed on the bridge. kill- ing scores, The carrier, lntrepifl, hghting off attack, was struck by another suicide plane that flamed into a row of machine guns and killed twenty-Hve of the men behind them Neither of the giant carriers were damaged seriously enougli to come out of the line but crew replacements were urgently needed. Frrzrilrlirt would not be in combat for some time so Comdr. Moore must reluctantly pick three officers and l03 men to reinforce them. It was a hard choice. lfns. Vi-ynn and lit. tjgl Mathieson, communicators, and Lt. Hike Finlay. photographic interpreter, with 103 men, were regretfullv f'i l7 ' C l'r -9- f 7 'l9 '- fl 'fi' fllfllfif- Jlffwre. lfif' -il1l.Yl f'.H 1.lI.WfH'l'fS his I'f'ff'I'lIII Pfr'Il' for ffif' first time