Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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'.Ql'.,4,i.q-. - A2- wanted wings. nntil l got the dogg:-ined llnng1s. Mjllllllttiu Watson. the only nmsieian in the world who played ai bull fiddle under his ching lt. laiwton as ai Jap prisoner. cap- tured in a lieer liarrel at the Nlog Nlog tlllieers' tflnlig lvnnte Weidnian and lle:n-on llnsons. chorus girls extraordinary: and finally. llonevliov l' red llarris. with dozens ol others in the 'liiglitronian lilee lllnlfi, filled the evening with laughter. Soultinllt- to the music of tlld Nlan Hiver.-' lloneyhov sang nt' Old Alan Taylor. ai left-handed tribute to tfomdr. Joe Taylor. the Xir tlllieer. who laughed as heartily as any of the appreciative plane-pushers. f'mr1Xr1'1'ri arrived at llearl llarbor. Novernber Zlst, 19,1-1. The navy yard. after a quick inspection. decided Bremerton Navy Yard was better equipped to make repairs. Details were radioed ahead and even as liig Hen steamed westward by Diamond Head the next day. machine shops of the Puget Sound Navy Yard were preparing for their task. Memorial services were held Sunday. November 26th, on the hangar deck. for the men of the Air Group and of the ship who had given their lives during the Cruise. The rites were simple and impressive. Hymns were reverently sung. led by Chaplins Chamberlin and Harkins. A prayer was of' fered for the comrades who had fallen in battle and were not coming home. The roll of their names was sadly calledg three volleys were tired over the Pacific in their honor. Aft- er a silent prayer. the final hymn was sung. At Orchard Point. near Bremerton. after brief ceremonies, the Air Group and passengers left the ship. Fighting Air . . . f.n rf 1 :ruins .f...f.aL5- ' v z Group 'llhirteen and the men ol' the Frunlrlin had been eom- rtides for nearly a year. tlomdr. Uielc Kihlie. speaking forthe Air Group. reealled the days together and said Thank you and good lnelt. l'll'llllh'll.II.!N Captain Gehres. for the people of ltig llen. praised the gronpis brilliant combat record and wished the men who had been such splendid shipmates many happy landings. Since their lirsl combat operation of July sith, in the whirlwind tempo of the Paeihe War, Air Group Thirteen had made an enviable record. They had destroyed or dam- aged at least 338 enemy planes. against a loss of 53 of their own. They had sunk Ott merchant vessels for a total of l55.- tttltl tonsg damaged another 66 for 153,00tl tons more. They had sunk l5 Japanese warships for a total of 57.950 tons and damaged 19 others totaling 254-.500 tons. The group had lost 36 pilots, 30670 of the original complementg it had lost 27 aircrewmen, 2770 of the original complement. it had flown 3,971 combat sorties against the enemy. Customs inspection was briefg there had been little for- eign trade on this cruise, except in bombs and bullets. The last airman was off the ship by dark and all hands looked forward sleeplessly to the morrow. Early in the morning tugs were moving the Franklin to the navy' yard. It was hard to warp the huge ship into the drydock. with the wind and tide whipping her out of posi- tion and it was late in the afternoon when she rested on the blocks of Drydock 5. L55 f ffjflkfjll ill llr-yrlmk Iwi ff, lirr'mf'rfnrz Nam' Yurrl, for repairs. The USS Bunker Hill Kon the riglifyl reeefiies repairs also

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WX, Jjfl STANDINCZEIZS. Barney Talbott, Lt. E. V. Osborne, Ens. C. Higgins, Erzs. Bill Dorie, Erts. f. M. Robbins, Lt. foe Maguire, Ens. Tom Lawton, Lt. lijgl Dick Huxford. SECOND ROW: Ens. Bob Hungerford, Enfs. fim Carpenter: EUS- J. Kehoe, Ears. John McKinney, Lt. fjgl foe Stilwill, Lt. Jim Pope, Lt. Cdr. W. ccllulcen Slater. FIRST RGW: Lt. Real Harris, Lt. Knute Weidman, Utllauclf? Lt. fjgj Bill Parsons 'cMable,v cCSaxy Dowell young men whose most frequent appearances for months had HUHCIG 10677 himself, with his Clroll advertisement of a been on the flight deck or over enemy targets, assisted by too-well-known brand of tinned meat. his humorous chat- funloving Saxie Dowell, brought clown the house-a terg the Gray-Bass Trio -Lts. Bill Dorie, MOzzie Osborne. hangar deekful of cheering sailors. and Joe Maguire - sang an old favorite with new words: 'gl The llvllffflllli Ufflvers Experts ut every department, tlzese rnerz lzacl a lot to do witlz. getting tlzose flags przirllvfl on Big Berzfs zlvlaml sfrllrture

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Chief Milliken Gibbons and Chief Newman were heacl-bartenders at Ihre CPO7s party in Bremerton FRONT now, Lum' 'fu mfim : fohn Slrffeh lhilled in action 19 ,Uorcff ng Lt. fjga Ceorge Leilchg LL. Corndr. Paul Speerg fohn Forrnichellag Donald Price fzconndeil I9 Marehqg mrgfi How: farnes Kficlfg ,Charles Eder, jr.,' Unil- liarn Tyree f!ZL'ULlfLd6li I9 ,i' 1 larch 1 g Kich- ard lfflllflg lfoiioncl Dafzmian l.lil'iiPfi in acrlion I9 Mczrchijg joseph Lrzjerfy fllfounrieci 19 SIIIIIYJI I Chief Otis Lee Corhefl QVIVI-fi! gIc1ss3 tells anwofher mil one