Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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.,fv.,,..- 1 N,- z hi-i lllsl lieavv stiike Xsteiu was the light earrici lffllrnrll. iilnxnl was thi- Nw: fi.wi11Ji'. Xt .itll iwune a radio niessage trout this lliuii-or-kg l nenu plane closing on you from .tl.i.til , . taptatn tQi-tires ipiivlxlv asked lillf on the iulerphone il' thu ti.i.l -'K1 ntavl with the enemy plane. 'llhe answer was in-e.itivi'. lihev had l-een seareliing for at Jap just reported tw.-lip nules awav. near tuiothcr task group. in addition to their ri-pillar si-arvii. lt was later lvelieved that the enemy plane ahead had liven mistakenly identilied as friendly on .ill radars in the liorniationg the I!lIl!l'Ul'A' had spotted it vis- xiallv .tr il llglslleil iltlo at elolltl. 'lihe iaptain alerted all lookouts and gun control stations, iantioning them lo heed particularly the sector ahead where ii l-tank of clouds lloated two thousand feet in the air and a thousand yards away from the ship. The watch on the hridge doul-led its vigilance. tioindr. Hale. the :Xir Ollicer. had just received a report tironi l.t. Stalcup on the hangar deck: Everything is ready to ga here. and Lt. Fred Harris. the Flight Deck Ullieer. was winding up the seventh plane of the launch as the lap- anese. a twin-engined Judy. hurtled from the clouds on a low, level. lionihing run. The attack developed so suddenly o A - that even the ali-rterl vvat1'lii-rsou thi- lrridpxe flirt not see the plane as it Iltlshi-d in. though the liorward twin live-inch mounts and a liorty quail on the island took it under fire lielatedly, lfonidr. Jnrika, the navigator, saw two lionihs spin down. as the ,lap hardly lilly feet ahove the deek-ee pulled up and elinllved away. Ili- was shot down a few moments later hy lioindr. l'arker. leader of Air Group Five. The lirsl hornh that struck, a Sllll-pound armor-piercer, exploded on the hangar deck at frame 75 and hlasted a great hole in the fl-inch arrnor plate. setting fire to the ,flassed and armed planes. The second lvomh struck aft, crashing: through two decks and exploding on the third. near the chief petty olliceris quarters, The Helldiver just taking off was hlown over on its haekg its pilot climhed out and made his way to the side. A column of black smoke poured from the forward eleva- tor well, and as Captain Gehres regained his feet from the explosions a huge Sheet of flame was erupting from the for- ward starboard edge of the hangar deck. Thinking the fire was forward, he quickly slowed speed to sixteen knots and turned to Starboard. This placed the wind on the port side, keeping the fire away from the heavily armed planes aft. Pilots, aircrewmen. plane captains. were scrambling wild- ' ,N 'wvidif ' .1 ,, 'pdfv-at '- .Sirly miilrns from Japan , o A' ' Cf.. .UH--an

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and his staff, and Captain Arnold Isbel, who was to corn- mand the carrier Yorktown. Admiral Bogan would relieve the veteran Admiral Davison sometime after the next operation. As the harbor dropped from sight behind the warships, the captain announced: NWe are sailing northward, a part of Task Force Fifty-Eight, bound to strike the home islands of the Japanese Empire for the first timelw Four powerful task groups rendezvoused at sunset March 15th, to become Task Force Fifty-Eight, of the dreaded Fifth Fleet, with Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher in command. The mission of the task force was to neutralize the air bases and shatter the supply ports of Kyushu and Honshu, main Jap- anese islands. Any remnants of the Japanese Navy were to be destroyed. On April 1st the United States Sixth Army and a Marine force would invade the beaches of Okinawa, with the Fifth Fleet covering them from the air. If the men of the Navy did their job, the men of the Army would be able to accomplish theirs. The most powerful armada of warships in history was an awe-inspiring sight as it steamed northward. Sea-air power incarnate, it was a force worthy of the proud battle colors streaming from every ship, a living symbol of the most pow- erful nation on earth. For 50 miles across the ocean stretched the task force, each group with four big carriers in the cen- ter, a screen of fast battleships and cruisers, circled by a score of destroyers. Each task group a combination of air and surface fire-power, born in war's crucible of far-flung Pacific distances, streamlined and modern as a jet plane. Overhead dozens of Hellcats and Corsairs circled, the com- bat patrol. For 100 miles in every direction the Helldivers scouted the ocean. Submarines posted over the sea would flash reports of any enemy motion beyond the aerial screen, hundreds of radars unceasingly scanned sea and sky, alert for the first enemy shadow. This was 'fthe Fleet that came to stayf' On March 17th, as the force neared Japan's coast in full battle order, exploding numerous drifting enemy mines as it proceeded, Nipponese search planes were encountered for the first time. The combat air patrol protected the force by day and 'fsnoopersn were hunted at night by Grummans from the carrier Independence - a night fighter flat-top. In dark- ness the fleet closed to 100 miles of the Empire and nearly an hour before dawn on the 18th the first twenty of Big Benfs warplanes were roaring down the flight deck, to join groups from all the other carriers. The targets were aircraft, air- fields, and hangars at Kagoshima and Izumi on Kyushu Is- land. Throughout the day strikes thundered into the north- east. Eighteen enemy planes were shot down in the air by fighters of Air Group Five alone and many more were de- stroyed on the ground. Hangars were destroyed, buildings and some small boats set ablaze. Four Corsairs were lost, three to enemy flak, one operationally. The pilot of one was rescued by the Hlife guarda' submarine, just offshore. The Japanese reacted violently. A dozen enemy planes were shot down almost within sight of Task Group 58.2. One plane plunged down vertically at the carrier Intrepid, miss- ing its target by feet. Pilots who witnessed the dive said the Jap must have started from 30,000 feet-five miles up. It was a day of continuous alarms, with men tense at battle station for many hours. The combat air patrol scoured the skies, chasing enemy planesefa search made difhcult by the cloudy, overcast weather, which favored the Jap, who was throwing in his planes singly. Often a plane pursued for miles would be discovered to be friendly. Big Ben, as flag- ship for the group, had aboard the Fighter Officer of Ad. miral Davison's Staff, Lt. Comdr. Francis L. Winston, a vet- eran of three years in the Pacific Theater. He was to be re- lieved by Lt. Howard Fleming, of Admiral Boganis staff. In CIC, throughout the day, there was tense action as Winston, Fleming, and Jim Griswold, the shipls fighter director, team- ed with the radarmen and plotting officers to direct dozens of interceptions. All of the alarms and dangers did not come from the air -during the afternoon a floating mine was passed at a dis- tance of about five hundred feet. It was exploded by gun- fire from Big Ben. At sunset, the Franklin-'s last plane landed aboard, but the task group next in line was under attack and Big Benls men were at battle stations until nearly midnight. The respite was short. Just before 1:00 a.m. 'fTorpedo Defensen on the bugle called all gun crews to their posts again. A Jap flew over the formation dropping flares, to be taken under fire by gunners of the battleship North Carolina. The Marine gun crew of Big Ben's battery hurled a few rounds after him as he fled. Shortly after 3:00 a.m. the piercing notes of General Quar- ters on the bugle brought all hands to battle stations. Two groups of enemy planes were on the screens, night fighters on their trail. Half an hour before dawn Franklin swung into the wind and launched 30 Corsairs armed with special heavy rockets- ccTiny Timsi' -to attack Japanese naval units-at Kure. Finally, at-dawn, with the radar screens clear some of the crew were secured from their battle stations at 6:10, a slightly modified condition of security being set by opening one hatch in the armored hangar deck so that men might have access to the mess halls for breakfast. Guns, however, were fully manned, men going below to eat in small groups and returning to their stations when finished. The distribu- tion of hot meals to battle stations on an operating carrier is a practical impossibility, although it had been possible to distribute sandwiches the night before. For twenty-four hours there had been almost continuous alerts, rearming and main- tenance crews had worked steadily all night long. Despite every effort to feed the crew, most of the men of the Air and Gunnery Departments had eaten only one hot meal since the 17th. Alerts sometimes lasted for days and lack of hot food was a serious handicap to efficiency, it was customary, when no enemy planes were known to be in striking distance, to secure from battle stations in this manner at mealtimes. On the hangar deck, lines of men were waiting for break- fast as Lt. Fred Stalcup's crews worked feverishly gassing and arming the next strike, scheduled for 7:00 a.m. The Air Operations Officer, Lt. 4'Dick,, Angell. was busy checking the lists of pilots and planes designated for the sweep. At 6:41-5 Big Ben turned northeast into the wind and came up to 24- knots to launch the first heavy strike of the day: at 6:55 the launch commenced. The Hancock, a thousand yards away, was also launching

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ABOVE: Flaming rivers of gasoline pour over the hangar deck, trapping men aft . . . BELOW: Firefighters duck, as an other big explosion goes up . . . The flying airplane engine narrowly missed the captain when it fell .1