Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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her lirsl lieavy strike. Astern was the light carrier Hatmin, ahead was the San JaririJo. At 7:0S came a radio message from the Hancock: Enemy plane closing on you from ahead . . . ' (.aptaJM (ichres (|uickly asked (!1C on the interphone if ihey liad coiilacl uith the enemy plane. The answer was negative. They had heen searching for a Jap just reported luelve miles away, near another task group, in addition to their regular search. It was later believed thai the enemy plane ahead had heen mistakenly identified as friendly on all radars in the formation; the Hancock had spotted it vis- ually as it Hashed into a cloud. The captain alerted all lookouts and gun control stations, cautioning them to heed particularly the sector ahead where a bank of clouds floated two thousand feet in the air and a thousand yards away from the shi|). The watch on the bridge iloubled its vigilance. Comdr. Hale, the Air Officer, had just received a report from Lt. Stalcup on the hangar deck: Everything is ready to go here. and Lt. Fred Harris, the Flight Deck Officer, was winding up the seventh plane of the launch as the Jap- anese, a twin-engined Judy, hurtled from the clouds on a low, level, bombing run. The attack developed so suddenly that even the alerted watchers on the bridge did not see the j)lane as it flashed in, though the forward twin five-inch mounts ami a forty quad on the island took it under fire belatedly. Comdr. Jurika, the navigator, saw two bombs spin down, as the Jap — hardly fifty feet above the deck — pulled u[) and climbed away. He was shot down a few moments later by Comdr. Parker, leader of Air Group Five. Tlie first bomb that struck, a 500-pound armor-piercer, exploded on the hangar deck at frame 7.5 and blasted a great hole in the . ' -inch armor plate, setting fire to the gassed and armed planes. The second bomb struck aft, crashing through two decks and exjjloding on the third, near the chief |)etty officer ' s quarters. The Helldiver just taking off was blown over on its back; its pilot climbed 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 fiom the heavily armed planes aft. Pilots, aircrewmen. plane caj)tains. were scrambling wild- i«yiW»iWli» |i | »» lH» i t i ,. I , 1 K ■ Sixty miles jroni Japan

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and his staff, and Captain Arnold Isbel, who was to com- mand the carrier Yorklown. Admiral Began would relieve the veteran Admiral Davison sometime after the next operation. As the harbor dropped from sight behind the warships, the captain announced: We are sailing northward, a part of Task Force Fifty-Eight, bound to strike the home islands of the Japanese Empire for the first time! Four powerful task groups rendezvoused at sunset March 15lh. 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. streamHned 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 the Fleet that came to stay. 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 snoopers were hunted at night by Grumnians 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 Ben ' s ■ 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 life guard 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 planes — a search made difficult 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 Bogan ' s staff. In CIC, throughout the day, there was tense action as inston. Fleming, and Jim Griswold, the ship ' s 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 Ben ' s men were at battle stations until nearly midnight. The respite was short. Just before 1 :00 a.m. Torpedo Defense 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 — Tiny Tims — 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. Dick Angeli. was busy checking the lists of pilots and planes designated for the sweep. At 6:45 Big Ben turned northeast into the wind and came up to 21 knots to launch the first heavy strike of the day; at 6:55 the launch commenced. The Hanwck. a thousand yards away, was also launching

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ABOVE: Flaming rivers of gasoline pour over th hangar deck, trapping men ail . ■ . below: Firefighters duch. as an- other big explosion goes up . . . The flying airplane engine narrowly missed the captain when it fell