Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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+ 4 ' ' ' Hi i 1 £c 5e U est, a boy jroin Mississippi, was unc oj hundreds who had to swim in the iey water

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Footing becomes slippery on Bi Hen ' s listing flight deek jor men auailing their turn on fire hoses forty mm. quad forward, manned by a volunteer crew, and it could fire only under local control. A dozen twenty mm. machine guns on the forward port .side, commanded hy Lt. Jess Alhritton. Ens. Lightfoot, and boatswain ' s mate Fuller, completed the battery. Like Father O ' Callahan. who distinguished himself in the desperate actions on the Hight deck, where fire and ex- plosion reigned, Ll. Donald Gary, still trapped in the doomed messing compartment with those three hundred men, had a flash of inspiration. Nearly two hours they had been packed in, expecting every moment to be their last. A mem- ory flashed to him of a possible means of escape. Through the smoky murk, which the strongest light would not penetrate, stumbling over rockets and bombs, with an almost exhausted rescue breather, he began his search for the door to the air intake space leading up to the stack structure. He was accom])anied by machinists mate SnufTy Kram- er. Groping through intense heat, where the bulkheads burned through thick gloves, he soon located the entrance to the space surrounding one of the huge uptakes — smoke- stacks — leading up from the boilers, through which fresh air passed for the fires. By climbing painfully up five decks, then through a hole blasted in the uj)takes, the two men found light and air. By dropping down on the outside they could reach a gun platform and make their way forward to safety. But Lt. Donald Gary did not go forward to safety, or even to ask aid for the men trapped below. Knowing that momen- tarily the bonilis might explode and the men could not live much longer in the smoke, he descended alone into that hole, where a slip meant death, to bring his shipmates out. He refused to let Kramer, who was exhausted, accompany him. In his words: l broke my flashlight knocking on the com- partment door as a signal to the men inside. hen I ste|)i)ed through the door there was a look of hope and anxiety on each mans face that I shall never forget. All were oblivious to the sound of exploding ammunition, waiting for me to speak. I explained that I had found a way out and. although they would have to breathe some smoke, it wouldn ' t hurt them if they kept their heads and followed instructions. Slowly, painlullv. Lt. Garv guidetl the men to safety. Three tri|)s he made, each a little faster than the last, the knowledge of the bombs and rockets close to the flames. s|)urring his efTorts. Lt. Gary and Dr. Fuelling were the last to leave: the wo unded man had died. Today nearly three hundred men — almost half of those who brouaht Bis Ben

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back — thank Donald Gary and Doctor Fuelling for saving their lives. The list of the ship was now nearly sixteen degrees, Comdr. Jurika coolly recorded, as he maintained his post on the liridgf uilli the cajjtain. the odicer of the deck, Melvin Tappcn, ami tlie l ridge force. Lt. Comdr. Kramer, the coni- iiuinicalion olhcer, had a ])ortable radio operating on the flight deck, assisted by Technician Stone, Radio Electrician Modeen. and Lt. ( lose. Reports of radar warnings of enemy planes were coming in. Lt. Comdr. Robert Dowries Damage Control l)c|iartnient, thoiigli its ranks were shattered, fought fires, labored to keep pressure on the water mains by closing off ruptured branches. They were assisted by the engineers. All water for lire-fighting now came from a tiny diesel pump forward, which machinist ' s mate, Al Collins had started at his battle station and tended all morning. One of the Santa Fe ' s hoses, stretched to the Franklin, was ruptured by fragments of debris, thrown up in an explosion. ' ithout hesitation, sea- man George S. Smith crawled into the dangerous gap be- tween the great steel sides of the two warships and replaced the damaged section. The fight went on. At noon Captain Gehres conferred with the engineering officer. Lt. Comdr. Greene, and procured three additional rescue breathers from the Sania Fe. for an attempt to get back to the engineering spaces. Until this time it had been impossible, due to fires and smoke, but now the explosions were diminishing in violence and the hangar deck fires were being JirouHht under control. If the engineers could set the screws turning there might yet be hope for Big Ben — if the Japs didn ' t get her first. Nearly eight hundred men were on the Santa Fc by 12:. ' 50; hardly that many remained aboard the Franklin. Cajjtain Gehres ordered the cruiser to clear the side, but not before the Santa Fc had furnished invaluable aid to liig Hen by assisting in getting her under tow, using the powerful winches on the cruiser ' s foes ' ! to pull the line aboard from the J ' iltsliiir . Thirty sweating steward s mates and forty sailors, under Boatswain Frisbee. were hel])ing ( omdr. Tay- lor u ilh this operation. Hardly had the cruiser cleared the side than the long ex- pected Japanese attack came. Just before 1 :()() p.m. a Judy bomber sli|)|)ed past the combat air patrol and came in on a fast glide-in run. headed straight for Big Ben. Franklin ' s remaining guns fired desperately; the ships of the screen opened up their batteries. His bomb drop])ed. a big one, that exploded short on the starboard quarter. 200 yards away. The combat air patrol shot down that Jap in sight of the screen. The towing line was finally connected: Chief Carpenter Eddins and shipfitter Locke had cut loose one of Franklin ' s anchors with the last acetylene on the ship and ninety fathoms — 540 feet — of heavy chain was paid out to the Pittsburg with a two-inch steel hawser on the end. Shortly after 2:00 p.m. the I ' ittshuri!, succeeded in gell ' m Franklin underway and headed south, at three and one-half knots — at that rate Big Ben would be a landmark in Japanese waters for a week to come. But the engineers were working, under the direction of One III till- Iniuilrcds nj uinuidcil: Srnninn Jac I ' l ' nniniilan. in ihr Santa Fc . sickliay