Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

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Captain Shoemaker, left, sadly relinquishes command of Bii; Ben to Captain Gehres (at Microphon-e) Patrol Wing Four. V( itli service in tlie Navy since 1917. a naval aviator since 1927, he had climhed from enlisted rank to command by sheer ability. ' hen o|iportuniiity oflered lie cheerfully gave up his temporary rank of Commodore that he might command the Franklin, hardly a year old — the first skipper to rise from the ranks to the command of a firsl- line carrier. Captain Shoemaker had orders to proceed to the Philip pines whore he would command all aval . ir Bases in the liberated area.

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This was too big a job for the limited repair jacilities ui Ulithi The gunners who manned these badly scorched mounts fired to the last, as the Kamikaze flamed in

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On November 7th, on the battle-scarred hangar deck, in the gray light from Ulithi ' s cloudy sky, that filtered down through the bomb crater. Captain Shoemaker sadly relin- quished command of Big Ben, with a word of farewell to the men who had served with him, Captain Gehres, a tall, hand- some, powerfully-built man, of erect military bearing, ac- cepted his grave responsibility with modesty and determina- tion. The crew stood in ranks while the new commanding officer made his first inspection. Other battle-tired warships of Task Group 38.4 anchored in Ulithi during the next days. Battles for control of the Philippines sky still raged and two task groups were fighting 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 action in weeks. Franklin must go back to Pearl Harbor. Admiral Halsey. with officers of his stafi , visited Big Ben before she sailed. Men eagerly thronged the deck to glimpse this legendary warrior, in his crumpled khaki uniform, shirt open at the throat, with the four silver stars of a full Ad- miral on his cap. Comdr. Moore showed the Admiral over the torn decks for an hour, and talked of the ship. When Admiral Halsey departed he had the highest praise for the conduct of Franklin and her men. in battle and after. His autographed photograph inscribed : ' ' To Franklin and her splendid crew, became a ship ' s treasure. The night before Big Ben sailed for Pearl, sad news came from the fleet. The carrier Lexington, flagship, had been hit by a Kamikaze, which crashed on the bridge, kill- ing scores. The carrier. Intrepid, fighting off attack, was struck by another suicide plane that flamed into a row of machine guns and killed twenty-five of the men behind them Neither of the giant carriers were damaged seriously enough to come out of the line but crew replacements were urgently needed. Franklin would not be in combat for some time so Comdr. Moore must reluctantly pick three ofiicers and 103 men to reinforce them. It was a hard choice. Ens. ynn and Lt. Ijg) Mathieson, communicators, and Lt. Mike P ' inlay. photographic interpreter, with 103 men, were regretfully Captain Gehres, accompanied by (.nidr. Moore, the Exec inspects his veteran crew for the fi rsl t une