Franklin (CV 13) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 14 text:

BIG BEN THE FLAT TOP . . . I stood on the clock and set down my seabag. Then I pushecl my hat back on my head and just looked. There she was . . . my ship. No name, no planes, no bridge, no guns. just a great, big hull- the biggest hunk of steel fd ever seen in my life. It looked like a floating table top. On that I was going off to fight a war . . . N

Page 13 text:

W. ,L ,'f?: ., .aff-:gin F -i The Franklin is launched THE FRANKLIN lllARSlIAI.L D. BAnNE'r'r Hungry for the oeeanls surge, for white plumes across her how: Thirsting for a draught of oil, to snort, to roll, to plowg Longing for the touch of men, someone to pull her hook- lnoking for the enemyg the rleyils are in her hook' 7 5 Grim missionary of Peace. hut she is mighty full of hghtg Sent out with tender touches, to set the worlrl ariehtg 1,1 She flU6Sll-t lwelieye in luc-lc or omens: she is on Coclis Side of this war: She mothers recl-blooclecl Americans who know what they're lighting for' Sheis ready to die tomorrow, if dying she can turn the tideg That men may live once more, where harmonious love abidesg We salute you, proud warrior of steel, with Mizpah we say aclieu: Our eyes will he on your actionsg our prayers will he for your crew. l.I.l'IIfI'llflIlf fjuninr grfnlrjj fllflrsfrflll ll. Hurllwll, U. S. N. R., of linlnliing .Squurlrnn Till-ffI'I'Il,, was killf-11 in, rzrlion ill Ur-lnfwr, l'!l'l. ulrilr' his Sflll-lllIl'I'll'If Inns rlflrlwkirzg ilu' fllflflllfil' S'f'mf1rl l'ilr'f'l in f!l1'SIIlII, Sen. Vlzilfppinr' Islfznfls. , t. ,,,.w, M- 9 vs fn Q P tv HS in 1 1 lil r 'Q .7 FJ .1 J! i n ar E tif F5 ,za 1 n a T' 3 4 s 'I nf, ue 6 ill! ,., Q1 .... , 3 ,ny .41- Q.-4 0' L., ,If .1 ...i bl 4 ,... lim ill: F5 :::t l ' ,. 4.2. S321 ,.,. L.: lr' Huy !'f l. t ,. .. L. D., .fi Q a .wi 4 Q., ,.., i L ar ,, ,ua lr' ,ni .- ,U 4 l a--l 3--1 :lit :IJ r u o u l v. .n. n.. 3 . --1 Us iii .M .., .., - Ti 32.1 I. + n W ,,. ... f... ..,, .L lv ..., . in N- uf np. ... in an ,4- nu ... in. n. 1.. ll i xv 4 4 L 9 -.- ll: ..- 4 Ii. li nt :zo lf I' lr 1: I' 'VI ga F4 ! me 5 A A

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CHAPTER ONE BIG BBN IS BORN ON DECEMBER TTH, 19-12, the first anniversary of the stupid and infamous aggression which plunged the United States into global conflict, the keel was laid of the U. S. S. Frank- lin, an airplane carrier of the Essex Class, in a graving dock of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Com- pany, on the shores of the Atlantic, in Virginia. Most of the lads who one of these days would man the planes that would thunder across her deck into enemy skies or who would push her planeS, load her bombs, fire her guns, were still in school or working at home-though a handful of them, even now, were with a hardpressed fleet fighting for Guadalcanal, and others were off Africa, forging the steel noose which one day would throttle the men who ruled with horsewhips. But none dreamed that a ship was born that morning which they would sail and fight through one hundred and two thousand combat miles in five major Pacific campaigns, a ship whose warbirds would send scores of Japanese ships and hundreds of Japanese planes to destruction, a ship whose bombs would sink the mighty carrier Zuiho and a dozen other warships. This was to be the carrier on whose decks they would live through the thunder of exploding bombs with enemy planes crashing all about them, where they would fight and die to save her from a holocaust of fire. Four times they would suffer with her in battles where the Jap broke through and from the last battle seven hundred and four of them would sail her thirteen thousand miles and write into history the story of the most heavily damaged warship ever to reach port under her own power. Home from the very shores of Kyushu, shattered but un- daunted, eager to return and avenge her dead. These early days after the keel was laid knew not the noise of combat action, but they were far from peaceful as workmen and engineers toiled at top speed, under the sun and by the glare of electric lights at night, hastening the giant carrierls construction. It was not a simple task of providing a hull to support the eight hundred and eighty foot flight deck . . . almost as long as three regula- tion football fields. ln ten months she must be forged by master American craftsmen into almost a sentinent being, nearly 30,000 tons of warship. Her topmast would tower 150 feet above the water, the width of her beam would be 106 feet, the massive flight deck would rise 60 feet above the sea. Four engines would be installed, with the power of 150,000 horses, to thrust her through the water at any speed up to F12 knots with ease, and for days on end. There must be huge tanks for fresh water, for salt water, for fuel oil, for high-octane gasoline, lubricating oil- great generators not only to supply enough power to light a city but also to furnish that essential force to turn the guns, swing the rudder, raise the swift ten-ton elevators which hauled the planes from hangar deck to flight deck. This power would keep radio and radar alive, run the ven- tilators, spin the fans, hoist the fifteen-ton anchors and- what was also important-cook the meals in the great modern galleys. Thirteen quadruple mounts of 4-0 mm. machine guns would bristle from her gun galleries and island structure. Forty-six high speed 20 mm. machine guns would guard her flight deck and twelve five-inch rifles would add a lethal five-mile punch to her armament. So Big Ben was born, ten months prior to her launching on October 14-th, 1943, when Captain Mildred A. Mc- Afee, Director of the WAVES, splashed the traditional magnum of champagne against the massive bow and the dock was Hooded to lift her gently from the chocks until she floated in the sea. Now speed became ever more vital as the 2,500 officers and men who would compose her crew were being as- sembled from all over the fighting world, as well as from more peaceful, but sweating, training bases. A carrier-first and last-is a mobile base for her war- planes, her fighters, dive-bombers and torpedo planes. All the seemingly endless preparations, from the moment the first rivet was pounded into the keel, focused on the day when the planes could thunder off the flight deck to take the skies over an enemy target. Captain James M. Shoe- maker, U.S.N., a naval aviator, now designated to be Franklirfs first Commanding Officer, knew well his task and Big Ben's mission. Commander D. L. Day, also a naval aviator, would be Executive Officer, her first Air Officer, Commander Joe Taylor, had won the Navy Cross in New Guinea and had won it again as the flying commander of a torpedo plane squadron in the battle of the Coral Sea. Then, too, the 600-odd petty oflicers and chief petty oflicers who were to be the backbone of her crew began to assemble at the Receiving Station, Newport News, Va. in December, 1943-scarcely a year after her keel was laid. Practically every man of the 600 was a veteran of two years of historyls toughest naval war. One chief water- tender had helped bring the cruiser New Orleans out of a flaming Pacihc battle in which her bow had been blown