Hancock (CV 19) - Naval Cruise Book

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date-the Kamikaze. Heavy ships could take the blows and come out dam- aged but not out of action, the lighter ships were generally forced to with- draw after suffering damage from these attacks. Following astern of the Franklin, nicknamed Big Ben , the l-lannah sortied Ulithi on March l4th as a unit of Task Force 58.2 of the Fifth Fleet. lwo Jima fell to the Marines on the l6th of .March. The first strike came four days later when the fast carriers launched air attacks against Kyushu, southern- most of the main home islands, repeating the attacks on the l9th, hitting the naval base at Kobe. The carrier force was under attack throughout the second day, commencing with a disastrous hit at 0706 on the carrier Franklin as she was launching planes. The enemy 'plane was shot down by her Group Commander but the damage had been done. The entire flight deck was transformed into a burn- ing, exploding mass of planes and bombs as the heat detonated incendiaries and gasoline in the deckload of planes. The Hannah assumed the formation guide as the battered Franklin pulled out of formation, fighting for her life. Dead in the water at times, she drifted Sweating Out Returning Strikes H

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Sunset at Sea as Carriers Retwe Bcwges and Gigs for C on ference

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I nto the Wind slowly toward the enemy islands, her crew battling courageously to save her. Before she managed to stave off the doom which at times seemed inevitable, she had a casualty list of over l,OOO men. Reinforcernents were received at lO25 when the big Enterprise and her escort, the cruiser Flint, joined the fray. CAP kept a vigil through the night, knock- ing out stalkers as they sought to drop flares in the blackened ranks of Task Force 58. Destroyers scurrying here and there as messenger boys used up fuel at a prodigious rate and were forced to refuel from their big sisters many times between regular fueling trips to the big tankers which followed all operations. This practice cost the destroyer Halsey Powell dearly during a topping off operation on the afternoon of the 2Oth. Proceeding at normal speed the Halsey Powell came along the starboard side of the l-lannah to take a drink , in the parlance of the TBS ltalk between shipsl. Soon fuel lines were pulsing to the rhythm of high speed pumps pouring the thick black life- giving fluid to thirsty tanks as the destroyer nuzzled like a puppy to a grey- hound brach. An hour, and several thousand barrels later, the General Alarm sent men hurrying to torpedo defense and battle stations under the renewed threat of air attack.