The fifth 'USS ''Franklin'' (CV-13)' (also 'CVA-13', 'CVS-13', and 'AVT-8'), nicknamed "Big Ben", was an
''Essex''-class aircraft carrier of the
United States Navy. The name bestowed on America's thirteenth aircraft carrier in World War II was christened for the legacy of the four previous U.S. Navy ships to honor founding father
Benjamin Franklin. (The ''Franklin'' was not named after the Civil War battle in Tennessee as is sometimes reported. Reference ''Naval Historical Center'', Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.) CV-13 was notable as the hardest-hit carrier to survive
World War II. Actual attacks on the ship are depicted in the 1949 film ''"Task Force"'' starring
Gary Cooper.
Launch and Commissioning; Initial Cruise
She was laid down on
7 December 1942 and launched by
Newport News Shipbuilding,
Newport News, Virginia, on
14 October 1943, sponsored by
Lieutenant Commander Mildred H. McAfee,
USNR, Director of the
WAVES, and
commissioned on
31 January 1944, with
Captain James M. Shoemaker in command. Among the
plankowners was a ship's band made up of drafted and enlisted professional musicians of the era, including
Saxie Dowell and
Deane Kincaide, assigned to Shoemaker by lottery.
''Franklin'' cruised to
Trinidad for shakedown and soon thereafter departed in
Task Group 27.7 (TG 27.7) for
San Diego to engage in intensive training exercises preliminary to combat duty. In June she sailed via
Pearl Harbor for
Eniwetok where she joined TG 58.2.
Operations in the Bonins and the Marianas
On the last day of June 1944 she sortied for carrier strikes on the
Bonins in support of the subsequent
Marianas assault. Her planes scored well against aircraft on the ground and in the air as well as against gun installations, airfield and enemy shipping. On
4 July strikes were launched against
Iwo Jima,
Chichi Jima and
Ha Ha Jima with her planes battering the land, sinking a large cargo vessel in the harbor and setting three smaller ships on fire.
On
6 July she began strikes on
Guam and
Rota to soften up for the invasion forces, and continued until the 21st when she lent direct support to enable safe landing of the first assault waves. Two days of replenishment at
Saipan permitted her to steam in
Task Force 58 (TF 58) for photographic reconnaissance and air strikes against the islands of the
Palau group. Her planes effected their mission on the 25th and 26th, exacting a heavy toll in enemy planes, ground installations, and shipping. She departed on
28 July en route to Saipan and the following day shifted to TG 58.1.
Although high seas prevented taking on needed
bombs and
rockets, ''Franklin'' steamed for another raid against the Bonins.
4 August bode well, for her fighters launched against Chichi Jima and her dive bombers and torpedo planes against a
convoy north of
Ototo Jima were very effective against the
radio stations,
seaplane base,
airstrips and ships.
A period of upkeep and recreation from
9 August to
28 August ensued at Eniwetok before she departed in company with carriers
''Enterprise'' (CV-6),
''Belleau Wood'' (CVL-24) and
''San Jacinto'' (CVL-30) for neutralization and diversionary attacks against the Bonins. From
31 August to
2 September spirited and productive strikes from ''Franklin'' inflicted much ground damage, sank two cargo ships, bagged numerous enemy planes in flight, and accomplished photographic survey.
Support of Peleliu Operations
On
4 September she onloaded supplies at Saipan and steamed in TG 38.1 for an attack against
Yap (
3 September–
6 September) which included direct air coverage of the
Peleliu invasion on the 15th. The group took on supplies at
Manus Island from
September 21–
25 September.
''Franklin'', now
flagship of TG 38.4, returned to the Palau area where she launched daily patrols and
night fighters. On
9 October she rendezvoused with carrier groups cooperating in air strikes in support of the coming occupation of
Leyte. At twilight on the 13th, the task group came under attack by four
bombers and ''Franklin'' twice was narrowly missed by
torpedoes. An enemy plane, a harbinger of the coming
kamikaze campaign, crashed ''Franklin''
's deck abaft the
island structure, slid across the deck and into the water on her starboard beam.
Support of Leyte Operations
Early on the 14th a fighter sweep was made against
Aparri,
Luzon, following which she steamed to the east of Luzon to neutralize installations to the least prior to
invasion landings on Leyte. On the 16th she was attacked by three enemy planes, one of which scored with a bomb that hit the after outboard corner of the deck edge
elevator, killing 3 and wounding 22. The tenacious carrier continued her daily operations hitting hard at
Manila Bay on
19 October when her planes sank a number of ships, damaged many, destroyed a
floating drydock, and bagged 11 planes.
During the initial landings on
Leyte (
20 October) her aircraft hit surrounding airstrips, and launched search patrols in anticipation of the approach of a reported enemy attack force. On the morning of
24 October, in the
Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, her planes formed part of the waves that attacked the
Japanese First Raiding Force (Vice Admiral
Takeo Kurita), in so doing helping to sink
Japanese battleship ''Musashi'' south of Luzon, and damage battleships
''Fusō'' and
''Yamashiro'', and sink destroyer
''Wakaba''. As further enemy threats seemed to materialize in another quarter, ''Franklin'', with TGs 38.4, 38.3, and 38.2 sped to intercept the advancing Japanese carrier force and attack at dawn. The distant carrier force was actually a sacrificial feint, as by that time the Japanese were almost out of serviceable airplanes and even more importantly, very short on trained pilots, but the admiral in charge,
William Halsey, took the bait and steamed furiously off after them without communicating his intentions clearly, leading to the infamous
the world wonders communications debacle. ''Franklin's'' strike groups combined with those from the other carriers on
25 October in the
Battle off Cape Engaño to damage the carrier
''Chiyoda'' (she would be sunk by American cruiser gunfire subsequently) and sink the small carrier
''Zuihō''.
Retiring in her task group to refuel, she returned to the Leyte action on
27 October, her planes concentrating on a
heavy cruiser and two destroyers south of
Mindoro. She was underway about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) off
Samar on
30 October when enemy bombers appeared bent on a suicide mission. Three doggedly pursued ''Franklin'', the first plummeting off her starboard side, the second hitting the
flight deck and crashing through to the
gallery deck, showering destruction, killing 56 and wounding 60; the third discharging another near miss at Franklin before diving into the flight deck of the ''Belleau Wood''.
Both carriers retired to
Ulithi for temporary repairs and ''Franklin'' proceeded to
Puget Sound Navy Yard arriving
28 November 1944 for battle damage repairs. In the meantime, on
7 November, Captain
Leslie H. Gehres had relieved Shoemaker as commander.
She departed
Bremerton on
2 February 1945 and after training exercises and pilot qualification joined TG 58.2 for strikes on the
Japanese homeland in support of the
Okinawa landings. On
15 March she rendezvoused with TF 58 units and 3 days later launched sweeps and strikes against
Kagoshima and
Izumi on southern
Kyūshū.
==The Attack of
19 March 1945==
Before dawn on
19 March 1945, ''Franklin'', which had maneuvered to within 50 miles of the Japanese mainland, closer than had any other U.S. carrier during the war, launched a fighter sweep against
Honshū and later a strike against shipping in
Kobe Harbor. Suddenly, a single aircraft - possibly a
Yokosuka D4Y ("Judy")
dive bomber, though other accounts suggest an
Aichi D3A ("Val"), also a
dive bomber, pierced the cloud cover and made a low level run on the ship to drop two semi-armor-piercing bombs. The damage analysis came to the conclusion that the bombs were 250 kg/550 lb., though neither the "Val" nor "Judy" had the attachment points to carry two such weapons, nor did the Japanese single engine
torpedo bombers in horizontal bomber mode. (The accounts also differ as to whether the attacking aircraft escaped or was shot down.) In any case, one bomb struck the flight deck centerline, penetrating to the
hangar deck, effecting destruction and igniting fires through the second and third decks, and knocking out the
Combat Information Center and
airplot. The second hit aft, tearing through two decks and fanning fires which triggered ammunition, bombs and rockets.
''Franklin'' lay dead in the water, took a 13° starboard list, lost all radio communications, and broiled under the heat from enveloping fires. Many of the crew were blown overboard, driven off by fire, killed or wounded, but the hundreds of officers and enlisted who voluntarily remained saved their ship through sheer valor and tenacity. The casualties totaled 724 killed and 265 wounded, and would have far exceeded this number except for the heroic work of many survivors. Among these were
Medal of Honor recipients Lieutenant Commander
Joseph T. O'Callahan,
S.J., USNR, the ship's
chaplain, who administered the last rites, organized and directed firefighting and rescue parties, and led men below to wet down magazines that threatened to explode, and
Lieutenant (junior grade) Donald A. Gary who discovered 300 men trapped in a blackened mess compartment and, finding an exit, returned repeatedly to lead groups to safety. Gary later organized and led fire-fighting parties to battle fires on the hangar deck and entered number three fireroom to raise steam in one boiler, braving extreme hazards in so doing.
''Santa Fe'' (CL-60) similarly rendered vital assistance in rescuing crewmen from the sea and closing ''Franklin'' to take off the numerous wounded and nonessential personnel.
Return to the United States for Repairs
''Franklin'' was taken in tow by
''Pittsburgh'' (CA-72) until she managed to churn up speed to 14 knots (26 km/h) and proceed to Ulithi and then to Pearl Harbor where a cleanup job permitted her to sail under her own power to the
Brooklyn Navy Yard, arriving on
28 April.
Upon the ship's arrival, a brewing controversy over the crew's conduct during the ship's struggles finally came to a head; Captain Gehres had accused many of those who had left the ship on
19 March of
desertion, even those who had jumped into the water to escape certain death by fire, or had been led to believe that "abandon ship" had been ordered. While en route from Ulithi, Gehres had proclaimed 704 of the crew to be members of the "Big Ben 704 Club" for having stayed with the stricken ship, but investigators in New York discovered that only about 400 were actually on the ''Franklin'' continuously, the others having been brought back before and during the stop at Ulithi. All charges were quietly dropped.
Despite severe damage, she had been successfully restored to good condition.
The story of the vessel's near-destruction and salvage was chronicled in the wartime documentary
Saga of the Franklin.
Post-War Status
Following the end of the war, ''Franklin'' was opened to the public for
Navy Day celebrations. On
17 February 1947, she was placed out of commission at
Bayonne, New Jersey.
While Franklin lay mothballed at Bayonne she was redesignated to an attack aircraft carrier 'CVA-13' on
1 October 1952, to an antisubmarine warfare support carrier 'CVS-13' on
8 August 1953 and, ultimately, to an aircraft transport 'AVT-8' on
15 May 1959. In the end the ship never went to sea again and was struck from the
Naval Vessel Register on
1 October 1964. She and her sister
USS Bunker Hill, which also had sustained severe damage from aerial attack, were the only carriers in their class that saw no active-duty postwar service though their wartime damage had been successfully repaired.
Although the Navy initially sold the ship to Peck Iron and Metal Company,
Portsmouth, Virginia, it re-possessed her due to an urgent Bureau of Ships requirement for the use of her four
turbo-generators. Ultimately, however, she was sold, for scrapping, to Portsmouth Salvage Company,
Chesapeake, Virginia, on
27 July 1966. She departed naval custody under tow (Red Star Towing Company) on the evening of
1 August 1966.
''Franklin'' received four
battle stars for
World War II service.
See also
★
USS ''Franklin'' for other ships of the same name.
★
List of aircraft carriers
★
List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
★
List of World War II ships
References
★
Steve Jackson, ''Lucky Lady: The World War II Heroics of the USS ''Santa Fe'' and ''Franklin (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003) ISBN 0-7867-1061-6
★
Joseph A Springer, ''INFERNO: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II (Zenith Press, 2007) ISBN 978-0-7603-2982-6
★
External links
★
history.navy.mil: USS ''Franklin''
★
navsource.org: USS ''Franklin''
★
USS ''Franklin'' website
★
USS ''Franklin'' Kamikaze War Damage Report
★
IMDB link to 'Task Force'
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