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Fifth ship of the Essex-class CVs. Fifth ship named for Benjamin Franklin…
The date – 19 March 1945. Area of operations – fifty miles off the coast of Japan. Flight ops have been underway since before dawn, beginning with a strike against Honshu and another against shipping in Kobe harbor. On the flight deck, aircraft of CVG-5 are being turned around, serviced and armed for another launch and strike; in the ready rooms, the crews are briefing…
It never takes much — it happens so fast, in the blink of an eye the world turns upside down…
Out of the low-hanging scud-layer a single Japanese aircraft suddenly appears and drops two armor-piercing bombs on the laden flightdeck….
Blink.
Mayhem erupts. A proud ship is mortally wounded, her crew decimated…
Blink
Severed AVGAS lines pour fuel into fires fed from broken aircraft and exploding ordnance on the flightdeck generating rivers of fire…
Blink
Secondary explosions from deep within the ship begin to tear it apart. Fire has spread to the second and third deck. CIC has been knocked out and all communications lost. The ship assumes a 13 degree list as her boilers go off line and fifty miles off the coast of Japan, the USS Franklin goes DIW…
Blink
Yet in the darkest hour of despair heroes emerge. The light cruiser Santa Fe rushes alongside to aid in rescuing crewmembers and fighting the fires, despite the continuing detonations…
Blink
On board Franklin 803 officers and men of ship’s company, flag staff, embarked Marines and CVG-5 and her squadrons are dead. Many are grievously burned and wounded. They fought to save their ship. Some fought to save others souls.
Lieutenant Commander Joseph T. O’Callahan, ChC (SJ) USNR, the ship’s Roman Catholic chaplain –
“… a soul-stirring sight. He seemed to be everywhere, giving Extreme Unction to the dead and dying, urging the men on and himself handling hoses, jettisoning ammunition and doing everything he could to help save our ship. He was so conspicuous not only because of the cross daubed with paint across his helmet but because of his seemingly detached air as he went from place to place with head slightly bowed as if in meditation or prayer.” – CDR Joe Taylor, XO
Awarded the Medal of Honor…
Blink
Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Donald A. Gary led some 300 of his shipmates to safety. He later organized and led fire-fighting parties to battle the blazing inferno on the hangar deck, and entered number three fireroom to raise steam in one boiler, braving extreme hazards in so doing.
Awarded the Medal of Honor…
Blink
Saving a ship is brutally hard and physically and mentally debilitating…but its your ship and with your shipmates and sailors from your battle group you begin to prevail…
Blink
Eventually the fires are out, the list righted, the plant back online and making steam and you begin the long, long journey home to repair your wounds…
Blink
The skyline of Manhattan hoves into view as you make your way to the Brooklyn shipyard and enter drydock…
… bent, broken, bloodied – but unbowed…
… You remember your fallen…
… and then turn to rebuilding for there still is a war on…
… and reborn, you rejoin the fleet.
Blink
The USS Franklin was the most heavily damaged carrier of any action in WW2 – that she survived is testimony to the bravery, determination and damage control skills of her crew. One hundred six officers and 604 enlisted were all that remained to save the ship – the rest were killed or wounded. In the blink of an eye – will it be another aircraft delivering a bomb? A cruise missile? An anti-ship ballistic missile – or an explosive packed boat driven by a suicidal bomber? Maybe a mine — are you ready? Do you “game” your GQ and damage control drills? Do the minimum to get by? Think a 2 hour battle problem is “hard”? Doesn’t have to come from enemy fire — just ask the crews of the
Forrestal
Enterprise
Oriskany
Belknap
How ’bout it DivO? Chief? LPO? Are you ready?
11 Responses to “The Crucible: USS Franklin – 19 March 1945”
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Only two people survived from the Franklin’s hangar deck.
Time Magazine described the hellish scene this way:
On the hangar deck, now a roaring furnace, pilots blundered into still-whirling plane propellers, climbed frantically up the folded wings. Later some were found hanging like black, charred monkeys, caught in the overhead structure. The sailors lined up for breakfast died with empty bellies.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:50 pmSteeljaw,
Great post. I was hoping someone would mention Franklin today. Fr O’Callahan was later a professor at my Alma Mater (Holy Cross), and the citation for his Medal of Honor was something I stopped to read almost every day for four years.
Wonder how the “reduced manning initiative” to cut operating costs would have affected Big Ben, or Bunker Hill, or San Francisco, or Forrestal, or Enterprise, or Oriskany, or Belknap, or…..
URR
March 19th, 2009 at 7:10 pmPertinent Damage Report here…
The design, which protected the ship below the hangar deck passed the test:
Although the armored hangar deck (two courses of 1-1/4-inch STS from frame 26 to frame 166) was ruptured in four places and extensively scarred and warped, it was very effective in protecting spaces below from serious damage.
That damage below the armored hangar deck was comparatively minor is directly attributable to the effectiveness of its armored portion, two courses of 1-1/4-inch STS, plug-welded together, between frames 26 and 166. The shielding effect of the ggmor was a principal factor in the survival of the ship.
And, it must be remembered, that the considerable damage she suffered on 19 March was mostly attributable to the effects of her own ordnance once fire found it:
In the action of 19 March there were considerably fewer planes on board with a correspondingly smaller total amount of gasoline in fuel tanks to feed the fire. The after gasoline system which was in operation at the time of the hits contributed somewhat to the intensity and scope of the fire by the amount of gasoline in lines above the hangar deck level, some or all of which drained out into the hangar via damaged filling lines. It is to be noted that no part of the gasoline system below the hangar deck level was involved in the fire. The significant difference between circumstances on 19 March and those of 30 October was in the amount of heavy ammunition loaded on the planes. In the earlier action only small caliber ammunition was involved; in the later action the flight and hangar decks were veritable arsenals. It is believed that, except for the ammunition involved, the fire of 19 March could have been brought under control and extinguished promptly.
A lesson that is being ignored by those suggesting that WARships can be built to Level I survivability standards or less.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:34 pmWonder how the “reduced manning initiative” to cut operating costs would have affected Big Ben, or Bunker Hill, or San Francisco, or Forrestal, or Enterprise, or Oriskany, or Belknap, or…..
Or if a T-AKE can deliver the goods like the USS Alchiba could even when grievously wounded…
March 19th, 2009 at 11:30 pmIn that pic above, the Alchiba had been torpedoed a second time been beached while her crew simultaneously continued to offload supplies to the Marines, and fight the torpedo damage. She was torpedoed a second time 9 days later…
6. ALCHIBA undoubtedly would have sunk after the first torpedo struck had she not been quickly beached. Fully laden and open for the discharge of cargo she was very vulnerable to both flooding and fire. The remarkably persistent and skillful efforts of her entire crew not only saved her but also most of her cargo, sorely needed at that time.
The history of ALCHIBA, from the time she was torpedoed on
28 November 1942 until she was placed back in service on
7 August 1943, is marked by the inflexible determination
of her personnel. This factor is the key to her ultimate
survival and return to service.
Could the same be expected of an “optimally” numbered crew aboard a “Cushy Ride”, more accustomed to a peacetime Corporate environment:
“This is basically a merchant ship – we don’t shoot at anything…You put in your hours and you get paid for it, and that’s that.”…?
March 19th, 2009 at 11:55 pmCorrection to above comment…The pic was almost certainly taken after the Alchiba had been beached, but before her second torpedo hit.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:12 amWhat a story! Thanks.
Gotta wonder though. Could this story of America take place this century?
b2
March 20th, 2009 at 12:47 pmA friend showed me your website… my father was on the Santa Fe, and has shared the experience with me and my children. And, even though I know the story,it is tremendously inspiring to see your father’s ship on the internet, involved in this action, and to know the work and courage displayed by the members of the U.S Navy. God Bless you all for your work and dedication in the protection of our country and for the protection of those in need all around the world. Mike Veseling
March 21st, 2009 at 7:24 pmTo Michael Vessing;,my late uncle served aboard the Satna Fe also. His name was Dave Wilson. Unfortunatly he died when I was very young and I never learned much about his service. The story of the Franklin is inspiring. John M.
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:39 pmTo :John McDonald; I will check with my Father and see if he by chance remembers your uncle…I agree… some incredibly inspiring stories of ture American heroes. Mike V.
April 11th, 2009 at 10:58 pm[...] launch and strike; in the ready rooms, the crews are briefing… It never takes much — it happens click for more var gaJsHost = ((”https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : [...]
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