USS FRANKLIN (CV-13). Sure, we know the executive summary;
Before dawn on 19 March 1945 FRANKLIN who had maneuvered closer to the Japanese mainland than had any other U.S. carrier during the war, launched a fighter sweep against Honshu and later a strike against shipping in Kobe Harbor. Suddenly, a single enemy plane pierced the cloud cover and made a low level run on the gallant ship to drop two semi-armor piercing bombs. One 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.With each passing year, fewer and fewer of these men are with us.
FRANKLIN, within 50 miles of the Japanese mainland, 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 106 officers and 604 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 winners, Lt. Cmdr. 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 Lt. (j.g.) Donald Gary who discovered 300 men trapped in a blackened mess compartment, and finding an exit returned repeatedly to lead groups to safety. USS SANTA FE (CL 60) similarly rendered vital assistance in rescuing crewmen from the sea and closing FRANKLIN to take off the numerous wounded.
I'm stealing the rest from xformed.
The crew of the USS FRANKLIN (CV-13) will hold their 2010 reunion from the 18th to the 21st of March, in Branson, MO.
Specific location: Lodge of the Ozarks.
Special event: Memorial service morning of 19 March. This will be held on the 65th anniversary of the attack off the coast ofJapan.
Registration closes 1 March, 2010.
Contact for Questions:
Sam Rhodes 772-334-0366 or
Beth Conard Rowland (daughter of crewman) 740-524-0024 (please leave message)
That's a Fullbore reunion.
As he recommends - this is the book you need to read if you want to know more.
41 comments:
Life is full of coincidences. A week ago, a Catholic website I visit did a piece on Fr. O'Callahan in a series called great Jesuits. http://the-american-catholic.com/2010/02/21/great-jesuits-5-medal-of-honor/
A side note, Fr. O'Callahan's sister, Rose Marie was a nun doing missionary work in the Phillipines who ended up in a Japanese concentration camp for most of the war. She survived that ordeal and lived to a ripe old age of 96.
In April 2007, I took my family to DC on a spring break trip. One in the most 'lump in the throat' places to go is the National Archives. One of the last legible phrases to read on the Declaration of Indenpendence is 'Free and Independent', right there in bold, for all to see.
About 50' behind the Declaration of Independence, in a glass case, was the log book of USS Franklin CV 13. It was opened to March 19, 1945.
It's hard to describe in words what I felt reading actual events of that day. This was no book authored after the fact about the events of March 19, 1945. THIS WAS THE EVENT.
Please go there and read, experience, feel. That's fullbore herosim.
Finally, one time I was on the Franklins web site, and there was a post from a Navy sailor on another Essex class carrier. Some time in the early 60's - if memory serves.
He had to go on board the moored ship in New Jersey, quiet as a ghost, to get parts or something to use on the carrier he was on. He stated something to the effect that he felt he was on hallowed ground where so many men had died. Even then they clearly knew the history of this historic ship.
It's interesting to note that this ship was repaired to like new condition, but never used again. I believe Bunker Hill was also hit hard, with 400 KIA+ other casualties, also repaired, but never used again.
The USN has managed to attract a very unique and special kind of Chaplain... more than one MOH among them.
Where do you begin to fix it? I think here we need to pause and also think about the men who could and did repair such extensive damage. Will we keep such talent and ability in our arsenal in years going forward? Do we appreciate how important that is?
I have seen a color photo taken from a plane as FRANKLIN entered NY Harbor, and the flight deck is half rusted, twisted deck stringers. WWII CV crews were a very brave group of men. To not just go in harms way, but to go looking for it, in a ship filled with AV gas, and loaded with ordnance, that travels in a large, highly visible Task Force, took a lot of nerve. Yet there was never a shortage of crews for them. Whan MEN this country can produce, when the need arises.
I have read that the BUNKER HILL, even though she was repaired, was no longer used by the Navy, because they did not 100% trust the hanger deck, the strength deck on an ESSEX. Could that be why FRANKLIN also remained in reserve status?
<span>"Lt. (j.g.) Donald Gary who discovered 300 men trapped in a blackened mess compartment, and finding an exit returned repeatedly to lead groups to safety".... Wow. A huge feat... in normal circumstances let alone raging fire, listing and panic stricken crewmembers... </span>
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<span>Have to wonder why we didnt just unload and tow to safe waters to ensure crew were evacuated and scuttle her.. but then again national pride would dictate otherwise.</span>
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<span>Proves the point that we cannot take casualties like this as a Navy or a Nation again...and China watches</span>
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on the shoulders of giants we stand.
Given that he is the local representative of such men, and would most assureadly fix any such damaged ship today, and hand it back to the Fleet, I say, "Thank You, Byron. You and your Yard Bird brothers keep the Fleet at sea".
We probably didn't have anything to tow her with. When HOUSTONwas torpedoed, and BOSTON took her in tow, BOSTON overstressed her engines, and she wound up having to go back to the States in March 1945, for an overhaul. Towing a carrier might wind up with two damaged ships. I don't know the make up of the TF FRANKLIN was operating with, was there a Fast BB along?
PRINCETON, though, shows what you suggest about scuttling was always an option, when the risks of saving the ship were too great.
The War Damage Report is sobering reading...
Its interesting that the NAVSEA collection of those reports has been down for some weeks now...
Tim, I think it was because sailors come to love their ships and will fight to save them beyond all reasonable measures.
We try. Sometimes our worst enemy can be the customer, though. When I first started doing this stuff for a living I was seeing men die on a regular basis. TINS, for real. The worst was the one that was in a freshly painted steering gear room that had a flash fire/explosion. The paint inspector that caused the explosion was cooked, and it took him 3 months to die in horrible pain. It's a smell you don't forget. Had sprained ankles from the deck that ripped off the longs and trans below. Thankfully, good training and a realization that working safe keeps good people working and cuts down on workmens comp has fairly eliminated the bad parts. Best to not get complacent though, still lots of ways to have an early appointment with the Ferryman.
Byron,
Well-said. Because those ships are their homes, an extension of themselves. And those ships save THEM at times, beyond all reasonable measures. The lessons of surviving combat damage should echo throughout Navy shipbuilding.
I hate that smell. Sometimes, we Badgers get to the fire before the firemen. I remeber a house trailer fire, that involved a trailer made back in the late '60's early '70s that was made with urea foam insulation. FOOM! The only occupant was consumed by the fire, but you could still smell the cooked person smell.
No matter how many times I read about the Franklin and see pictures. I am truly, truly amazed what they went thru and survived. I count myself as lucky and proud to have worn the same uniform as these Sailors did. Bravo Zulu to the Franklin crew and you were Sailors to the true extent of the word.
well, the big question is can we do it now with crippled Nimitz in Chinese waters?
Since we're talking about damage control, I thought I'd bring this up. We were shooting the breeze today, and realized that we hadn't seen any smoke come from the fire fighting school in a LONG time. Have the Navy axed the Shipboard Firefighting School? If they did, then they are dumber than dirt. Back in the early 80's, the Navy asked the shipyards at Mayport if they'd be willing to send selected groups of yardbirds to the school. I volunteered, and I can tell you with complete sincerity that you have no farkin idea how bad it is till they open the door to that main space and a huge wall of flame comes rushing out at you. You have two choices, run like a biotch, or fight the damn fire. I fought the fire and gained a new appreciation for maintaining fire safety aboard ships.
Not sure which Firefighting School you're looking, but most have routed their exhausts through some type of filtration system so that they aren't polluting the surrounding area as before. Plus all the JP-5/DFM burning systems have been replaced with natural gas. The advantage is "more control" of the system, but the trainers don't burn as hot or with dark smoke. To compensate heat and smoke modification systems have been added, but they are <span>nothing</span> like a the old JP-5 trainers. I won't ever forget my day in that trainer!
With ya there Anon...When the natural gas trainers came on line for what we were told was environmental reasons (no smoke enhancement at first), we called it the "bar-b-que pit", and it was not nearly as "real."
Mayport Naval Station...and not too long ago, you'd see the smoke from NG virtually every day. And yes, JP-5 is UGLY. My second trip through on the work line, the damn nozzle man dropped his hose and bolted. Didn't flinch, kept sweeping, the instructor was soaking me down in a flash ;)
Before someone uses the brave story of the Franklin as a specious reason why modern ships need not be built for Survivability,,,because "modern weapons are too lethal," should note that the ship was hit by only one bomb (this case should not to be confused with other serious damage from a kamikaze attack some months previously).
What caused the carnage -only three men were known to have survived from the hangar deck- were the uncontrolled detonations and conflagration caused by her own bombs, aircraft fuel and missiles.
Has our good host done FbFs on ENGLAND and LAFFEY? Right proper DC on both ships.
Oops, that was the damage report from her kamikaze hit.
Here is the correct one...
When I was assigned to the Sylvania, we were required to go through DC/FF school annually. Byron is right about the feeling you get when the instructors have someone open that hatch. When I saw that in Boot Camp, I didn't want to go in, but it was my duty, so I went. That was the summer of '72. I saw it again in spring of '74 when I was on the Sylvania.
Anyway, when I was in boot camp, I saw the flick on the Franklin fire. I saw it again in '74 in DC/FF school. We also saw the Forrestal fire. Both were impressive. I hop they are both still required.
A litttle humor. I had read Dan Gallery's "Clear The Decks" while on the Courtney and remembered his story about going through DC/FF school while he was Captain of the Guadalcanal. There was a staff Commader going through the school in my class in DC/FF. Iasked him if he had read Gallery's book. He said he hadn't, and I recommended he do so. The instructors certainly did to him what their ancestors had done to Gallery.
I really hope the Navy hasn't softened on DC/FF schools. It would be the height of idiocy to do so. I have to say, hoever, the Navy hasn't shown much intelligence of late, and even less maturity.
Well, if you're thinking that end of combat ops might be sometime around 1947 or '48, it made sense to refit them both as ready replacements for the ones that would be lost in the upcoming planned nvasion of the Japanese homeland...
- SJS
Kind of like the Pentagon after 9/11 where, despite the industrial-sized cans of air "freshener" placed about, you could still smell the odor of burnt wood, fuel and other months afterward. I swear even when I make my occasional forays into the 5-sided wind tunnel today that I can still smell it and it immediately brings back that day.
- SJS
Byron,
They've gone to a new indoor trainer that uses computer controlled fires fuels by propane. The fire ain't out until the instructor puts it out. It's more enviro-friendly and a lot less dangerous to the trainees, but lacks the fear factor and realism of the old trainer.
That old trainer was a bitch, but very effective. You're right, it's run or fight the fire. And if the man on the applicator panicked and bolted, the nozzleman would get cooked.
They didn't abandon and scuttle her because tradition demanded that they save her. Living up to tradition is why the US and Royal Navies have been so victorious over the centuries. We are abandoning out traditions for the sake of political correctness and that does not bode well for the future.
All who have partaken in sending out this word: The lady who asked if I'd post it like I did 2 years ago is very greatful for the rest joining in. Also: If anyone plans to go....she said to llok her up, and she'll make a path for you to get a great experience. (Hint, hint, Maggie...)
Byron, you're so brave.
Philo?
Well, Mr. Guest, it was a choice of either keep the damn hose on the fire and keep the five people behind me on the work line semi-wet and the flames semi-beat back, or drop the nozzle and jump over a rail to about 20 feet below and hope the nozzle didn't beat the snot out of me.
So pock you, you sniping gutless piece of shit. I did what I had to do.
great point...
One of my earliest experiences as a commissioned officer was the fire fighting week at the start of DCA school at Treasure Island. It was one of the old JP-5 trainers and I'll never forget the experience of being the nozzleman fighting a fire in the "boiler room" mockup being pushed across the deck grating towards the fire as my classmates kept feeding hose into the space (while staying as close to the entrance as possible). Our instructors, who were all E-6 and E-7 shipfitters and damage controlmen, were quite frank in telling us that the purpose of the train was not so much to teach us proper firefighting techniques as it was to help us deal with our fear of fire.
For info, although BUNKER HILL never returned to full status it was moored at North Island for several years serving as an electronics test platform.
Yeah - I've seen a picture of her towed out of San Diego as the last Essex class still existing with an axial deck in 1974.
No question it was the right thing to do - move to an angle deck, but there is something impressive about seeing that original Essex configuration.
Made me wish we kept one in the original configuration.
She was still moored at North Island when I was an Ensign. For info, we plane-guarded HANCOCK, an ESSEX-class CVA, a couple of times during my first deployment.
Looking Franklin, one has to wonder how an optimally or minimally manned ship would have handled the situation. Ship numbers were a factor, too: Franklin wasn't the only CV operating there that day and they had lots of supporting ships.
Whatever the value of physical strength and endurance to each crewman's job prior to the ship being hit, they were essential and non-negotiable attributes thereafter, especially with 1/3rd of the crew KIA or wounded almost immediately. And they weren't starting with 20% of the crew being less strong than most of the rest.
Another lesson is that you can have totally defeated the enemy's navy and dominate his home waters and still have a major fight, with the prospect of suffering major damage, before you can finally finish him off.
Carries are vulnerable... single bomb could have done minimal damage to a cruiser and barely scratched a battleship. No matter how sophisticated defences, a lucky bomb or missile can go thru and ruin your day. Ponder.
Thank goodness we now have the LCS, a ship that could take on all four IOWAs, batter them into submission singlehandedly, and come through unscathed, thanks to her many sharp corners defraeting the IOWA's radar, and her impenatrable, unigniteable aluminum deckouse.
I will say this for the LCS, however. One has to admire her self comfidence, as when viewed from astern, she seems to be wearing a thong.
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