This post, in three sections, comprises videos, photographs, and references pertaining to the saga of the USS Franklin on March 19, 1945. While I take for granted that there’s a vast amount of information – in a variety of informational formats – about the carrier’s history, I think these sources comprise a substantive core of information about the ship, its crew, and the legacy of both.
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Videos
Of the numerous videos about the Franklin, I think these five are the best in terms of visual quality, sound, attention to detail, and comprehensiveness.
“USS Franklin – Surviving a Comet Strike”
Drachinifel
34:24 – Narrated (3/15/23)
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Bombing of the USS Franklin Aircraft Carrier
Daryl Wunrow
7:47 – No sound (9/4/07)
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USS Franklin (1945)
British Pathé
3:44 – Narrated (4/13/14)
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The American Carrier U.S.S. Franklin – 1945 (19 March 2021)
British Movietone
4:02 – Narrated (3/19/21)
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How did U.S.S. Franklin Survive the Pacific Hell (World War 2 in Color / US Navy Documentary) 1945
The Best Film Archives
24:03 – Narrated (8/14/16)
(National Archives and Records Administration (9/18/47))
SS Franklin (CV-13) Burning, 03/19/1945
(United States Naval Photographic Center film #11125)
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Still Photos
Given that images of the Franklin abound – far too many to include in any one (or two, or three, or more…) post, I think these five best display what the ship and crew endured on March 19, 1945. Even granting that they’ve been published and / or pixelated previously, they’re still excellent photos, in terms of both straightforward visual impact, and, the representations of the damage endured by the carrier. US Navy Photo 105-19 is particularly “jaw dropping” in this regard, for it shows the ship’s stern as viewed not many yards from (I think) the Sante Fe. In color photo 80-G-K-4760, the incinerated remnants of a Wright Twin Cyclone aircraft engine rest inert upon the carrier’s burned flight deck, the wreckage of an unidentified aircraft nearby, as the carrier enters New York harbor.
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“USS Franklin (CV-13) … afire and listing after she was hit by a Japanese air attack while operating off the coast of Japan, 19 March 1945. Photographed from USS Santa Fe (CL-60), which was alongside assisting with firefighting and rescue work. Official U.S. Navy Photograph 80-G-273880, now in the collections of the National Archives.”
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The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) afire and listing after a Japanese air attack, off the coast of Japan, 19 March 1945. Note the fire hoses and the crewmen on her forward flight deck, and water streaming from her hangar deck. Photographed from the light cruiser USS Santa Fe (CL-60).
Naval History and Heritage Command photo 80-G-273882.
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USS Franklin (CV-13) listing heavily after being attacked by a Japanese dive bomber, 19 March 1945.
(reddit)
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USS Franklin (CV-13) engulfed in flames; United States Navy sailors are observing from the deck of another ship. Official caption on front: “Inferno at sea. The USS Franklin’s trial by sea. US Navy Photo 105-19.”
Donated by Thomas J. Hanlon; accession number 2013.495.416
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“The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) approaches New York City (USA), while en route to the New York Naval Shipyard for repairs, 26 April 1945. Note the extensive damage to her aft flight deck, received when she was hit by a Japanese air attack off the coast of Japan on 19 March 1945.”
Official U.S. Navy photo 80-G-274014 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command.
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“View on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13), looking forward, while the carrier was in New York Harbor (USA), circa 28 April 1945. … Note the damage to her flight deck, the large U.S. ensign flying from her island, and the Manhattan skyline in the background.” (Wikimedia Commons)
Official U.S. Navy photo 80-G-K-4760 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command.
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Some References
And finally some references, all but one (A.A. Hoehling’s book) hyperlinked.
A Book
Hoehling, Adolph August, The Franklin Comes Home, Hawthorn Books, New York, N.Y., 1974
Sites on the Web
USS Franklin (CV-13) (Wikipedia)
The USS Franklin was the Most Damaged Aircraft Carrier to Survive WWII
World War 2 – Jan 19, 2022 Jesse Beckett, Guest Author (War History OnLine)
USS Franklin (CV-13, later CVA/CVS-13, then AVT-8) (Navy History)
USS Franklin CV-13 War Damage Report No. 56 (Navy History)
Franklin III (CV-13) – 1944–1964 (Navy History)
NavSource Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive – Contributed by Joe Radigan
USS FRANKLIN (CV-13) – (later CVA-13, CVS-13 and AVT-8) (NavSource)
H-042-1: The Ship That Wouldn’t Die (1)—USS Franklin (CV-13), 19 March 1945 (Navy History)
NavSource Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive – Contributed by Joe Radigan
USS FRANKLIN (CV-13) Air Attack, March 19, 1945 (NavSource)
NavSource Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive – Contributed by Joe Radigan
USS FRANKLIN (CV-13) (later CVA-13, CVS-13 and AVT-8) (NavSource)
USS Franklin Museum Association – Remembering Big Ben CV-13 (USS Franklin.Org)
Big Ben, the flat top: the story of the U.S.S. Franklin (Digi.Com)
RIP, Aircraft Carrier: The Tragic Tale of the USS Franklin
The legendary World War II aircraft carrier had a short but very eventful life.
by James Holmes (National Interest)
USS FRANKLIN: STRUCK BY A JAPANESE DIVE BOMBER DURING WORLD WAR II (History.Net – June 12, 2006)
Franklin’s fire marshal, Lieutenant Stanley Graham, spoke for her whole crew: ‘Boys, we got pressure in the lines, we got hoses. Let’s get in there and save her.’
By HISTORYNET STAFF 6/12/2006
(This article was written by David H. Lippman and originally appeared in the March 1995 issue of World War II.)
Researcher at Large (“This site is largely focused on the Pacific Theater of World War Two”)
U.S.S. Franklin (CV13) – War Damage Report No. 56
Suicide Plane Crash Damage – Formosa – 13 October, 1944
Bomb Damage – Luzon – 15 October, 1944
Suicide Plane Crash Damage – Samar – 30 October, 1944
Bomb Damage – Honshu – 19 March, 1945
TECHNICAL REPORT
WAR DAMAGE REPORT – U.S.S. FRANKLIN (CV 13)
ACTION OF OCT. 30, 1944.
U.S.S. FRANKLIN – CV13
WAR DAMAGE REPORT FOR THE ACTION WITH ENEMY AIRCRAFT ON 30 OCTOBER 1944
USS Franklin CV-13 (CVA-13 /CVS-13 / AVT-8), at Pacific Wrecks
Biographies
“Adm. Leslie Gehres Dies at 76; ‘Unsinkable’ Franklin Captain”
LCDR Joseph T. O’Callahan, at…