10-15 October 1944: USS Franklin Attacks

October, the final month of our tour of combat duty, proved to be a never-to-be-forgotten month which will go down in the history of our Squadron as well as the history of the Navy. –The History of Bombing Squadron 13¹

10-11 October

In October 1944, USS Franklin headed back into the Pacific war zone. Part of the U.S. Navy’s Third Fleet commanded by Adm William Halsey, Big Ben was a part of its Task Force 38. On 10 October they attacked targets on Okinawa. In his book, Inferno: The Epic Life And Death Struggle of the USS Franklin In World War II, author Joseph Springer wrote:

Task Force 38 was composed of nine fleet carriers, eight light carriers, six battleships, four cruisers, ten light cruisers, sixty destroyers, and more than 1100 aircraft—the largest fleet in history.

That day alone, the task force destroyed more than 100 aircraft and sank 19 ships. This came at the loss of 21 American aircraft. One of those was a VB-13 Helldiver flown by Lieutenant Thomas Norek and his gunner Harry Steele. They were never found.²

On the 11th, they attacked Aparri, on Luzon in the Philippines. In the next two days, they attacked bases on Formosa.

Friday the 13th

It was on 13 October (a Friday the 13th) that the crew suffered its first non-flying combat death. According to A Brief History—USS Franklin CV-13, published in USS Franklin CV-13 Original Documents, Big Ben was attacked by four aircraft at sunset.

…a Japanese “suicide plane” and three twin-engine torpedo planes, one of which crashed just abaft of the Island structure, carooned [sic] off the port “5” inch gun director and slid across the flight deck and into the sea on the starboard side…³  

AMM1c Harold Stancil was struck by the plane or its debris and died of his wounds. The death toll might have been a great deal higher. Before the dying pilot crashed into Big Ben, he dropped a torpedo that missed her stern by mere feet.

Marine PFC Steve Nowack, served in one of the anti-aircraft gun crews on the starboard side near one of the 5-inch gun turrets. When the plane slid over the side, it went right over Nowack’s gun position, just below the level of the flight deck. Nowack said:

…he just skipped over our gun position. I could have reached up and lassoed him, but it was so quick that no one really had a chance to react. Everyone was just stunned to see a big plane like a Betty zoom five feet over our heads. I can’t even tell you what color it was, but I can tell you what color my pants were.⁴

A Franklin fighter pilot, waiting to land, saw the second Japanese bomber and attacked it. Flying through the ship’s intense anti-aircraft fire, he shot down the plane.

The third bomber was shot down before it reached the ship. The fourth penetrated the screening ship’s anti-aircraft screen and dropped a torpedo before it was shot down. Captain Shoemaker’s ship-handling skills saved the ship. He ordered “Right Full Rudder,” while ringing up “Back Full,” on the starboard engines. The ship slowed and swung to starboard and the torpedo narrowly missed the bow.⁵

14-15 October

On the 14th, Big Ben again attacked bases in the Philippines. She suffered minor damage from two of three bombs dropped on the 15th while she was east of Luzon. On the 15th, attacks continued on Japanese bases. Three enemy bombers penetrated the Combat Air Patrol (CAP). One plane dropped a bomb and struck the deck-edge elevator just below the flight deck level. It started several gasoline fires on the hangar deck and caused fragment damage. The fires were quickly put out. Another bomb detonated just to port. The third bomb detonated close to starboard knocking out the #13 forward 40mm gun platform.

The task force shot down 89 enemy planes on 15 October. Franklin’s fighters were credited with 29 of those and the ship itself received credit for one. ⁶

In the next two weeks, Big Ben would see action against the IJN super battleship Musashi. She would also participate in the Battle of Cape Engano, part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. This battle is considered to be the largest in terms of number of participating ships in World War II. We’ll cover that next time. (This is the first of several blog posts about USS Franklin’s actions in October 1944. You can read part 2 here: The Battles Continue USS Franklin 15-29 October 1944.)

---

Did you arrive here via a search engine? I am the author of the forthcoming book, Heroes By The Hundreds: The Story of the USS Franklin (CV-13). In addition to writing about the bravery of the crews that saved her, I will be writing about the lessons we can learn in leadership and crisis management. I’ll also write about the changes the US Navy made as a result of those lessons learned.

I send out a monthly newsletter, Glenn’s After-Action Report, writing about subjects I find interesting in my research. You can sign up for it below. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question. Thanks for reading.-Glenn

1. The History of Bombing Squadron 13, USS Franklin CV-13 Original Documents 1943-1946 (Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Co. 1994) 46
2. Joseph A. Springer, Inferno: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II, (Minneapolis, MN, Zenith Press, 2011) 109
3. Brief History–USS Franklin CV-13, Original Documents 1943-1946 76
4. Springer 112
5. Original Documents, 84-85
6. Original Documents, 76, 85