USS Franklin Arrives In New York Harbor, Flag Flying

April 28, 2024 | Glenn | ,
USS FRANKLIN (CV-13) arrives at New York Navy Yard for repair of battle damage, circa 28 April 1945
USS FRANKLIN (CV-13) arrives at New York Navy Yard for repair of battle damage, circa 28 April 1945. Photographed looking aft, showing her burned-out after flight deck, with Manhattan beyond. Note the oversized battle ensign flying from the rear of her island. New York skyline and bridge in the distance.

28 April 2024 is the 79th anniversary of Big Ben’s arrival in New York Harbor. Here is a blog post I wrote last year honoring the crew’s arrival. 807 men had died aboard her after a Japanese bomber snuck through Task Force 58’s defenses and dropped two bombs on her, almost immediately igniting huge explosions and raging fires on her flight and hangar decks. The crew battled for nearly 12 hours to save her. Save her they did.

To this day, her crew remains the most decorated in US Navy history. Many, including her captain, acknowledge that many acts of bravery, initiative, and leadership went unrecognized.

I’ve had a conversation with a woman whose mother witnessed the arrival of the carrier while she was a passenger on a ferry in the harbor. The woman had already been notified that her husband had died on the ship.

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