USS Franklin Commissioned 14 October 1943
Eighty-one years ago, on 14 October 1943, USS Franklin, an Essex-class aircraft carrier, was christened in record time, ten months after her keel was laid down on 7 December 1942. It would take the dockworkers at Newport News another three and a half months to finish her at a nearby pier before she was commissioned.
THE FRANKLIN
Marshall D. Barnett
Hungry for the ocean’s surge,
for white plumes across her bow;
Thirsting for a draught of oil,
to snort, to roll, to plow;
Longing for the touch of men,
someone to pull her hook;
Looking for the enemy;
the devils are in her book;
Grim missionary of Peace,
but she is mighty full of fight;
Sent out with tender touches,
to set the world aright;
She doesn’t believe in luck or omens;
She is on God’s side of this war;
She mothers red-blooded Americans
who know what they’re fighting for;
She’s ready to die tomorrow,
if dying she can turn the tide;
That men may live once more,
where harmonious love abides;
We salute you, proud warrior of steel,
with Mizpah we say adieu;
Our eyes will be on your actions;
our prayers will be for your crew.
Lieutenant (junior grade) Marshall D. Barnett, U.S.N.R. of Bombing Squadron Thirteen, was killed in action on 24 October 1944 while his squadron was attacking the Japanese Second Fleet in the Sulu Sea, Philippines Islands.
The poem above was reprinted from the ship’s cruise book, Big Ben The Flat Top: The Story of the U.S.S. Franklin, Albert Love Enterprises, Atlanta GA. Accessed via Fold3.com on 14 October 2024. https://www.fold3.com/image/302521357/1942-1945-page-5-us-navy-cruise-books-1918-2009
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 discuss the lessons we can learn in leadership and decision-making and the changes the US Navy made because of those lessons.
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-Glenn
