US Navy

US Navy Carrier USS Franklin on fire 19 March 1945. Dense smoke rises from fires aft of the ship's island.

Officers’ Clothing Complicates Communication On USS Franklin

March 31, 2025
Father O'Callahan tends to a wounded man on the Franklin's flight deck. Note the jacket he wears to keep himself...
19 march / US Navy / USS Franklin
Aft-5 inch gun mount on fire. Picture taken from USS Santa Fe Credit: Naval History and Heritage Command

National Medal of Honor Day March 25, 2025

March 25, 2025
President Truman awards Lt. (j.g.) Donald Gary the Medal of Honor. January 1946 (This is a lightly edited post originally...
Leadership / Lt. (j.g.) Donald Gary / Lt. Cmdr Joseph T. O'Callahan / Medal of Honor / US Navy / USS Franklin
Photo taken below flight deck level showing A Curtiss SB2C-3 "Hell-diver" bomber taking a "wave-off" while attempting to land in March 1945. Landing signal officer's platform is in the foreground

My World War II Knowledge Broadens

February 26, 2025
One of my intentions in writing a book on the most decorated US Navy crew during World War II is...
Books, Movies, Videos, and other media / Emerging Technologies / Radar / US Navy
USS Franklin May 4 1944

Write a Letter To Your Mom!

February 4, 2025
Captain Shoemaker writes to a mother who had not received letters from her son. Note the letter was written six...
Shipboard Life / US Navy / USS Franklin
Arial photo of a line of US Essex-class carrriers moored parallel to each other in Ulithi Atoll. USS Wasp (CV-18), USS Yorktown (CV-10), USS Hornet (CV-12), USS Hancock (CV-19) and USS Ticonderoga (CV-14). Official U.S. Navy Photograph 80-G-294131

Aircraft Carrier: An RKO-Pathé Documentary

November 25, 2024
This Is America, a series of documentary shorts, released Aircraft Carrier, in April 19441Richard Meran Barsam, "This is America:" 1942-1951,...
Essex-class aircraft carriers / US Navy
Captain Leslie Gehres in his Patrol Wing Four headquarters. Photo US Navy

Was Captain Leslie Gehres, USN, Ill-Treated?

November 7, 2024
Commodore Leslie Gehres, after being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in Alaska, before commanding the USS Franklin...
Captain Leslie Gehres / US Navy / USS Franklin
USS Franklin In New York Harbor April 1945 80-G-K-4760

Navy Day Does Without USS Franklin

October 29, 2024
If you ever wonder how to respond to an ill-conceived request from a superior in your organization without stepping on...
US Navy / USS Franklin
Two carriers burning after separate kamikaze strikes. USS Franklin (CV-13), at right, and USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) afire after being hit by Japanese kamikaze suicide planes, while operating off the Philippines on 30 October 1944. Photographed from USS Brush (DD-745). US Navy 80-G-326798

USS Franklin Has A Busy October

October 3, 2024
Air Group-13 Hellcats, Avengers, and Helldivers prepare to strike the Japanese in the Philippines in October 1944. USS Franklin, part...
Air Group 13 / Battle of Leyte Gulf / Kamikaze attack / October 1944 / US Navy / USS Franklin
Placque on display at Museum of the Pacific War showing a picture of Franklin and listing her accomplishments.

“Those Who Cannot Remember History Are Doomed To Repeat It”—G. Santayana

September 26, 2024
USS Franklin is listing after being attacked on March 19, 1945. Photo taken from USS Santa Fe. Source US Navy Why...
19 march / Leadership / US Navy / USS Franklin
A Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter makes condensation rings as it awaits the take-off flag aboard USS Yorktown (CV-10), 20 November 1943. The plane is from Fighting Squadron Five (VF-5). Yorktown was then hitting targets in the Marshall Islands to cover the landings in the Gilberts. VF-5 would serve onboard Franklin in 1945. By that time, flying Corsairs.

USS Franklin Supports Peleliu Invasion, September 1944

September 16, 2024
The view of Peleliu shows how much of the island is dominated by the airstrip. Landing beaches were to the...
Air Group 13 / Peleliu / US Navy / USS Franklin

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