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

Landing Signal Officer On USS Franklin

November 11, 2024
Cover of the book, Their Life In My Hands by C. Edgar Mikronis. Photo Credit: M Glenn Ross By the...
19 march / USS Franklin
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
USS Franklin, with bunting draped underneath her bow, is floated out of dry dock on 14 October 1943.

USS Franklin Commissioned 14 October 1943

October 14, 2024
The ship is floated out of her building dock immediately after christening, at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company...
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
Plaque honoring USS Franklin displayed at Museum of the Pacific War. Photo by Glenn Ross

“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
Undated page from USS Franklin decklog showing burial at sea on 31 October 1944 of those crewmembers killed the day before by a Kamikaze attack.

Burials At Sea by USS Franklin, 1944

September 8, 2024
USS Franklin's deck log (p1) 31 October 1944. The day before, she had been struck by a Kamikaze. This log...
Battle of Leyte Gulf / Deck logs / Kamikaze attack / October 1944 / USS Franklin
USS Franklin nearly obscured by smoke and flames after 19 March attack US Navy photo 80-G-49131

Farrell L. Kluttz Narrated An Enjoyable Oral History

July 26, 2024
There are times when research is tedious. There are other times when it is enjoyable. I have just finished reading...
Farrell L. Kluttz / US Navy / USS Franklin
A crowed deck of planes, pilots, and crews of Air Group 13 in October 1944. The first nine are Hellcat fighters, the ones in the back are Helldivers and Avengers. Franklin would be struck by a Kamikaze on 30 October 1944.

USS Franklin Draws Its First Blood–July 4, 1944

July 3, 2024
Air Group-13 Hellcats, Avengers, and Helldivers prepare to strike the Japanese in the Philippines in October 1944. On 30 June...
Action Reports / Air Group 13 / July 4th / US Navy / USS Franklin

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