Lucky 13
19 MARCH 1945
LUCKY 13
By this date in the Pacific war, the Iwo Jima invasion was well underway, and plans were being made to assault the next island on the path to Japan–Okinawa. American naval forces had begun striking targets on the very Japanese home islands themselves. This morning, “Big Ben,” as the Essex-class carrier FRANKLIN (CV-13) was nicknamed, found herself only 50 miles off Kyushu, closer to Japan than any carrier had previously ventured. She was launching a fighter sweep against Honshu and strikes against Imperial Navy warships in Kobe Harbor. FRANKLIN was carrying over 40,000 gallons of aviation fuel and so many bombs that they had to be stowed in the heads.
Suddenly, a lone enemy bomber appeared out of the low clouds–flying straight for the carrier. Anti-aircraft batteries awoke with a flurry of flak, but the plane bore on, dropping two semi-armor piercing bombs. The first penetrated the flight deck amidships hitting readied planes and fueling areas of the hanger deck below. The second struck aft, detonating the third deck magazine. Communications went out and fires and explosions racked the hull–some violent enough to be heard by VADM Mitscher aboard BUNKER HILL (CV-17) over the horizon. While FRANKLIN’s sailors fought fires and rescued shipmates, more enemy planes appeared. Then within a stone’s throw of Japan she went dead in the water.
Heroism was the order of the day. LTJG Donald Gray made repeated trips to the mess deck leading over 300 trapped men to safety. LCDR Joseph T. O’Callahan, the ship’s chaplain, not only busied himself with his spiritual duties but organized firefighting and damage control parties. When fires threatened munitions magazines below decks, he saw to their wetting down, saving countless lives. As the carrier developed a 13o starboard list the skipper, CAPT Leslie H. Gehres, ordered all non-essential men of the 3450-man crew to abandon ship. SANTA FE (CL-60) pulled alongside to assist, but Big Ben’s future looked grim.
The 704 men of the salvage parties battled on. And slowly they began to stem the fires. Shortly the cruiser PITTSBURGH (CA-72) took the carrier under tow. FRANKLIN’s shafts were again turning 14 knots within a day. After a brief stop in Pearl Harbor, she made New York under her own power.
The fight to save FRANKLIN is one of the most heroic stories in American Naval history. The ordeal cost 724 sailors’ lives and 265 injuries. No other US Navy warship has sustained as many casualties and remained afloat. “Big Ben” became one of our most decorated warships, and LCDR O’Callahan became the first Navy chaplain to receive the Medal of Honor.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 22 MAR 24
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
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Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 2 “C-F”. Washington, DC: GPO, p. 443-44, 1977.
Holch, Arthur. “Big Ben”. New York, NY: Time-Life Television Productions, “GI Diary” Video Series, 1978.
Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol 14 Victory in the Pacific. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., pp. 94-99, 1960.
Sweetman, Jack. American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 2nd ed. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, pp. 207-09, 1991.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: The Cold War Garcia-class frigate O’CALLAHAN (FF-1051) remembers Chaplain O’Callahan. She is one of seven past or present warships that remember chaplains, the others being: LIVERMORE (DD-318); KIRKPATRICK (DE-318); SCHMITT (DE-676); CAPODANNO (FF-1093); RENTZ (FFG-46); LABOON (DDG-58).
