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Photo # 80-G-367248:  USS Franklin operating near the Marianas, 1 August 1944

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Franklin (CV-13; later CVA-13, CVS-13 and AVT-8), 1944-1966

USS Franklin, a 27,100 ton Essex class aircraft carrier, was built at Newport News, Virginia. Commissioned at the end of January 1944, she arrived in the Pacific in time to participate in later stages of the Marianas operation. From late June into September, her planes conducted strikes on enemy targets in the Bonins, Marianas, Palaus and Carolines. In October, after supporting the September landings in the Palaus, she took part in the Third Fleet's raids in the Western Pacific and in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was lightly damaged by a Japanese bomb on 15 October, and was hit by a suicide plane on 30 October. The latter caused serious damage and killed 56 of her crew, necessitating a trip back to the United States for repairs.

Franklin returned to the war zone in mid-March 1945 and joined the Fifth fleet for strikes on the Japanese home islands. On the morning of 19 March, while her flight and hangar decks were crowded with fully armed and fueled planes preparing to take off to attack the enemy, a Japanese plane approached undetected and hit the carrier with two bombs. The resulting inferno badly damaged the ship and resulted in the deaths of 724 of her crew. Heroic work by the survivors, assisted by nearby ships, brought the fires and flooding under control. After a brief period under tow, Franklin's engineers again had her steaming on her own.

The badly damaged carrier crossed the Pacific, transited the Panama Canal and in late April arrived at the New York Navy Yard for repairs. These were completed shortly after the end of the Pacific War, and Franklin saw no further active flight service. She decommissioned in February 1947. Though reclassified CVA-13 in 1952, CVS-13 a year later and AVT-8 in 1959, Franklin remained in the Reserve Fleet until she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in October 1964. She was sold for scrapping in July 1966.

This page features selected views of USS Franklin.

For pictures and information on two officers who were awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism on board USS Franklin, see:

  • Joseph T. O'Callahan; and
  • Donald A. Gary.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: 80-G-224596

    USS Franklin (CV-13)


    In the Elizabeth River, off Norfolk, Virginia, 21 February 1944.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 131KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-224597

    USS Franklin (CV-13)


    In the Elizabeth River, off Norfolk, Virginia, 21 February 1944. She is accompanied by three local harbor tugs.
    Franklin's is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 6a. This paint scheme was changed a few months later, on the port side only, to Measure 32, Design 3a. The ship's starboard side retained the Design 6a pattern.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 99KB; 740 x 575 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-367248

    USS Franklin (CV-13)


    Operating near the Marianas, 1 August 1944.
    Photographed from USS Hornet (CV-12).
    Franklin is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 6a. At this time, Design 6a was applied only to her starboard side. She wore Design 3a on the port side.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 90KB; 740 x 600 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-290733

    Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944


    Pilots of Torpedo Squadron 13 (VT-13) in their ready room aboard USS Franklin (CV-13), 24 October 1944, just before the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea. They are watching as the position of the Japanese fleet is posted.
    VT-13's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Larry French, is second from the left, with a navigation board beside his chair.
    Note life vests, with die marker pouches, worn by several of these men. Other life vests, and .38 caliber revolvers, are hanging on the bulkhead.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 138KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-326798

    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.
    Note "flak" bursts over the ships.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-273880

    USS Franklin (CV-13)


    Afire and listing after she was hit by a Japanese air attack while operating off the coast of Japan, 19 March 1945.
    Photographed from USS Santa Fe (CL-60), which was alongside assisting with firefighting and rescue work.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 525 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-273903

    USS Franklin (CV-13)


    Ship's after 5"/38 twin gun mount burning, as her crew tried to control fires on 19 March 1945. The carrier had been hit by a Japanese air attack while operating off the coast of Japan.
    Photographed from USS Santa Fe (CL-60), which extinguished the fire in this gun mount by playing streams of water through the mount's open door. Later, the other 5"/38 twin gun mount and the 40mm quad machine gun mount (at right) also burned. Note ammunition loaded in the feed racks of the 40mm guns.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 600 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-274014

    USS Franklin (CV-13)


    Approaches New York City, while en route to the New York Navy Yard for repairs, 26 April 1945.
    Note the extensive damage to her after flight deck, received when she was hit by a Japanese air attack off the coast of Japan on 19 March 1945.
    Photographed by Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 126KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-K-4771 (Color)

    USS Franklin (CV-13)

    Anchored in New York Harbor, upon her arrival from the Pacific for repair of battle damage, circa 28 April 1945.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 87KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-K-4760 (Color)

    USS Franklin (CV-13)

    View on the flight deck, looking forward, while the carrier was in New York Harbor, circa 28 April 1945. She had just returned from the Pacific for repair of battle damage received off Japan on 19 March 1945.
    Note damage to her flight deck, large U.S. ensign flying from her island, and the Manhattan skyline in the background.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 130KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-K-5056 (Color)

    USS Franklin (CV-13)

    Church service on the ship's ruined hangar deck, taken upon her return to the U.S. from the Pacific for repair of battle damage received off Japan on 19 March 1945.
    Location is probably in, or near, New York Harbor, circa 28 April 1945.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 500 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     

    For pictures and information on two officers who were awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism on board USS Franklin, see:

  • Joseph T. O'Callahan; and
  • Donald A. Gary.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 9 January 2001
    Link added 24 September 2001