Lest We Forget The Sacrifice And Triumph Of Free Men

[quincannon]

MIDWAY - 4 June 1942

[dave]

Midway was turning the turn signal on for the upcoming corner. Guadalcanal campaign was the turning point of WW II. The Japanese lost so many skilled aircraft mechanics and technicians when the carriers sank and they never were able to train enough to make up their losses. I read somewhere, sorry no source, that the Japanese lost about 40% of their mechanics at Midway.
Regards
Dave

From the The Battle of Midway Roundtable ("BOMRT") (http://www.midway42.org/)
"Many of my friends are now dead. To a man, each died with a nonchalance that each would have denied as courage. They simply called it lack of fear. If anything great or good is born of this war, it should not be valued in the colonies we may win nor in the pages historians will attempt to write, but rather in the youth of our country, who never trained for war; rather almost never believed in war, but who have, from some hidden source, brought forth a gallantry which is homespun, it is so real."

"When you hear others saying harsh things about American youth, do all in your power to help others keep faith with those few who gave so much. Tell them that out here, between a spaceless sea and sky, American youth has found itself and given itself so that, at home, the spark may catch. There is much I cannot say, which should be said before it is too late. It is my fear that national inertia will cancel the gains won at such a price. My luck can't last much longer, but the flame goes on and on."

--Ensign William R. Evans, USN, a pilot of Torpedo Squadron 8, KIA at Midway, 4 June 1942.

[quincannon]

Rule 26 in Tactical Wisdom - "Resolute action by a few determined men is often decisive"

What you wrote, or rather quoted is why I am optimistic about our future as a country. I refuse to believe our best days are behind us, for while the callowness of youth is there for all to see, what lies hidden is an inner strength, that when called upon, step up and stand out. Marshall understood this when he wrote the chapter on "Miracles" from which the above quotation is cited.

I would much rather be from a country, that honors the spirit of Cincinnatus, than be from a country that honors the warlord and the warlike.

[quincannon]

19 March, Saint Joseph's Day

Remembering USS Franklin CV13 along with Santa Fe and all those who stood by her.

[dave]

QC

Your post mentioning that today was 72nd anniversary of the USS Franklin's heroic survival reminded me that it was also in March, albeit the 27th of 1944, that Commodore Commodore Arleigh “31 knots” Burke was relieved of command of Destroyer Squadron 23. This unit was the only Destroyer Squadron of WW II to be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.



Under the command of Burke, “the Little Beavers” conducted one of the most successful surface actions of the war. The battle of Cape St. George was called by Admiral Halsey “The Trafalgar of the Pacific” which was high praise. The force of 5 American ships, sank 3 Japanese destroyers and damaged one more without a loss of a US vessel.
Regards
Dave

[quincannon]

There was a fellow whose name I can't recall off hand who was on Radford's staff on Yorktown. He worked in civilian life for Douglas Southall Freeman on his newspaper in Richmond. He was deep into the ACW as was his boss of course ( R.E. Lee and Lee's Lieutenants) and did not mind telling anyone that he was a man of the South.

When Franklin blew up, one of the people on the bridge with him turned as said --- I guess you are having second thoughts on how you would like to be in Dixie.

Franklin's call sign was Dixie.

Same guy was hitching a ride on Hazelwood, and high lined to another ship the day before Hazelwood was hit by a K - hit bad, real bad. A day or so later he flew over Hazelwood going to his next assignment. Did not say so in his book, but I'll bet he wished that aircraft has a Porta Potty on board.

Halsey had a way with hyperbole, BUT Burke was a solid commander and an even better Chief of Staff. He kept his admiral from having a terminal case of the stupids a couple of times.

[dave]

As I was between books being read, I decided to check into the USS Franklin and what books were available on a Kindle. I ran across Joseph Springer's Inferno: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II,
so I added it to my library. I'll let you know what I think about it if you care.
Regards
Dave

[quincannon]

Yes, I would appreciate that. There was some rumor/controversy regarding the ship's captain. I would love to know more about it.

The want to be in Dixie guy was J. Bryan III. The book "Aircraft Carrier" . Covers about the first four months of 1945.

[yanmacca]

Which Captain, do you mean Captain Gehres? Didn’t he decide not call general quarters before the attack and blamed his crew to cover up his own mistakes? I know that no one was ever convicted of any wrong doing by the naval investigators, but it never seemed to do Gehres much harm and he was later promoted to Rear Admiral and after the war run for congress.

[quincannon]

Gerhes got a tombstone promotion to Rear Admiral, which was not uncommon in those days. He never commanded anything again.

Franklin was at Condition III which meant all the guns were manned. They were also at flight quarters preparing to launch the next strike of the day.

The Japanese aircraft was alone, not picked up on radar, or the combat air patrol, and used low cloud cover to attack the ship.

Gerhes had a big mouth, and got it in gear before his brain, on two occasions 1) accusing some of his people of desertion during the fire itself, and, 2) thinking he could bring Franklin into Pearl ( a very narrow and dangerous channel) without a harbor pilot, who services he refused. He smashed Franklin into the dock, and blamed the docking crew instead of his own hubris.

[deadwoodgultch]

One of my early Sunday School teachers, I think I mentioned this before.

uboat.net/allies/commanders/4924.html

[dave]

I have been reading Joseph Springer's Inferno: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II
, which I have found to be very interesting and informative. I am only a about a third of the way into the book but thought I would share an an observation I have regarding this book concerning effective anti-aircraft fire.

On October 30, 1944, the Franklin was the stricken by a kamikaze which created enough damage for the carrier to be returned to the States for repair. In the process of the incident analysis and report of damage, it was determined the 40mm Bofor with its fire director was the most effective anti-aircraft weapon. The 20mm Oerlikon did not have the weight of ammunition to prevent a kamikaze hitting the ship in spite of its impressive rate of fire. The most surprising fact to me was the much vaunted 5"/38 with its proximity fuze was not that effective in protecting the carrier from this attack.

There were 5 kamikaze's that came in below radar while the Franklin was landing its evening patrol. The planes were sighted at the last moment and the 5" guns were unable to track them so close. Just an interesting tidbit to me and thought I would share.
Regards
Dave

[quincannon]

The primary targets for the 5"/38 Cal with the proximity fuse were dive bombers.

The Kamikaze changed the game considerably. Most of the Essex Class got a 1944 redo which put five 40mm quad gun tubs on the starboard side, and an additional quad 40 on the port side. Franklin had hers installed before the 19 March attack, and you can see three of them very clearly under the island in that very famous picture of her listing to starboard.

Not all of the Essex Class got the refit but these did

Yorktown 10
Intrepid 11
Hornet 12
Franklin 13
Ticonderoga 14
Randolph 15 - removed late in 1945 to allow passage  through the Panama Canal
Lexington 16
Bunker Hill 17
Wasp 18
Hancock 19
Bon Homme Richard 31

The ones that served in combat that never got the refit were

Essex 9
Bennington 20
Antietam 36
Shangri La 38

[yanmacca]

The US Navy had already considered the Bofors as early as 1937, but for some reason went for the 27mm M1 anti-aircraft gun. It didn't take long for them to see that they made the wrong choice and in 1941 they changed over to the Bofors.
Manufacture was slow at first but production reached a peak between 1944 and 1945.

It was built in three models.

Quad: 2.453
Twin: 9.424
Single: 9.369

[dave]

I have finished Joseph Springer's Inferno: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II,
and enjoyed it very much. Springer uses a actual comments from crewman as to where they were and what they experienced during the aftermath of the attack. Unlike so many other ship histories, Springer weaves the crewman's stories into a timeline and actual testimonies as the ship struggled to live.

Captain Gehres was disliked by all his crew, enlisted and officers, and came to the Franklin from Fleet Air Wing 4 were he used PBY-5A Catalina aircraft as bombers and experienced high losses even after being cautioned by Admiral Nimitz. He was known as "Custer of the Aleutians" kinda of ironic is it not?

Gehres was a martinet who supplied little leadership immediately after the bombing and if fact Chaplain O'Callahan lead the fire control effort on deck while comforting the wounded and administrating Last Rites. His conduct resulted in his award of the Congressional Medal of Honor while Gehres was noted to be on the bridge railing against the Japanese and his crew. 

The Captain was extremely irate with crewman who had left the ship to seek safety on the USS Santa Fe which was tied to the Franklin during the firefighting efforts. He created what was called the "Big Ben 704 Club", which included the crew who were mustered on March 21. This action was followed by an order demanding each crewman provided written statements explaining their "abandoning ship without permission" upon their return to the Franklin. How could men who were blown overboard by explosion or jumped to avoid burning to death answer such a request? 

Gehres petty treatment of non members of the "704 Club" included denial of 30 days leave as survivors for losing their ship and denied them passage on the Franklin to the States. They had to secure passage to the States via cargo ships. Upon arrival in the States, Gehres pressed charges of desertion against a select list of officers and enlisted which were soon dropped. Not one crewman who was not a member of the "704 Club" received an award for bravery despite document accounts. This Captain was right up there with Captain Queeg.
Regards
Dave