Data sent by CHUCK THOMPSON (519-1988) tells of the battle damage to ‘BIG BEN’, the US Navy aircraft carrier USS FRANKLIN on 19 March, 1945.

BASIC SHIP DATA

USS FRANKLIN was a carrier of the ESSEX Class and those specifications have already been given. She was laid down in 1942, launched in 1943 and commissioned in 1944.

DAMAGE TO THE SHIP AND AFTER EFFECTS

The FRANKLIN, operating in the vicinity of the island of Kyushu, received an aerial attack and received two direct hits by bombs dropped by Japanese bombers as seen in this sketch.

There were internal explosions, and fires broke out. Thousands of gallons of AvGas (aviation gasoline) poured out of ruptured fuel lines and made the fire even more intense. Aircraft on the flight deck as well as in the hangar deck were burned. Bombs, rockets and machine gun ammunition exploded for more than three hours. the ship lost way at first, then stopped completely and went dead in the water.

Toward the end of the day, the explosions became less and less frequent; and the carrier was taken in tow by the cruiser USS PITTSBURGH. The fires burned themselves out sometime during the night, so the engines were restarted and ‘BIG BEN’ returned to the United States at low speed for repair.

Personnel losses were terrible - 832 killed and 270 wounded.

CONCLUSIONS

Two direct bomb hits of the flight deck of USS FRANKLIN caused great fires and explosions of on board fuel and munitions; put the ship out of commission; caused great loss of personnel and necessitated major repairs.

Burning AvGas from the ruptured fuel lines contributed greatly to the spread of the fires and on board explosions.

Big Ben Followup (# 117)