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In the early morning hours of March 19, 1945, the USS Franklin was launching planes. That was something she had done times uncounted before during her 18 months of service, but this time was a bit different. The Essex-class aircraft carrier was launching planes to attack Japan, specifically Honshu and Kobe Harbor. This meant that the Franklin was deep in enemy waters. In fact, located less than 50 miles from the mainland, it was the closest approach to Japan that any U.S. carrier dared attempt.
Shortly after the airspace was cleared, another plane came flying through the cloud cover…a Japanese plane. I’m guessing that a patrol plane spotted the carrier planes and was sort of able to “back-trace” their flight paths to the source. But I’m not guessing that the Franklin was discovered, and the plane that found her was carrying a pair of 500-pound bombs, which she proceeded to plant in the carrier, to devastating effect.
One bomb hit right in the middle of the flight deck, while the other hit the decks near the rear. Both were armor-piercing bombs (designed for ship attack, not the lightly-armored flight deck of a carrier), so they plowed into the Franklin’s internals before detonating. Massive explosions rocked the carrier as fuel and ammunition cooked off in the intense heat. Many of the men remembered the damage their vessel had received in Leyte Gulf just 5 months before, but this was way worse.
Those not killed by explosions and fire (or blown overboard by them) began feverishly trying to salvage the Franklin, which was dead in the water, listing heavily, unable to communicate, and a raging inferno. And, miraculously, they were able to get the fires under control and eventually extinguished. Sailors in the water were rescued by escort ships and the USS Franklin was able to be towed out of harm’s way.
By the time the stricken ship reached safe harbor in the Caroline Islands (the first stage of her long journey to New York), she was running under her own power. But the cost of the attacks and subsequent salvage was high. More than 700 sailors had been killed and several hundred more had been wounded.
The USS Franklin would not fight again in World War II, but there were many other vessels of the U.S. Navy that would feel the same kinds of impact and destruction in the Pacific War’s final 6 months.
Recommended Reading: Inferno: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II
Today's History Lesson 