Warbird Information Exchange

... on this date in 1944 a Japanese pilot made a big hole right behind the ole man sitting in his Hellcat, if that Kamikaze pilot would have been just a few feet forward .... you wouldn't have had me here to pester you all these years lol

My dad on October 30, 1944 ...... almost didn't make it to age 21. Some of you may know about this little bit of history as I've posted about it before. But for those who don't and have an interest. I hope it's interesting history.

The USS Franklin, of which at the time dad was a Hellcat pilot with VF-13 "Black Cats", was on the receiving end of a kamakaze attack. But even though suffering a good amount of damage luckily did not sink. Dad was sitting in a Hellcat warming up for launch when this attack happened. Barely survived this one as his Hellcat took a bit of blast impact from just behind him collapsing a wing and he had to quickly unstrap and jump off the other wing to run for cover. Close call for sure. Most of the Hellcats behind him were destroyed. This would be his only close call to meeting Jesus face to face back then. He would go on to fly several more missions during the war with little as far as anything too spooky to deal with. I never knew about any of this until way late in his life. He never felt the need to discuss his war experiences. Sound familiar? Most vets tend to not talk much about those days. All hero's for sure.

Some may find these two films interesting. The videos are quite something really as it shows the Kamakaze attack, hit and results. Careful a little graphic in areas in the first film. RIP sailors ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rn08mx84J0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq-URVyZNGM


USS Belleau Wood & USS Franklin burning from hits Oct. 30, 1944 just off Samar. Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944.


USS Belleau Wood (right) & USS Franklin (left) burning from hits Oct. 30, 1944 just off Samar. Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944.

Below photos of the USS Belleau Wood on fire with the USS Franklin burning in the distance (with dad somewhere with others trying to avoid the carnage)











A few shots below of the aftermath on the deck of the Franklin ... although a mess and with a terrible loss of life, the March 1945 hit was far worse. Still the old Lady survived.

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Zero Surprise!!...

There was a gentleman named Glenn I thnk his last name was Dow? , he was a member to the pacific coaat air museum. He was a P-47 pilot in WWII and he loaned the museum a few things of his, one of them was the cockpit side triangle window. it had a big round hole it from a 20 mm round that didn't explode, just passed through. so close u not his time.

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Remember, the propeller is only there to keep the pilot cool.If you don't believe me, have it stop and watch the pilot start sweating!

My Uncle was on the Franklin that day, down in the mess hall. He came up top side and was told to jump ship by a senior petty officer. When I'm on the road flying, I carry his picture of him standing by his Corsair. His name was Raymond Baxter and there is a great book out called Above and Beyond, which he is mentioned. To his last day on earth, he just wanted to fly the Corsair one more time...

Thanks as always, Mark - is your father's Hellcat the one seen burning up in the first video?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

On a related date;
24 October 1944, during the battle of Leyte Gulf, the Uncle, that I never knew was killed on board the USS Princeton CVL 23.
He was an officer from the USS Birmingham CL- 62 rendering aid to the crippled USS Princeton when she exploded.
A career Naval officer class of '34 USNA.
RIP Uncle Van

Good morning Chris, I'm not quite sure, but could very well be. Dad didn't see these videos AFAIK. It would have been interesting to see and hear his reaction if he had seen them.

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Zero Surprise!!...

Good morning Lynn, you uncle was actually on board the Franklin during the March 19, 1945 incident, which was far worse. That was a big, big mess with a terrible loss of life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Franklin_(CV-13)

Below are some color photos of the Franklin sailing under her own power back the the Brooklyn Navy Yard in NYC after the March 19th bombing.

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Zero Surprise!!...

Good morning, your Uncle was a great hero as well. very much to be proud of.

Loss of USS Princeton (CVL-23), 24 October 1944
Description: Princeton's port forward area, as seen from USS Birmingham (CL-62) during attempts to control her fires during the afternoon of 24 October. She had been hit by a Japanese air attack while operating off the Philippines. Note damage to Princeton's 40mm gun position and catwalk, caused by Birmingham's Number Two 6/47 gun turret as the two ships grind together. Also note flight deck tractor partially hung up on Princeton's deck edge, F6F and TBM airplanes parked forward, floater nets and life rafts on Birmingham's gun turret.

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Zero Surprise!!...

Also at that time the USS Princeton had VF-27 aboard. One of the rarer VF's with the famed mouths.


Yanks Air Museum's F6F Hellcat paint in VF-27 scheme

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Zero Surprise!!...

Thank you Mark...

Lynn

Great color shots! Can any naval experts ID the old four-stack destroyer in two of the photos?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

I don't claim to be a naval expert, but I think that the ship in question is an Omaha class light cruiser. The class consisted of the following with completion dates shown.

Omaha, Dec. 14, 1920
Detroit, June 29, 1922
Raleigh, Oct. 25, 1922
Trenton, Apr. 16, 1923
Concord, Dec. 15, 1921
Richmond, Sept. 29, 1921
Memphis, Apr. 17, 1924
Cincinnati, May 23, 1921
Marblehead, Oct 9, 1923

A U.S. Navy photo of the Marblehead dated 1944 and published in Jane's Fighting Ships 1944-45 on page 477, looks very close to the photo Mark posted, if I'm looking at the right four-stack ship in the right photo. Hope that helps.

Randy

Amazing photos, and the personal stories. Thank you all for sharing.