USS Franklin (CV-13)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Franklin.

USS Franklin underway in 1944
History
United States
NameFranklin
NamesakeUSS Franklin (1775), named for Benjamin Franklin
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding
Laid down7 December 1942
Launched14 October 1943
Commissioned31 January 1944
Decommissioned17 February 1947
Reclassified
  • CVA-13, 13 October 1952
  • CVS-13, 13 August 1953
  • AVT-8, 8 May 1959
Stricken1 October 1964
FateScrapped, 27 July 1966
General characteristics
Class and typeEssex-class aircraft carrier
Displacement
Length
  • 820 feet (249.9 m) (wl)
  • 872 feet (265.8 m) (o/a)
Beam93 ft (28.3 m)
Draft34 ft 2 in (10.41 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range14,100 nmi (26,100 km; 16,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement2,600 officers and enlisted men
Armament
Armor
Aircraft carried
  • 36 × Grumman F4F Wildcat
  • 36 × Douglas SBD Dauntless
  • 18 × Grumman TBF Avenger

USS Franklin (CV/CVA/CVS-13, AVT-8), nicknamed "Big Ben," was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy, and the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in January 1944, she served in several campaigns in the Pacific War, earning four battle stars. In March 1945, while launching strikes against the Japanese mainland, she was badly damaged when a single Japanese dive bomber struck her with two bombs. The attack resulted in the loss of 807 of her crew and Franklin became the most heavily-damaged United States aircraft carrier to survive the war.[1] The complement of Franklin suffered 924 killed in action during the war, the worst for any surviving U.S. warship and second only to that of USS Arizona.[2][3]

After the attack, she returned to the U.S. mainland for repairs, missing the rest of the war; she was decommissioned in 1947. In reserve, she was reclassified as an attack carrier (CVA), then an antisubmarine carrier (CVS), and finally an aircraft transport (AVT), but she was never modernized and never saw active service again. Franklin and Bunker Hill (damaged by two kamikazes) were the only Essex-class carriers not to see active service as aircraft carriers after World War II.[4] Franklin was sold for scrap in 1966.

  1. ^ Friedman, p. 232
  2. ^ https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/columnists/capi-lynn/2015/03/07/salem-man-recalls-escaping-flaming-uss-franklin/24571377/ . Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  3. ^ https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-043/h-043-1.html . Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  4. ^ Friedman, p. 156