World War II: Bombing of U.S.S. Franklin (CV-13) March 19, 1945 Film & Navy Damage ReportA 6 minute and 33 second film, filmed by U.S. Navy cameramen, edited by Castle Films for American homeland domestic theaters an an excerpt from USS Franklin CV-13 War Damage Report No. 56.
On 19 March 1945 Franklin had maneuvered closer to the Japanese mainland than had any other U.S. carrier during the war, launched a fighter sweep against Honshu and later a strike against shipping in Kobe Harbor.
The film shows the deck of the U.S.S Franklin on 19 March 1945, after a Japanese plane made a low-level pass dropping two semi-armor piercing bombs. The film shows U.S. Navy personnel fighting the fires, medics and chaplain attending to the wounded, rescues from the ship and at sea. The film follows the Franklin as it heads back to the United States, We see the ship pass through the Panama Canal, pass by the Statue of Liberty and settle in for repairs in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The film ends with a Purple Heart ceremony on deck in Brooklyn. The ship never saw combat service again as was sold fo scrap in 1966.
A count by Franklin historian and researcher Joseph A. Springer, in his book, “U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History (1983) ,” brings the total 19 March 1945 casualty figures to 807 killed and more than 487 wounded. Franklin had suffered the most severe damage and highest casualties experienced by any U.S. fleet carrier that survived World War II.