[Diver Dave]

I wasn't able to get your pictures of the Franklin to load, but your description of the events of March 19, 1945 reminded me of film footage the Navy showed to us in both boot camp and later in Shipfitter school.

The films were part of our Damage Control (firefighting) training. The crew of the USS Franklin were all heroes as they fought the fires and brought the ship to port.

Salute to the crew of the Franklin and Salute to your father-in-law.

[T'wit]

> I wasn't able to get your pictures of the Franklin to load

Hmm. I always check them on "preview" before I post, and both loaded fine for me. You can find photos easily with a search of "USS Franklin March 19, 1945."

> The crew of the USS Franklin were all heroes as they fought the fires and brought the ship to port.

Right you are about that! The two photos I posted were taken when the situation was pretty much under control. Nonessential personnel were being transferred to a different ship. But if you watched the movies soon after the bombing, you'd swear it was impossible for Big Ben to stay afloat. It was one big fireball, wreathed in black smoke.

In the mid-1960s, when the Franklin was scheduled to be decommissioned and scrapped, I stopped by the Brooklyn Navy Yard to pay my respects to a gallant ship and crew.