Shot in the aftermath of the devastating fire aboard the USS Franklin in March 1945, this silent movie footage was shot by U.S. Navy cameraman for a documentary about the incident. At 1:30, crew play cards. At 3:00, you will see burned out interior spaces of the carrier, standing in start contrast to parts of the ship that were untouched by fire. At 3:44, a sailor holds a hardhat that must have been worn during the fire. At 5:30, an African American officer or possibly chaplain is seen in the ship.
At 5:53 the commander of the vessel, Capt. Leslie E. Gehres, is shown with the ship’s burned flag displayed behind him. Leslie Edward Gehres was a naval aviator who reached the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy, being one of the “mustang” officers who rose from enlisted man to admiral’s rank. At 7:54, an African American cook or mess steward is shown pouring coffee. At 8:23 a sailor gets a medical check by a ship’s doctor. At 10:16 a sailor is asked questions by a doctor who might be a psychiatrist, as he writes extensive notes after the visit. At 11:50 sailors leave the vessel.
Unfortunately we do not know more about this particular film, who shot it, or why.
The 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. She was badly damaged by a Japanese air attack in March 1945, with the loss of over 800 of her crew, becoming the most heavily damaged United States carrier to survive the war. Movie footage of the actual attack was included in the 1949 film Task Force starring Gary Cooper.
After the attack, she returned to the U.S. mainland for repairs, missing the rest of the war; she was decommissioned in 1947. While in reserve, she was reclassified as an attack carrier (CVA), then an antisubmarine carrier (CVS), and finally an aircraft transport (AVT), but was never modernized and never saw active service again. Franklin and Bunker Hill (damaged by a kamikaze) were the only Essex-class carriers not to see active service as aircraft carriers after World War II. The Franklin was sold for scrap in 1966.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
