United States. A Purple Heart, to Seaman 1st Class Kyrklund, USNR, KIA During Japanese Attack on USS Franklin, 1945

Footnote: Franklin Graham Kyrklund was born on September 29, 1924 in San Diego, California and graduated from Hoover High School in San Diego. His picture in the high school yearbook was accompanied by a tagline inscribed "Hopes to join Navy Air Corps...plays tennis well...will miss the sports." Kyrklund enlisted for service ( 8793708) with the United States Naval Reserve at Los Angeles, California, on October 11, 1943, declaring his status as Single. He is credited with having served with the St. Louis-class light cruiser USS St. Louis (CL-49), having taken part in combat at Saipan, Guam, Tinian and Mokotai. The USS St. Louis was very active during its service in the Pacific during the war. After completing his service with USS Franklin, he was transferred to the Bogue-class escort carrier USS Breton (CVE-23, previously AVG-23 then ACV-23). Her sailings carried her throughout the Pacific supplying men, materiel, and aircraft to units of the fleet engaged in making strikes on the enemy. While engaged in these duties, USS Breton had taken part in the capture and occupation of Saipan, from June 11 to August 10, 1944. After a brief stint with USS Breton, he was transferred again, this time to the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) in the rank of Seaman First Class and is confirmed on the Navy muster rolls as having been with the USS Franklin. Seaman First Class Kyrklund was aboard USS Franklin just before dawn on March 19, 1945, the ship having maneuvered to within fifty miles of the Japanese mainland, closer than any other U.S. carrier during the war, and launched a fighter sweep against Honshū and later a strike against shipping in Kobe Harbor. The USS Franklin crew had been called to battle stations twelve times within six hours that night and Captain Gehres downgraded the alert status to Condition III, allowing his men freedom to eat or sleep, although gunnery crews remained at their stations. Suddenly, a single aircraft, possibly a Yokosuka D4Y "Judy" dive bomber, though other accounts suggest an Aichi D3A "Val", also a dive bomber, pierced the cloud cover and made a low level run on the ship to drop two semi-armor-piercing bombs. The damage analysis came to the conclusion that the bombs were 550 pounds. Accounts differ as to whether the attacking aircraft escaped or was shot down. One bomb struck the flight deck centerline, penetrating to the hangar deck, causing destruction and igniting fires through the second and third decks, and knocking out the Combat Information Center and air plot. The second hit aft, tearing through two decks. At the time she was struck, Franklin had thirty-one armed and fueled aircraft warming up on her flight deck. The hangar deck contained planes, of which sixteen were fueled and five were armed. The forward gasoline system had been secured, but the aft system was operating. The explosion on the hangar deck ignited the fuel tanks on the aircraft, and gasoline vapor explosion devastated the deck. Only two crewmen survived the fire. The explosion also jumbled aircraft together on the flight deck above, causing further fires and explosions and detonating twelve "Tiny Tim" air-to-surface rockets. USS Franklin was dead in the water, without radio communications, and broiling in the heat from enveloping fires.

 

On the bridge, Captain Gehres ordered the ship's magazines flooded but this could not be carried out as the ship's water mains were destroyed by the explosions or fire. Admiral Ralph Davison transferred his flag to the destroyer USS Miller by breeches buoy and suggested abandoning ship, but Captain Gehres refused to scuttle the USS Franklin, as there were still many men alive below deck. Many of the crew were blown overboard, driven off by fire, killed or wounded, but the hundreds of officers and enlisted who voluntarily remained saved their ship. Among the dead was one of the ship's surgeons, LCDR George W. Fox, M.D., who was killed while tending to wounded sailors, and was subsequently awarded the Navy Cross posthumously. When totaling casualty figures for both USS Franklin cruises numbers increase to 924 killed in action, the worst for any surviving U.S. warship and second only to that of battleship USS Arizona. Certainly, the casualty figures would have far exceeded this number, but for the work of many survivors. Among these were the Medal of Honor recipients Lieutenant Commander Joseph T. O'Callahan, the warship's Catholic chaplain, who administered the last rites, organized and directed firefighting and rescue parties, and led men below to wet down magazines that threatened to explode; along with Lieutenant Junior Grade Donald A. Gary, who discovered 300 men trapped in a blackened mess compartment and, finding an exit, returned repeatedly to lead groups to safety. Gary later organized and led fire-fighting parties to battle fires on the hangar deck and entered the No. 3 fireroom to raise steam in one boiler. The Santa Fe rescued crewmen from the sea and approached USS Franklin to take off the numerous wounded and nonessential personnel. Official Navy casualty figures for the March 19, 1945 fire totaled 724 killed and 265 wounded. Nevertheless, casualty numbers have been updated as new records are discovered. A recent count by USS Franklin historian and researcher Joseph A. Springer brings the total March 19, 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 the Second World War. USS Franklin, like many other wartime ships, had been modified with additional armament, requiring larger crews and substantial ammunition stocks. Aircraft were both more numerous and heavier than originally planned for, and thus the flight deck had been strengthened. The aircraft carrier, therefore, displaced more than originally planned, her freeboard was reduced, and her stability characteristics had been altered. The enormous quantities of water poured aboard her to fight the fires further reduced freeboard, which was exacerbated by a 13° list on her starboard side, and her stability was seriously impaired such that her survival was in jeopardy. After six hours, with the fire finally under control such that the ship could be saved, Admiral Davison deployed five destroyers to search for any of the ship's men who had been blown overboard or jumped into the sea. 8793708 Seaman First Class, United States Naval Reserve was Killed in Action during the Japanese attack on USS Franklin, on March 19, 1945. He was Buried At Sea and is remembered with honor at the Courts of the Missing, Court 3, Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii.