Father Joseph O'Callahan Administers Last Rites on USS Franklin (CV-13)

Photograph

Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum

Name/Title

Father Joseph O'Callahan Administers Last Rites on USS Franklin (CV-13)

Description

Black and white photograph of the Navy Chaplain Lt. Commander Joseph T. O'Callahan administering last rites to fallen crewman, Robert Blanchard on the flight deck of the USS Franklin (CV-13). Stamped in black on the reverse is, "BUAer 49126". Typed in purple ink on the reverse is the following: " HOLD FOR RELEASE Release at 9 P.M. (E.W.T.) May 17, 1945 File Num: 49126 INFERNO AT SEA THE USS FRANKLIN'S TRIAL BY FIRE Less than 16 months after she was commissioned, the stricken ESSEX-class aircraft carrier USS FRANKLIN arrived at Brooklyn Navy Yard under her own power - a ghastly but unforgettable memorial to the heroism of those who man the Navy's ships and the skill of those who build them. Behind the gallant hulk was an excruciating ordeal that few warships have survived. The Franklin's agony began on March 19, 1945, when she was participating in air strikes against the Jap fleet in the Inland Sea. Operating less than 60 miles from the Japanese coast, with many of her planes fully armed and fuelled, the carrier was suddenly attacked by a Jap dive-bomber, which scored hits with two 500-pound armor-piercing bombs. The ship was soon an inferno - a cauldron of flame exploding bombs and rockets, racked by explosions and reverberating with a bedlam of detonations and voices raised in pain or command. But when the veil lifted, the Franklin was still there. Gutted by flame, listing badly, and suffering from more than 1,000 casualties, the carrier painfully limped the thousands of miles back to New York. 31-Gloved hands pressed together, Navy Chaplain Joseph O'Callahan, Lieutenant Commander (ChC), USNR of Boston, Mass., is snapped as he administers last rites to an injured crewman aboard the Franklin." "OFFICIAL U.S. NAVY PHOTOGRAPH"

Collection

USS FRANKLIN CV13/CVA13/CVS13/AVT8

Acquisition

Accession

2002.00002

Source or Donor

Steve F. Ewing

Acquisition Method

Collected by Staff

Made/Created

Artist

Official US Navy Photograph

Date made

Mar 1945

Update Date

March 14, 2025