Despite being injured in the explosion that followed the attack by a Japanese bomber on March 19, 1945, the American military chaplain, Father O'Callaghan, moved around on the sloping flight deck, bare-handed, performing last rites for those who were dying. Lieutenant Commander Joseph O'Callaghan, a chaplain in the US Navy, is performing the last rites for the dying wounded on the USS Franklin, an American warship that exploded on the deck, with his gloved hands together. The aircraft carrier suffered more than 1,000 casualties. The hangar deck quickly became a hell of exploding gas tanks and ammunition. O'Callaghan was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military decoration, for his actions during and after the attack on the aircraft carrier.
In the Pacific War of World War II, on March 19, 1945, at a point in the ocean only about 80 km from the Japanese coast, a Japanese dive bomber pierced the clouds and dropped two semi-armor-piercing bombs before the Franklin's anti-aircraft battery could fire. The Japanese dive bombers dropped two 550-pound bombs. One of the bombs exploded after penetrating the hangar deck. After that, the American ship USS Franklin, although heavily tilted, returned to the United States.
The explosion of the bomb that hit the USS Franklin caused fragments to fly off. The intense explosion, which shook the 27,000-ton aircraft carrier, caused the steel plates of the surrounding ships to resonate. Most of the 31 bombs and the fuel-laden fighter planes immediately caught fire. The 13 to 16 tons of high explosives on board immediately began to explode gradually. The cruiser Santa Fe and other ships rescued many of the wounded. The Franklin was the most heavily damaged American aircraft carrier, and the Franklin's crew suffered 924 casualties, second only to the USS Arizona in terms of the number of casualties.
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