Whilst steaming within 50 miles of the Japanese mainland the carrier USS Franklin was attacked by a lone and undetected Japanese bomber. She was hit aft by two 500lb AP bombs. At the time of the attack all her aircraft on the flight and hanger decks were armed and ready to take off on a raid. The resulting explosions and fires killed and injured around a 1000 men and destroyed 56 aircraft.
Refusing to abandon the ship, the crew fought the fires for two days....and succeeded. She eventually made it back to a safe port for repairs.
During the firefighting the phrase "If a ship won't sink, it can't be sunk!" became the 'Rally cry' for the crew as they fought to save the ship.
I recommend further reading of the incident.
I used a Revell 1/720 kit for this. A very old and not much detailed version, but I didn't want to waste money on a better kit only to trash it!
As per title, I've tried to model the ship a day after the attack when the crew are getting the fires under control. I didn't want all of the stern hidden in the dense smoke at the time of the start of the conflagration.......
I hope you approve of this finished offering.
Cheers all and thanks for looking in.
Ron
Refusing to abandon the ship, the crew fought the fires for two days....and succeeded. She eventually made it back to a safe port for repairs.
During the firefighting the phrase "If a ship won't sink, it can't be sunk!" became the 'Rally cry' for the crew as they fought to save the ship.
I recommend further reading of the incident.
I used a Revell 1/720 kit for this. A very old and not much detailed version, but I didn't want to waste money on a better kit only to trash it!
As per title, I've tried to model the ship a day after the attack when the crew are getting the fires under control. I didn't want all of the stern hidden in the dense smoke at the time of the start of the conflagration.......
I hope you approve of this finished offering.
Cheers all and thanks for looking in.
Ron
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