Warships Oneshots

Kamikaze Attack

Franklin glided through the waters, one hand on her ship. She was wary of her surroundings, given that her fellow US Navy ship had, just two minutes ago, sent a message through the TBS radio (talk-between-ships) - Enemy plane closing on you... One coming toward you!

The words haunted Franklin, and she looked around warily, looking for any Japanese planes or ships that might attack.

"天皇陛下万歳!"

Franklin looked up, recognizing the battle cry of the kamikaze. She tried to steer her ship away, but failed. The plane sweeped over her head.

It was a Japanese Yokosuka D4Y Judy dive bomber, and it dropped two 500-pound bombs on Franklin. The twin blasts knocked Franklin into the water, making her swallow a substantial amount of water and cough.

The first bomb ripped through 3-inch armor to the hangar deck, thus harming her left arm. Blood flowed freely from Franklin's left arm as she cried in pain.

Franklin watched as her ship was bombed, as she struggled to get up. "My ship!" Franklin cried.

The second bomb detonated two decks below that. Franklin could only watch, standing beside her broken ship. Her leg felt like it was about to split as the bomb detonated.

Great sheets of flame enveloped the flight deck, the anti-aircraft batteries and catwalks. The forward elevator — weighing 32 tons — rose in the air and then disappeared in a great column of flame and black smoke.

Franklin sighed, her heart beating as fast as a pygmy shrew's. "Is it over?" Franklin whispered to herself. No, not yet, she thought sadly, remembering the bombs that were yet to come.

Five bombers, 14 torpedo bombers and 12 fighters were on the flight and hangar decks, carrying 36,000 gallons of gas and 30 tons of bombs and rockets between them. They became an inferno.

The Judy that had bombed Franklin whiz over his head, and Franklin sighed.

She ordered a Corsair orbiting herself to swoop down on the Judy and shoot it down - which it did. Franklin somehow managed to cut back the superheat-1,200 pounds per square inch-to reduce the oil supply to the fires. Remember, Franklin, the fight is not over until it's over, she thought to herself.

Though blood stained the waters around her ship and Franklin, and the ship burned steadily, Franklin tried her best to calmly survey the damage done by the kamikaze.

Franklin put her ship on course 355, due north, which put relative wind on the starboard bow and allowed her fire extinguishers to work fore to aft. It also put her on a 24-knot course directly toward Japan.

But there was no time to think about that. A 3-inch gasoline line aft had ruptured. Bombs, rockets, and a 50-caliber ammunition were still exploding. Then a 40mm ready-service magazine exploded.

This new blast lifted the ship and spun the massive carrier to starboard. A sheet of flame rose 400 feet over the carrier, rupturing the flight deck in a dozen places. Franklin stared in horror, her eyes flickering from the ship to her wounds, which oozed blood.

Violent explosions were rocking the ship, and debris was showering all around. Flames 100 feet high were shooting up past the island; the roar of exploding shells was deafening. A column of smoke rose a mile above the clouds. Still Franklin gritted her teeth and tried to stay calm, though the shooting pain in her leg bone caused her to slip and finally fall down yet again.

She saw a hose spitting water at a steaming bomb. The water was spinning the bomb's arming valve, and it was ready to detonate. Quickly, she hurled the bomb over the side.