Saving Big Ben: The USS Franklin and Father Joseph T. O'Callahan

by John R. Satterfield

Father Joe O'Callahan, S.J. was the unlikeliest war hero. A bespectacled math professor from Holy Cross, he became the U.S. Navy's first Jesuit chaplain in World War II and served in combat operations in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Father O'Callahan was on the aircraft carrier Franklin, known as “Big Ben”, in the Okinawa campaign in early 1945 when massive explosions and fire from a kamikaze bomb attack nearly destroyed his ship. Hundreds of sailors died within moments of the attack, and the Franklin, lay dead in the water, drifting toward Japan just 60 miles distant. As flames consumed the carrier, the chaplain organized and led fire-fighting crews and prevented a potentially fatal explosion while ministering to injured, dying and terrified sailors. Father O'Callahan's deeds were instrumental in saving the Franklin, and he stayed with the ship on its voyage under power to New York Harbor. The carrier's captain called him “the bravest man I ever saw,” and Father Joe became the first American military chaplain to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest decoration for valor. But the price of glory was high for Father O'Callahan. He suffered a stroke after returning to Holy Cross and spent the rest of his life enduring incapacitating pain. Through it all, the priest displayed the same leadership and strength derived from unwavering faith that enabled him to help save his ship and comrades. The book incorporates primary sources, interviews with Franklin survivors and O'Callahan family members and other materials never before published, including documentation of the Navy's review of Father O'Callahan's recommendation of the Medal of Honor and the process leading to the priest's receipt of the decoration.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2011

Reviews

[Steven Hull · Rating 3 out of 5]

The successful Japanese attack on the USS Franklin (CV-13) on March 19, 1945 forty-eight miles off the coast of Japan and the crew’s subsequent fight to save the ship is one of the finest examples of courage in the U.S. Navy’s history. This saga remains one of the least understood and remembered events in Navy circles for a number of reasons, some of which were discussed by author John Satterfield and others that he ignored. Indelibly married to the fight to save the Franklin was the extraordinary heroism displayed by the crew, which was symbolized by the heroism of Jesuit Chaplain Lieutenant Commander Joseph O’Callahan and Lieutenant Donald A. Gary, both of whom would be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Satterfield attempts to integrate a biography of O’Callahan, with a focus on his six years as an active duty Navy chaplain, into the story of the USS Franklin’s fight for survival. This effort was marginally successful. Insufficient time was given to describing O’Callahan’s life before he joined the Navy on the eve of World War II. The reader never really learns much about O’Callahan the person and his life as a child growing up in pre-World War I American. This situation doesn’t improve as O’Callahan pursues the priesthood and a career in academia. The shortness of the book (137 pages of narrative) reflects this weakness.

The core years of O’Callahan’s Navy career are treated much better. We learn a great deal about O’Callahan’s role as a chaplain, his tour of duty aboard the USS Ranger (CV-4) during the early months of World War II’s European theater. Likewise his time aboard the USS Franklin is properly described. Perhaps the best part of the book deals with Franklin’s ordeal after she was attacked. Undoubtedly without the efforts of the crew, the Franklin would have been lost. Despite the immediate deaths of hundreds of sailors and Marines in the first few minutes following the Japanese attack, the Franklin’s crew rallied to save the ship. The ship’s captain, Captain Leslie Gehres, refused to abandon ship. The cruiser USS Santa Fe (CL-60), at grave risk, pulled along side the burning Franklin to assist with fighting fires and rescuing Franklin crewmembers. Due to these efforts and others, the Franklin was able to get underway within twenty-four hours and steam on her own out of harms way. Satterfield’s subsequent treatment of the ship’s recovery and rebuilding and O’Callahan’s recommendation for the Medal of Honor are satisfactorily chronicled.

For some reason, Satterfield fails to discuss in detail Captain Gehres’s unacceptably poor treatment of the crewmembers that abandoned ship or where blown over the side as a consequence of the ship’s fires and condition. Gehres created his “704” Club, which were the 704 officers and men who remained with the ship during it’s initial ordeal. All others were treated as deserters. Gehres refused to allow them back on the ship. He ordered the court marshal of the officers among them. Many were off loaded in Hawaii by the Santa Fe and other ships that had rescued them. There they were treated as outcasts instead of the heroes they were. This sad chapter in the Franklin’s and the Navy’s history is chronicled elsewhere, but should have been given in-depth treatment in any book about Big Ben
Satterfield’s portrayal of O’Callahan makes it clear why he is a real life hero. He was inspired by his faith to become a priest. He was extremely smart and likely could have been anything he wanted to be. He worked hard all his life and truly cared about others. In the life and death struggle to save the Franklin he ministered to others but he also led parties that fought fires, rescued sailors, and dumped hot ammunition overboard. Throughout the ordeal he inspired others to be brave and to act to save the ship. His leadership was as effective and brave as anyone’s that day. He is a most worthy member of the Navy’s pantheon of heroes and heroines

[Heidi Sias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because my great uncle served on the USS Franklin as a night pilot and was on the ship when it was bombed by Japan (he was one of the pilots evacuated out on the USS Santa Fe). I wanted to try to understand the men he served with and what he went through. The book served me well and I enjoyed it a lot. The beginning started out a little slow, but picked up later on. Very interesting to hear the life story of Father O'Callahan and understand more about the USS Franklin and the men who served on it.