Inferno: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II.

Zenith Press, 2007. Octavo, black boards (hardcover), silver lettering, 352 pp. Fine in a Fine dust jacket. From dust jacket: Known throughout the fleet as “Big Ben,” the aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) was christened for the legacy of the four prior U.S. Navy ships named after Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was one of twenty-four Essex-class fast carriers built during World War II that formed the backbone of the U.S. Navy’s war against Japan. By the time the war had moved to Okinawa in the spring of 1945, Big Ben had already seen substantial combat, having participated in the island campaigns of the central and western Pacific and the Battle for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, where she sustained heavy damage from the new and deadly Japanese kamikaze. On March 19, 1945, Big Ben had already seen substantial combat, having participated in the island campaigns of the central and western Pacific and the Battle for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, where she sustained heavy damage from the new and deadly Japanese kamikaze. On March 19, 1945, the Franklin had maneuvered to within fifty-five miles of the Japanese coast, closer than any American aircraft carrier had ever come to the enemy homeland. Before dawn, she launched a fighter sweep against Honshu that was followed by a strike against shipping in Kobe Harbor. Suddenly, a single enemy aircraft pierced the cloud cover and made a low-level run on the ship, striking it with a 250-kilogram bomb that pierced the deck and set off a chain reaction of exploding ordnance and aviation fuel...