Lucky Lady (CL)

The destinies of the cruiser Santa Fe and carrier Franklin dramatically intersected off the coast of Japan in March 1945, when the former, nicknamed the Lucky Lady, came to the rescue of the stricken latter. Jackson (No Stone Unturned) spends the first half of his account covering the ships' preparations and initial war experiences. He follows a few men through the narrative (many others are mentioned only once), and offers lively descriptions of shipboard life, but tells his tale episodically and not always chronologically, which undermines the story's flow. In chapter nine, Jackson begins to alternate between Santa Fe and Franklin, as they undertake joint operations, including the liberation of the Philippines, during the latter part of 1944. Both ships face kamikaze attacks; the Franklin was hit by a suicide aircraft. Thanks to a""magnificent piece of seamanship"" by her captain, the Santa Fe avoided a torpedo and a suicide plane simultaneously; she also avoided a now infamous typhoon. Both ships took part in the greatest naval engagement of World War II, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and Jackson includes some dramatic accounts from downed aviators. On March 19th, 1945, when the Franklin was struck by two bombs from a Japanese dive-bomber, the Santa Fe stood by the Franklin and was instrumental in saving it from sinking. The heroic efforts of the crews of both ships to save the carrier, told through survivors' stories, is the most gripping part of the book. Unfortunately, the Franklin's captain wouldn't allow those who had left the ship during the attack--some of whom were blown off deck and into the water--to return to it; acrimony developed between those who had stayed on board and those who didn't. The epilogue gratuitously brings the""new kamikazes"" of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 to this well evoked corner of the War.