US Navy 1st Class Seaman John Franklin "Frank" Hanks was born in Bratt, Florida in 1919, the son of Elijah Edward Hanks (1890-1972) and Acora "Cora" Roach (1896-1985). His mother was a native of McDavid, Florida and the daughter of John William and Eliza Jane Roach. His father on the other hand was the son of Joseph Eratus Hanks (1855-1940) and Susan J. Felts (1858-1937) who had married in 1878 in Bratt. The Hanks were originally from Janes Mill, Conecuh County, Alabama and moved to Bratt, Florida in 1903. Joseph would continue farming but was also a "justice of the peace" for many years.
When Frank's father became of age he went to work for his father as a farm hand in Bratt. He would marry Cora Roach on August 18, 1915, in Escambia County and brought four surviving children to the union. They would settle in the Bratt area in the northern part of the county where they farmed just like their ancestors.
As for Frank, he would continue assisting his parents on the farm until 1940. At that time Europe was in the throes of WWII and most American's felt it was only a matter of time until the US was pulled into it. Frank had little prospects for employment outside farming, especially with only a grammar school education. As with many young men of the times he enlisted in the US Navy on October 12, 1940, and boarded a train for Birmingham, Alabama. There, he reported into the Navy's testing and processing center before reporting to boot camp in one of their five basic training bases. Upon completion, he was sent to the fleet carrier CV-7 USS Wasp on December 6, 1940, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. In January 1941, she was temporarily based at Guantanamo, Cuba as she conducted maneuvers. In the meantime, Frank got into a little bit of a scrape and was hauled before a "Captain's Mast" equivalent to the Army's "Article 15' or non-judicial punishment. Whatever it was, the punishment was solitary confinement for ten days and had to forfeit $90 of his pay over a six-month period.
After the loss of our carriers in the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway, the Pacific fleet was down to only three fleet carriers, the Enterprise, Saratoga, and Hornet. Therefore, she was ordered to the Pacific to fill the void for the Guadalcanal campaign. On August 24, 1942, the Japanese sailed for Guadalcanal trying desperately to get reinforcements to stop the advance of the Marines. US air strikes were quickly launched from the carriers Enterprise and Saratoga and struck the light carrier Ryojo and sent it to the bottom in flames. But just as quickly, the Enterprise was found by the Japanese and seriously damaged. Regardless, this prevented their army reinforcements from ever reaching Guadalcanal. On board the Enterprise that day was Pensacolian Juel David Johnston, a member of the Pensacola High School Class of 1937.
But one week after the battle, the Saratoga was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and forced to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs. With the Enterprise and Saratoga now out of commission, only the Hornet and Wasp were left in the Solomons to face the brunt of the entire Japanese Fleet.
The captain of the Hornet was none other than Charles Perry Mason Sr., one of Pensacola’s adopted sons. He would fall in love with 20-year-old Miss Ralphine Fisher, the daughter of prominent Pensacola attorney William A. Fisher Jr. Another member of the Hornet’s crew was Pensacolian Harmon Lybrand Brendle still flying with scouting squadron VS-8 after their astounding victory at Midway. Now, the two remaining carriers were providing all the badly needed air cover for the entire Solomon area especially the embattled Marines on Guadalcanal. But tragedy struck again on September 15, 1942, when the Hornet and Wasp, along with the battleship North Carolina and ten other screening ships were steaming for Guadalcanal to deliver the 7th Marine Regiment reinforcements. Suddenly, three torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-19 slammed into the Wasp, the battleship USS North Carolina, and the destroyer USS O’Brien.
On board the battleship North Carolina was another Pensacolian John Arthur Johnson. The resulting fires caused by the torpedoes quickly spread throughout the stricken carrier causing her abandonment and ultimate sinking with 193 of her crewmen still aboard. However, the North Carolina and O’Brien survived and were able to return for badly needed repairs. Now Captain Mason and his Hornet was truly the only serviceable carrier facing the entire Japanese Fleet and the only one standing between the enemy and the Marines on Guadalcanal.
As for the I-19 submarine, she would sink the cargo ship SS William K. Vanderbilt on May 16, 1943. Tragically, she then surfaced and machine-gunned the surviving crew members clinging to their lifeboats, killing one of them. But then her turn in the barrel came on November 25, 1943, west of Makin Island. There she was caught on the surface by the radar of the destroyer USS Radford. To escape she dove into the depths where the Radford attacked her with depth charges sinking her along with all her hands.
As a postscript, on January 13, 2019, the watery tomb of Frank and his comrades was found among the wreckage of the USS Wasp after it was discovered in the Coral Sea, in 13,780 feet of water.
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