This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Donald Losey (Fallhiker), MM1
to remember
Whitaker, Frank Melvin (Silver Fox), LCDR.
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Casualty Info
Last Address 3659 Adams Ave San Diego, CA (Wife: Barbra Mabel Whitaker)
Casualty Date Feb 02, 1944
Cause Non Hostile- Died while Missing
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Sea
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Manila American Cemetery - Taguig City, Philippines
Wall/Plot Coordinates Tablets of the Missing (cenotaph)
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
THE FIRST SKIPPER - FRANK M. WHITAKER
Frank M. Whitaker was born in 1910 at Spokane, Washington. His family had settled there in 1876, his father a physician and grandfather a farmer near Pullman. Frank was an accomplished artist and musician in high school, where he played football and turned out for track. In 1927, on the day Lindbergh flew the Atlantic, Frank won the state 220 low hurdles championship.
Frank attended Gonsaga University in Spokane before winning an appointment to the Naval Academy in 1930, where he continued to participate in sports, music and art.
After graduation in 1934, he served nine months aboard the USS MARYLAND (BB-46), followed by two years aboard USS CROWNINSHIELD (DD-134), an old four-pipe destroyer later turned over to Britain as part of the lend-lease program.
The Class of 1934 was full of over-achievers. One reason was the congressional mandate that only the upper half of each class receive a Navy Commission. The others entered the Reserve and waited for an opening. President Roosevelt’s expansion of the Navy created a new demand for officers, so all of the 1934 and subsequent classes were commissioned.
Frank applied for flight training and reported to Pensacola in January 1937. Fourteen months later, Frank was assigned to Torpedo Six (VT-6), LCDR W. B. Ault commanding. VT-6 received 18 new TBD Devastators between February and April 1938 and then deployed on the USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6) shakedown cruise to Rio de Janeiro (18 July to 22 September 1938).
Frank was detailed to fly the cameraman and director of the MGM feature film “Flight Command.” Following this 3-month stint, Frank reported for duty in Pensacola with Training Squadron 1-B. This was followed by a brief tour as XO of a squadron assigned to USS Bogue before assuming command of VT-17.
The film “Flight Command” was released in 1940, starring Robert Taylor as a new ensign, Walter Pidgeon as the skipper and Ruth Hussey as the skipper’s wife. The aerial scenes were flown by real Navy pilots from a squadron based at San Diego at the time.
Training Squadron VN-1B was based at Corry Field, one of 16 bases then flying the bi-wing N2S/N3N Yellow Peril. This was Primary flight training lasting about three months, beginning with taxiing the tail-dragger aircraft and ending with formation and night flying. Each student accumulated about 110-hours of flying, dual and solo, plus a couple hundred hours of class-room instruction. Frank probably instructed at Corry from the summer of 1940 until the summer of 1942.
In June of 1942, VGS-9 (later VC-9) was in Kodiak flying F4Fs. In July, the squadron moved to NAS Seattle. In September, the squadron had 6 F4Fs and 4 TBFs. The squadron moved to San Pedro in October and then to San Diego in November, at which time the squadron had their full complement of 12 F4F and 9 TBF aircraft, commanded by LCDR William B. Drane. USS BOGUE (ACV-9 later CVE-9) arrived in San Diego near the end of November. By mid-December, the ship and squadron were reported “at sea” and arrived in Norfolk on New Year’s Day. The exact dates of Frank’s service with this squadron are unknown.
VT-17 was officially commissioned on 1 January 1943, LCDR Frank M. Whitaker commanding. However, the squadron had only 13 aircraft by the end of February, with new pilots and aircraft dribbling in over the next few weeks.
The other skippers in Air Group Seventeen (CVG-17) were LCDR John Thomas Blackburn 1 (NA 1933) the skipper of VF-17, and LCDR James E. Vose 2 (NA 1934) the skipper of VB-17. The Air Group Commander (CAG) was CDR Michael P. Bagdanovich (NA 1929). According to Blackburn, Frank was known as the Silver Fox in those days, probably because of his premature gray hair.
The air group boarded USS BUNKER HILL in July 1943. Frank and his 1st division became known as “Hobo.” The 2nd division became “Boxcar”; and the 3rd division became “Caboose.” Their home aboard BUNKER HILL became “Hobotown.” “Roundhouse” was the call for pilots to rendezvous. “Chow Down” was the signal to prepare to attack and “Dinner is ready” signaled the target is sighted.
Frank had met Mary Lewellin during his tours in San Diego and they married in June 1937. The couple raised two children, Frank III and Margaret, who were 6 and 3 at the time of Frank’s tragic death. Frank and his wingman had a mid-air collision on 2 February 1944, near Engebi Island in the Eniwetok Atoll. There are few details on exactly how the collision occurred, but witnesses saw both aircraft hit the water and the area was thoroughly searched for survivors without success.
Builder: Bethlehem Steel Corp., Fore River, Quincy, Mass.
Named after the battle fought, June 17, 1775 on Breed's Hill, adjacent to Bunker Hill (a height in Charlestown, Mass.)
On the morning of 11 May 1945, while supporting the Okinawa invasion, USS Bunker Hill was hit and severely damaged by two kamikazes. She suffered the loss of 346 men killed, 43 missing, and 264 wounded. Although badly crippled she managed to return to Bremerton via Pearl Harbor.
Repaired and returned to active service, but did not resume flight operations, as she served as part of the "Magic Carpet" fleet, returning veterans from the Pacific until decommissioned.
Laid up in excellent condition and retained awaiting the "ultimate" Essex-class modernization, which never materialized.
Reclassified as an "Attack Aircraft Carrier" and redesignated CVA-17, 1 October 1952, while in reserve.
Reclassified as an "Antisubmarine Warfare Support Aircraft Carrier" and redesignated CVS-17, 8 August 1953, while in reserve.
Reclassified as an "Auxiliary Aircraft Transport" and redesignated AVT-9, May 1959, while in reserve.
Fate: Although struck from the Naval Vessel Register, her hulk was used as a stationary electronics test platform at San Diego until November 1972. Sold to Zidell Dismantling, Tacoma, WA, 9 February 1973, for $316,999.99. About 600 tons of her armor plate have been put to use at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
Specifications (As built, 1943) Displacement: 27,100 tons standard; 36,380 tons full load Dimensions (wl): 820' x 93' x 28.5' (full load) / 249.9 x 28.3 x 8.7 (full load) meters Dimensions (max.): 872' x 147.5' / 265.8 x 45 meters Armor: 4"-2.5" belt; 1.5" hangar & protective deck(s); 4" bulkheads; 1.5" STS (top, side of pilot house); 2.5" (top) steering gear Power plant: 8 boilers (565 psi, 850°F); 4 steam turbines; 4 shafts; 150,000 shp (design) Speed: 32.7 knots Endurance (design): 20,000 nautical miles @ 15 knots Armament: 4 twin & 4 single 5"/38 gun mounts; 8 quad 40-mm/56-cal gun mounts; 46 single 20-mm/70-cal guns mounts Aircraft: 92 (Air Group 17, June 1943) Aviation facilities: 1 deck-edge, 2 centerline elevators; 1 flight deck, 1 hangar deck catapults Crew: 2,600+ (ship's company + air wing, as designed)
Source: https://www.navsource.org/archives/02/17.htm
World War II
1943-44
Reporting to the U.S. Pacific Fleet in the autumn of 1943, Bunker Hill participated in carrier operations during: the crucial carrier air raid on the major Imperial Japanese Navy base at Rabaul, along with USS Essex and USS Independence on 11 November 1943; Gilbert Islands operation, including support of the landings on Tarawa Atoll (13 November - 8 December); the air raids on Kavieng in support of the amphibious landings in the Bismarck Archipelago (25 December 1943, 1 January, and 4 January 1944); air raids in the Marshall Islands (29 January - 8 February); the huge carrier air raids on Truk Atoll (17 - 18 February), during which eight I.J.N. warships were sunk; air raids on the Marianas Islands (Guam, Saipan, and Tinian) (23 February); air raids on Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai in the Palau Islands (30 March - 1 April); raids in support of the U.S. Army landings around Hollandia (21 - 28 April); air raids on Truk, Satawan, and Ponape in the Caroline Islands (29 April - 1 May); combat operations in the Marianas in support of the amphibious landings on Saipan and Guam (12 June - 10 August), including the titanic Battle of the Philippine Sea, just west of the Marianas.
On 19 June 1944, during the opening phases of the landings in the Marianas, Bunker Hill was damaged when the explosion of a Japanese aerial bomb scattered shrapnel fragments across the decks and the sides of the aircraft carrier. Two sailors were killed, and about 80 more were wounded. Bunker Hill continued to fight, with her antiaircraft fire shooting down a few IJN warplanes.
During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, about 476 Japanese warplanes were destroyed, nearly all of them shot down by Navy F6F Hellcat fighter planes, such as those carried by Bunker Hill
During September, Bunker Hill carried out air raids in the Western Caroline Islands, and then she and her task force steamed a to the north to launch air raids on Luzon, Formosa, and Okinawa, through early November.
On 6 November 1944, Bunker Hill steamed eastward from the forward area, and she was taken to the Bremerton Naval Shipyard, for a period of major overhaul/upkeep work and weaponry upgrades, as all warships must undergo periodically. She departed from the Port of Bremerton on 24 January 1945, and then she steamed westward back into the combat area in the Western Pacific.
1945
During the remaining months of World War II, Bunker Hill fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima; the 5th Fleet raids against Honshū and the Nansei Shoto (15 February - 4 March); and the 5th and 3rd Fleet raids in support of the Battle of Okinawa. On 7 April 1945, Bunker Hill's planes took part in an attack by the Fast Carrier Task Force of the Pacific Fleet on Imperial Japanese Navy forces in the East China Sea. The superbattleship Yamato, one light cruiser, and four destroyers were sunk during this Operation Ten-Go, as it was called by the Japanese Navy.
On the morning of 11 May 1945, while supporting the invasion of Okinawa, Bunker Hill was struck and severely damaged by two Japanese kamikaze planes. An A6M Zero fighter plane piloted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Seiz Yasunori emerged from low cloud cover, dove toward the flight deck and dropped a 550-pound (250 kilogram) bomb that penetrated the flight deck and exited from the side of the ship at gallery deck level before exploding in the ocean. The Zero next crashed onto the carrier's flight deck, destroying parked warplanes full of aviation fuel and ammunition, causing a large fire. The remains of the Zero went over the deck and dropped into the sea. Then, a short 30 seconds later, a second Zero, piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, plunged into its suicide dive. The Zero went through the antiaircraft fire, dropped a 550-pound bomb, and then crashed into the flight deck near the carrier's "island", as kamikazes were trained to aim for the island superstructure. The bomb penetrated the flight deck and exploded. Gasoline fires flamed up and several explosions took place. Bunker Hill lost a total of 346 sailors and airmen killed, 43 more missing (and never found), and 264 wounded. She was heavily damaged and was sent to the Bremerton Naval Shipyard for repairs. She was still in the shipyard when the war ended in mid-August 1945.
Post-war
In September 1945, Bunker Hill reported for duty with the Operation Magic Carpet fleet, returning veterans from the Pacific. She remained on this duty as a unit of TG 16.12 until January 1946, when she was ordered to Bremerton for deactivation. She was decommissioned into reserve on 9 January 1947.
While she was laid up in mothballs, she was reclassified three times, becoming CVA-17 in October 1951, CVS-17 in August 1953, and AVT-9 in May 1959, with the latter designation indicating that any future commissioned operations would be as an "Auxiliary Aircraft Landing Training Ship". As all Essex-class carriers survived the war, Bunker Hill was surplus to the needs of the navy. She and Franklin, which also had sustained severe damage from an aerial attack, were the only aircraft carriers in the Essex-class that did not experience any active duty after the end of World War II, despite their being repaired. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in November 1966, Bunker Hill was used as a stationary electronics test platform at the Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, during the 1960s and early 1970s.
