Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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as those of our escorts. Even at this writing we get quite a thrill out of the sight of them. ]. p Pilot Comes Abo.ard On 1 1 September at 0805 a Japanese Pilot. S. Hosono, Master in the Japane.se Maritime Service, came aboard to help us through the mine fields as we entered VVakanoura Wan. It was only reasonable to expect that when Lieut. Comdr. Tippett met the pilot at the No. 3 Sponson to show him to the bridge there was a large crowd on hand to see him; howe er, they were somewhat surprised to find him a .slender little man, who, except for his charts under his arm, looked everything but a harbor pilot. The cruise from there on into VVakanoura was not without excitement, because we were going through waters that were literally in- fested with mines. The pilot knew where the Jap mines were, but. unfortunately, he and we had only to guess where the B-ag ' s had been dropping their mines. It was some comfort to us to know that we had a large group of mine- .sweepers sweeping a channel ahead of us. but even that does not always guarantee a safe pas- sage. In any event, we got through safely and dropped our hook in Wakanoura Wan at 1833 that day. It was too late for the Jap pilot to leave the ship; so we assigned him a room for the night, imder guard, of course, and he left us earK ' the next morning. Japan Most of us had never been to Japan before and w-ere, frankly, quite appreciative of the opportunity to visit the land of the Rising Sun, e en though it did delay our return home a little. All of us enjoyed the view of this moun- tainous coastal region from the ship; however, only officers and men in a duty status got ashore Jap pilot salutes as he reaches flight deck with his charts. Top: The man in the middle is our Jap pilot into Wakanoura Wan; centfr: Street car station — Wakanoura; btiow: Waka- noura police and Red Cross workers. 221

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chaplain William Right HoLLLNGSWORTH. U.S. Xa V L ' ..S.. .. . C:ia.ss of 1926 ( :omma nd i ng Officer centers to extend the invitation. Tiie supply simply would not meet the demand, and the result was that our bufTet supper and dance was graced by the presence of only eight girls for the approximately 100 ofHccrs. They were a very attractive group, however, and they would have gotten a rush an -way. As it was, though, they were simply rushed off their feet. In any event, a good time was had by all, and when we weighed anchor on i .September for Okinawa, we did feel that we had at least had a taste of civilization. UNCONornoN.xL Sirrf.nder Our cruise up to Okinawa this time was momentous in that during this cruise, on 2 September, Japanese representatives came aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, and signed our unconditional surrender terms in the presence of various representatives of the Allied Powers. Naturally, we were more than happy to know that the war was over and that we would all soon be seeing our loved ones after so man)- months at sea ; howe er, we were faced with the realization that we would not all be going home right away, because it was only reasonable to assume that there was work yet to be done in Japanese waters. There were POW ' s to evacuate; there were American military personnel to bring home and there was a certain amount of necessary- policing to do in this theatre to insure ourselves against any successful Jap treachery. We reached Buckner Bay this time on 5 .Sep- tember, but we did not stay long. On the 7th we received orders to disembark ' C-g8 to make more room for passengers, and on the gth we set our course for Wakanoura Wan, Honshu. Japan, sans X ' C ' -gS, to assist in the repatriation of . llied Prisoners-of-War. This trip was also momentous in that we sailed with our running lights for the first time since we had been in commission, and it was quite a treat to stroll up to the flight deck after dinner at night just to look at the beautiful lights on our ship as well 220

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lap Red Cross assisls wilh P.O.W. lilirr cases. (Dr. Piatt and C:hi r ClalHcoattc to left in picture. on thi.s particular visit. Those of us who went a.shore at Wakanoura on official business were amonE; the first to occup)- this particular part of Honshu; however, we experienced no diffi- culties what.soe er. The Litnga Point had a prominent part in the evacuation of appro.xi- mately 3.000 POWs from this area, we having officers and men on duty in the Mampa Ro t group of allied P.O.W.s to reach S ' ak emergency first aid station. Wakano boats to Mampa Ro Hotel for processing.