Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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n lly 1401) ilif nixl ihiy. Diivcy left the sliip vi.i the li;i sc pipe-- ;i qiiirtly ;is lie li.icl ( i)in - Wfclncscliiy, jJiiK 1 )44: ij-i() Slfjimini; as l clbic. 1400 CIondiK led cnrinoiMcs incident to crossing Equator. 0 1. im! Oh, my. ' . ' I he Royal Cioiirt convened on tlic lli!j;lit deck promptly at 1400 and had rendered svsilt and just sentences upon the 800 odd Pollyv ogs at exactly 1401. It is only meet and right that the names of the individuals comprising a Cbiirt that can render ecjuitablc punishment so rapidly should be preserved for posterity: therefore, the entire Court is given below as follows: HRH King Neptune. . . C. B. Wagner. CXiM HRH Queen . mphitrite J. H. Beall. Vic Royal Scribe Lt. (jg) C. C. Smith Royal Chaplain R. O. McCormick. CSF Royal Doctor Cdr. C:. M. Tirrell Royal Dentist J- f • Handlcy, C ox Royal SherifT W. L. Baker, CSF Royal Bear L. E. Ewing. CSK Diivey Jones E. C. Ammons, MoMMac Royal Baby W. W. A. Fcurer, C:RM Royal Nurse G. R. Wallace, AMM3C Royal Barber W. W. Partin. Yic Royal Barber W. W. .Atkinson. C:SM Royal Naxisjator J. L. Nihcm. QM3C Preparing the ducking tank for the Polljisogs. ' l.owiy ■Pollywoi! kisws Royal Baby. Immediately after the .sentences had been rendered. King Neptune extended a warm and cordial invitation to all Polly vogs to join the Court on the hangar deck, where certain .secret and ugly looking gear had been set up for the torture of the damned, ' and the invitations weren ' t R..S. ' .P., either. The only consola- tion we could find in the proceedings was that nearly all our passengers were PoUwogs also, and they, poor hapless thintrs, constituted near- ly half the number being initiated. We of the Ship ' s Company would, at least, soon be giv- ing it back. After getting us on the hangar deck, they herded the entire lot of us down to the after crew mess, where we waited our turn in line for the privilege of running the gauntlet of Shellbacks the length of the hangar deck to the forward ele ator to pay homage to, and re- cei e treatment from the Royal C ourt. Pictures can tell the story of what happened far better than words. Suffic e it to say that we were a motley looking crew of Shellbacks when they had finished with us. wi th crosses of silver nitrate on our foreheads that remained there nearly as long as we had to sit on the edge of our chairs at chow, which, in at least one case, was all of a month. And the haircuts presented such a tonsorial array as has m vcr before or since been equalled in originalit y. The inge- 36

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King Neptu nd his Royal C:o FRO?. : HRH NEPTUNIS REX TO: USS LUNGA POINT (CVE 94) INCONFOx UITY WITH THE CUSTOMS ESTABLISH! D SINCE MEN HAVE SAILED BEYOND THE SEAS AND INTO MY REALM 1 HE COMMANDING OF- FICER IS REQUESTED TO HAVE ALL LOWLY POLLYH ' OGS FALL IN AT QUARTERS ON JULY FOURTH AT 1400 TO RECEIVE SUBPOENA DIRECTING THEM TO APPEAR BEFORE NH ' ROYAL COURT ON WEDNESDAY JULY FIFTH X UNIFORM FOR SUCH LOWLY C REA- TURES SHOULD BE AS FOLLOWS C;0- LOx 0FFIC;ERS comma FANCY ' GREY OR KHAKI TRC3USERS BLUE SERVICE TOP COAT AND WHITE C:APS EN- LISTED PERSCONNEL WHITE TROU- SERS BLUE JUiMPER FLAT HATS PEA- COATS AND WOOLEN GLOVES X UNDER NO C:iIRC:UMSTANCES SHALL SUC:H PERSONS BE PERMITTED TO WEAR SHOES OR SOX X SPECIAL OF- FICER LOOKOUTS SHALL BE POSTED IN THE EYES OF THE SHIP ONE HOUR PRIOR TO THE ARRIVAL OF MY ROYAL SCRIJBE DA ' EY JONES X UNI- FORM ANT) EQUIPMENT FOR LOOK- OUTS SHALL BE PRESCRIBED BY THE SENIOR SHELLBACK ABOARD X Tuesday, 4 Jul- ' 944: 12-16 Steaming- as before. 1405 Da ey Jones welcomed aboifird by Captain. Sure enoi gh, at e.xactly 1400. our officer lookouts, bemg ever on the alert, sighted Davey Jones climbing the down haul chains out of the depths of the briny deep, right up the bow of our ship and through the haw.se pipes, and they immediately reported the arrival of our dis- tinguished guest to the OOD, who, in turn, reported it to the Captain. The Old Man promptly invited Davey up to the flight deck where he extended him a warm welcome aboard, whispering in Davey ' s car that he hoped the Royal Court would give us Pollywogs H — the next day, particularly the E.xec, be- cause it was with a feeling of utter contempt that the Skipper had learned that his Executive Ofliccr, with all his years at sea, had never gotten nearer the Equator than the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. Davey Jones expressed his appreciation to the Captain for the warm welcome, and then looked down upon the supplicating Pollywogs with a supercilious and gluttonous expression on his weather-beaten face, and commenced reading the charges, most of which were faked, against the individuals bowing in great humil- ity and fright before his Majesty ' s emissary. Davey seemed to enjoy the suffering of the Pollywogs immensely as they stood about the flight deck, barefooted, and in pea coats and top coats, with that Equatorial .sun beating down upon them (and us), and the perspiration dripping from their chins. His expression seemed to warn the poor un-initiatcd that where beads of perspiration dropped that day, drops of blood would be dripping on the mor- row, after they had been convicted without trial before the Royal Cburt, and were re- ceiving their just punishment. After warn- ing the Pollwogs to be prepared for trial at ex- 35

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nuity of the Royal Barbers was simply mar- elous. n ' ( ' ' ;■(■ a bunch of Shellbacks, Now! Yo! Ho! Ho! And a bottle o ' rum. Beware all lowly Pollywogs, ' ' Cause our timers sure to come. The war having interrupted the education of so many of our Ship ' s Company, this cruise did serve the purpose of giving all hands something that, at least, had a vague resemblance to a diploma, because, in consequence of our suffer- ing, we were all presented with Shellback Cer- tificates as ornately decorated as any Sheep- skin we ' ve ever seen, each being appropriately inscribed with the name, rank and or rate of each new Shellback by Ens. Stuve, our Cata- pult King. Now, we were about to receive a pocket-sized Diploma, because on Saturday, 8 July 1944: 20-24 Steaming as beforf 2024 Commenced blowing tubes and pumping bilges. 2029 Completed blowing tubes. 2030 Completed pumping bilges. 2245 Crossed i8oth Merid- ian at io°S. Latitude. Advanced ship ' s clocks 24 hours. Crossing the i8oth Meridian was more or less uneventful, since the usual initiation was waived by the Captain at the request of the Senior Medical Officer, because he had made an examination of the effects of the Shellback initiation on the crew and decided they ' d had enough for one week. We were, however, ac- cepted as Loyal Members of the Society of the Golden Dragon, and presented with appropri- ate cards testifying to that effect. The only occurrence worthy of note, in this connection, was the fact that we lost a Sunday, having Top l,Jl: t:apt. •Mends wtkoinc to I)a C) JulK-i; h p nghl: DaM-y Jones ' responds to Claptain ' s welcome; hivn Ifjt: Pollywogs ' to Davey Jones on 4 July; lower right: Pollywogs crawling the gauntlet of blood thirsty shellbacks. 37