Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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There they were, all together, about thirty of them, and the field wide open for gossip, dis- cussion of the latest styles, the latest hair-do, the latest book, and the new movies. The luncheon was at 1300; however, it was 1700 bv the time they returned to Long Beach just ■■talked out. There is no doubt but that that luncheon was the starter for many friend- ships, because, even that night in the hotels of Long Beach, the gals started all over again, talking about the hair-do that hadn ' t quite set when they left the Rendezvous Room. After necessary work had been completed on our ship, most of our wives followed us on down to Dago, from where we were scheduled to operate for several weeks, and, after another frantic rush to find rooms, most of the wives settled down to wait, because that is just what they were doing a good part of the time there. We went out on short cruises, lasting from two to ten days, going through v ' arious exercises and tests, and, of course, our wives never knew when we were coming back; so each time we came in we got just about as big a thrill as we did on returning from our Shake- down Cruise. Lunga Point wives could be found in almost every hotel and apartment hou.sc in Dago and C ' oronado; therefore, the Lunga Point was al- ways -cry much in evidence around the U.S. Grant Hotel and the El Cortez in Dago and the del Coronado in Coronado. In fact, our men and their wives could be found almost any- where you went in that area. Our stay in the San Diego area was not only a pleasant and happy one, but also an interest- ing one, since many availed themselves of the opportunity to visit places of interest in the vicinity while on liberty, not the least interest- ing of which were Tia Juana and Agua Cal- iente, Mexico. There, one could see the races on Sunday afternoons or spend an evening browsing around the many gift shops of Tia Juana, buying leather goods and Mexican siher, after a delicious dinner at the American C lub, highlighted by one of those tempting Romaine salads. The .San Diego area was a most pleasant one in which to be from another standpoint — the fact that it is truly the Cross-roads of the Navy. There is seldom a day passes that you don ' t run into friends you have known some- where else in the Navy or in civilian life. This is particularly true at the del Coronado Hotel, o er in Cloronado, where almost e eryone feels perfectly at home, walking into the lovely and spacious, high-domed dining room or into the Cocktail Lounge, because you are almost cer- tain to meet up with friends even before you have had a chance to sit down. This only adds to the gaiety that seems always prevalent at this charming hotel. ' C-85 Reports Abo.ard On 16 August, our Squadron, Composite Squadron Eighty-Five (VC 85), reported aboard for duty, and e promptly go t under- way to qualify them. Right from the start they made a most favorable impression on us, and they went about their Shakedown aboard the Lunga Point with a seriousness of purpose that was bound to have been most pleasing to our Old Man. From that point on, until we left on our business trip a good part of the time for the next several weeks was devoted entirely to shaking down our Squadron. ' We made several short crui.scs with them, and they left the ship once for a couple of days special training at one of our nearby land bases. They worked hard and long, and were really shaping up into a fine Squadron, but, becau.sc of the intensity of their work, we of the Ship ' s Com- pany were unable to get acquainted ..jvith them as quickly as we would ha ' c liked We were determined to operate as one; so we decided to have a C VE 94- VC 85 Dutch Treat Cock- tail Party at the Officer ' s Club, North Island. The party was given in the Sun Rocn% of the Club on Wednesday, 4 October, and it was a

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onms Drl)iit;int( ' iil llic Stork (liil) lo ili()s - boys that mtJinini;. Havini; clisrmbarkcd our passmgrrs and un- loaded our carijo of planes, liinTly staried for the I ' ort Watch at ifioo. and that niKht the telephone lines were busy from Coronado and Dago to all sections of the country, as .iiiigfi Point men awaited their turn in line to call their wives and families. It Ix ' intj pretty well under- stood that we would be in and around Dago and Long Beach for several weeks at least, many Liinga Point wi ' es were given orders to return to that area with least possible delay, since many of them had returned to their homes, scattered all over the country, after wc shoved ofT from Astoria on 5 June, exactly two months before. The next day, 6 August, wc got underway for Terminal Island, Long Beach, Calif., where wc were to go into the Yard t(j iind rjut just hi w ucll we had shaken her dt)wn. Most of the men s[x-nt th -ir first few days there trying to hnd a room, any kind of a room, for their wives, l)ecause the li(jusing situation wa.s sfjmcihing terrible. Many a wife was en route, not know- ing where she would stay; howvver, they were all taken care of one way or another, either in hotels, apartment houses or private homes. While at Long Beach all hands were offered five days lea e, with most of the single men go- ing to Los Angeles, Hollywood, .San P ' rancisco and .San Diego, and most of the married men remaining in Long Beach with their families. Quite a few Lunga Point men were able to get rooms at the Hotel Hilton or the ' illa Ri iera in Long Beach, while those in the upp cr bracket stayed at the Biltmore in Los .Angeles. .Actually, we had one representative from our .ship in that upper bracket. It mattered not to us of the proletariat, though, because we could get to Los Angeles on the Pacific Electric in forty-five minutes. In any event, it was here at Long Beach that many lasting friend- ships were made amongst the wives of the Lunga Point men; friendships that were going to mean much to them during their lonely hours awaiting our return from the fighting front later on. One event in particular did much to cement the friendships amongst the wi es of the ofiiccrs. and that was the luncheon that Mrs. Washburn gave for them in the Rcndez- ous Room of the Biltmore in Los . ngeles dur- ing our Long Beach sojourn. We husbands, of course, did not rate the luncheon, but were told all about the delicious food, the lovely centerpiece, and some of the gossip that night. I of Captain at personnel inspection. North Island. Personnel inspection, North Island. 46

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RH-at siucfss. Pra( tirally all i)f tlic oflif rs and ihcir wives were prcst-nl, and it aflordcd surh a pleasant atmosplicrr for us to i i-t actiuainlcd in that wo are convinced that that party played a delinite rcjle in makinif lis work scj wc-ll to- j»ether in tiie loni; months of combat that followed. Most of the couples remained at the C!lul) for dinner followini; the party, i ettin together in informal groups. (!aptain and Mrs. W ' ashhurn, ( ' ommander and Mrs. Ivist- wold and Lieutenant Commander Herriman, the .Squadron C ' ommander. oc c upied the head table. The only bad thing about tiie party is the fact that, a.s wc sit here pounding out this story just off the .shores of Okinawa, wc can just taste tho.sc great big hunks of lobster that literally covered the Hors d ' ocvre.s platters, while all we ha e to look forward to for dinner tonight is more pork chops, because we ' ve al- ready seen the apple sauce on the tables in the W ' ardroom. It was while operating off Dago that wc learned about THE CHAIR. Undl this particular occasion, no one had paid any spec- ial attention to that high chair that occupied a good part of the space on the cnclo.scd part of the bridge. It looked comfortable enough, and, no doubt, had been sat in by many an OOD during the long, dark hours of the Mid Watch; however, Lt. Tippett, our popular Second Division Officer, was found enjoying its comfort on the Forenoon Watch by our Skipper one day, and the Old Man told him ofT as follows to wit Quote Young Man, I ' ll ha e you know that it took me t enty-fi e years to earn the privilege of sitting in that chair. That chair is the C. PTAIN ' S CHAIR, and no one else is to sit in it. If I ever catch anyone else sitting in my chair he will enjoy the pri- vilege of counting rivets in his Stateroom for two weeks Unquote. The word spread rapidly about ' THE CHAIR, and to this day, no one has been caught occupying the Captain ' s Chair, probably because the Captain, by this time, has sufficient confidence in his OOD ' s not to bother about coming to the bridge during the Mid Watch. The only draw-back to our stay in the Dago area was nothing new in the life of a Navy man; it was not knowing when we were shoving off on our business trip, so that our wives could make train reservations home. Scuttlebutt had it that we would get underway about 1 5 Septem - ber; therefore, most of the Lunga Point wives crowded the ticket offices of the Santa Fe, Union Pacific and Southern Pac ilic, hoping to get reservations somewhere in the neighbor- hood of that date. We had a right good break in this respect, however. It seems that some of the men and ihc-ir wivc-s had gotten rooms at the del Coronado Hotel, among them being Captain and Mrs. Washburn, . lcjng about 10 September, Mrs. Washburn casually re- marked t(j .some of the wives that she had can- celled her reservations for .Seattle for the i-,th. By noon the next day the reservations of all the I.iiniia Point wives had been cancelled. Cllose tab was kept on Mrs. Washburn thereafter, and, when she let it out that she had made res- ervations home for 1 7 October, the railroad ticket oflices were again filled with the wives of our officers and men, making reservations for on or about the 17th. That time, Mrs. Washburn didn ' t cancel her reservations, darn it; .so, after fond farewells to wives and sweethearts, on Tojo, Here We Come! Monday, 16 October 1944: 12-16 Moored as before. 1 23 1 Lighted off No. 3 boiler. 1515 Made all preparations for getting underway. 1520 Pilot, H. N. Krog, came aboard. 1527 Got underway for Pearl Harbor in obedience to ComFairWestCoast dispatch 010 of 251702. Pilot at the conn. C aptain. Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. .Standard speed. .Standing out of .San Diego Harbor on various courses and speeds conforming to the channel. 1556 Pilot left the ship. Captain at the conn. 1559 Passed between Points Loma and Zuniga. Entered International waters. We were finally en route to Pearl Harbor, and all of us felt pretty confident that our peri- od of indoctrination was rapidly coming to an end. and that wc would soon be showing those .Sons of Hea en how the Lunga Point could dish it out. . nd there was good reason for that feeling, because we were, for the first time, cruising as a part of newly-formed CarDiv 29, with Rear Admiral C. T. Cal Durgin, USN, in the capacity of ComCarDiv 29. The other ships in our Division were the U.S..S. Makin Island (CVE 93), U.S.S. Bismarck Sea (C T 95), and the U..S.S. Salamaua (C ' E 96). with our Flag being in the Makin Island. We felt very much at home, now, because we had come to know the officers and men of the other ships in our division just about as well as we knew each 48