Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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other on the Liinga Point. We had all gone through the CVE Pre-Commissioning School and had spent a while at Astoria together just before commissioning, and we knew we would work well together. The cruise to Pearl Harbor afforded us the opportunity of training in station keeping and maneuvering as a Division, and much valuable training was received in that respect. It also afforded us further opportunity for the Squad- rons of our Division to train together, and the time was well spent in both directions. All hands, including the Squadrons, were kept very busy with their training during the run out to Pearl, and, just before reaching there, we re- ceived the following dispatch from ComAirPac: COMAIRPAC: VELCOMES COMCAR- DIV 29 AND C.ARDI ' 29 TO PEARL AND THE AIR FORCE PACIFIC: FLEET. % ' i . ' .jm Inp I, It: Waik.ki Beach, D.a nd Head in background; tofi Tight: King section; below right: Bisht That message, while appreciated, drove home to us the fact that we were in the war, and would soon be reaping the benefits of our long and arduous training period, and on Monday, 23 October 1944: 08-12 Steaming as before. 0900 Secured all gun stations from firing exercises. Set Con- dition of Readiness III. 0906 Passed Maka- peru Point Lighthouse abeam to starboard, range 2 miles. 091 1 Passed Kokohead abeam to starboard, range 2 miles. 0913 c c to I70°T and p.g.c, 157° p.s.c. 0951 Passed Dia- mond Head abeam to starboard, range •2]4 miles. 0952 c,s to 14 knots. 1012 Sta- tioned all special sea details. 1024 Entered Pearl Harbor, Oahu, swept channel, passing between Barber ' s Point and Diamond Headj . entering Inland waters. 1037 Pilot. Lt. Jc ere Gillen, USNR, came aboard and took.Ve and the a a finer and 1 fc l BT Scjuadron than L B I i JL. ' ' ° ' ' ' primary I H B |[D ' PI being to serve its := I LI a -- Yi pardonable pride, VI p| M| e had already achieved I I lffl| Pspect. The spirit of co- 9 ' ■■r etween our Squadron and y was certain indication of were to achieve in action in (omc. The only sign of friction twcen the Squadron and the IjDany resulted from the fact that the lad better card players than we n so, it was all forgotten before the next morning, and plans were ■ing made for that evening ' s rec- Later on, even this friction was to iated by the Exec ' s clamping down on O ' clock Lights. ready, our planes had taken to the air, and doing an admirable job in providing us P (Local Combat Air Patrol), and L.- SP cal . nti-Submarine Patrol) coverage, and say that our planes overhead gave us a com- ortalDlc feeling is putting it mildly. Enough )f our planes had already been launched and recovered by us to convince us that our pilots were able to handle any mission assigned them. We had also seen them operate enough to know that our LSO, Lt. (jg) Hatcher, and his As- sistant, Lt. (jg) Whitehouse, were to be large- ly responsible for the ver ' small number of flight deck crashes on our ship as compared 49 '

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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

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I ifl -, All entwines stopped, i 143 Moored slar- hoard side to Quay l -3. Ford Island, Pearl HarlxH, Oalni. I . H. i- ariy lilxrty was granted at Pearl. Ixrause they still had an early curfew, hut, d -spitf this, all hands were able to see something jf Hono- lulu during our ver - brief stop, since both Port and Starboard watches had a liberty each. Hawaii was nothing new to the Old Timers aboard, hut, to those new to the Navy, it was a place of great interest. .Ml were impressed with the natural beauty of the islands, Oahu in particular; however, the most interesting thing to those of us who had ne er been there before was the fact that we found Honolulu such a thriving, modern and hospitable city; very much the same as our own cities back home. ■ this connection we were much impressed. ° ' ;ic afternoon we had in Honolulu, by rca y s(. . j. loads of school children, riding Wardroom. , ■ 1 • . » ■ , • the mam busmcss streets, gomg to It was whu. p anfj singing their .school song learned about • ..jhc Caissons Go Rolling particular occasion, , ial attention to that h. ,j j p - good part of the space . ,• . , , , ' . , I 1 1 J ' Timcdiatclv on gettmg the bridge. It looked •, 1 d ' 1 , -, , 1 1 1 Mkiki Beach, some to and. no doubt, had been . OOD during the long, dark Watch; howe cr, Lt. Tippc Second Division Officer, was t its comfort on the Forenoon W Skipper one day. and the Old Man as follows to wit Quote Young Ma you know that it took me twcnty-fi earn the privilege of sitting in tl. That chair is the CAPTAIN ' S CHA no one else is to sit in it. If I ever cati else sitting in my chair he will enjoy vilege of counting rivets in his Stateroi two weeks Unquote. The word spread r about THE CH. IR. and to this day. no has been caught occupying the C aptj Chair, probably because the Captain, by t time, has sufficient confidence in his OOD ' s r to bother about coming to the bridge durini) the Mid Vatch. The only draw-back to our stay in the Dago area was nothing new in the life of a Naxy man; ' it w as 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 15 Septem- ber; therefore, most of the Lunga Point wi es crowded the ticket offices of the Santa Fe, the Oiilriggi-r Club, .some just shopping the streets, and .some had a very unifjiie experience. It s -ems that most of the barbers in Honolulu are females. Some of our men had the unifjue ex|J Tience of having their hair trimmed by these Lady Barlx-rs, which is not only the last time they have Ix-en near a woman up to this writing, but it is al.so the last non-Reg hair- cut they have had. .So. with a boat load of Hula .Skirts, Lcis, Ukuleles, and plca.sant memories of this most hospitable outpost of the United .States, on Wednesday, 25 October 1944: 08-12 Moored as before. 08 if) Underway from Pier F-13, Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. Oahu. T.H. Pilot, Lt. James Gillen, USNR, at the conn. Captain, Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. Maneuvering as necessary to clear berth. 0822 Clear of berth, a e ahead 1 3. On course i53°T, 155° p-g-c, and 140° p.s.c. 0904 Passed lighted buoy No. 6 abeam to starboard, 50 yards. Pilot left the ship. Captain at the conn. 0907 Exercised at General Quarters, a c ahead 2 3. 091 1 a e ahead standard. 0916 took departure from Pearl Harbor, T.H., on base course of 253°T, 255°Pgc-, and 244°p.s.c. ship. 50