Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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PART II LEYTE GULF Leyte Gulf was her first operation In her fight for our great nation, With her Squadron, tried and true, Flying away, over the blue. There she proved herself full-grown, Thousands of miles she ' d sailed and flown. Shortly after getting underway from Pearl Harbor we acquired a strange new word for our vocabulary — ' ' Eniwetok, because we were told that we were en route there. After fran- tic scanning of large scale charts we found a pin point atoll in the Marshall Islands bearing that name. It was not the last island or atoll we were to visit bearing an unfamiliar name, though. In fact, we have visited so many places perfectly strange and unfamiliar to us that we have long since lost confidence in om- old brown Geography of the World. Now that we ucre on the outskirts of the combat zone our duties became heavier and the everyday routine was accomplished in a more serious and determined manner. Frivolity was on the wane, and seriousness of purpose was the order of the day. Everyone went about his duties in a grim sort of manner, know- ing that we might contact enemy undersea craft at any moment, and that we would soon be within striking range of enemy aircraft. Lookouts were constantly alerted and the C aptain spent more and more time on the bridge, because he wanted to be there ready for any emergency. At this point, however, our training had reached such a degree that all hands had been more or less permanently settled in the job where they could serve best. The Captain had selected OOD ' s in whom he had sufficient confidence to turn over the bridge to a good part of the time. The Chief Engi- neer had whipped the Black Gang into a smooth operating organization, and the Gun- nery Officer seemed content with his gun batteries. In fact, we had practically finished our indoctrination, and were eager to get into combat to see the actual results of our long period of training, which had, quite frankly, reached the point of monotony at times, par- ticularly, as we on the guns stood out in the broiling hot sun at gunnery exercises, hour after hour, preparing ourselves to repel any- thing the Japs might throw at us. Our Air Officer had built up a most cfl cient Air De- partment, and we could already see that we were going to have a record in air operations second to none. Yes, our indoctrination pe- riod was virtually over, although we did con- tinue to have classes in aircraft identification, and they continue to this day, so that we can keep up with the latest models of enemy planes. It was, therefore, with a feeling of mutual con- fidence existing between the Skipper and the entire Ship ' s Company that we sailed into the West, determined to do our utmost to bring glory to our Country, to the Lunga Point, and to VC 85. Our Squadron had long since sold them- selves to the Ship ' s Company, and, from here on out, VC 85 and CVE 94 were one and the same. We couldn ' t have desired a finer and better qualified group in any Squadron than we found in VQ 85. The sole and primary purpose of an aircraft carrier being to serve its Squadron, we feel that, with pardonable pride, we can safely say that we had already achieved our purpose in that respect. The spirit of co- operation existing between our Squadron and the Ship ' s Company was certain indication of the joint success we were to achieve in action in the months to come. The only sign of friction e ' er existing between the Squadron and the Ship ' s Company resulted from the fact that the Squadron had better card players than we had. Even so, it was all forgotten before breakfast the next morning, and plans were again being made for that evening ' s rec- reation. Later on, even this friction was to be alleviated by the Exec ' s clamping down on Ten O ' clock Lights. Already, our planes had taken to the air, and were doing an admirable job in providing us LCAP (Local Combat Air Patrol), and LAS? (Local Anti-Submarine Patrol) coverage, and to say that our planes overhead gave us a com- fortable feeling is putting it mildly. Enough of our planes had already been launched and reco ered 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 very small number of flight deck crashes on our ship as compared 51

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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

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with the numlxT of such rrashcs customarily rxp Tt cl. Likewise, our Fiif;ht Derk Crews were already op -ratini; like veterans as they re-spottecl the deck in record time, while our V-2 Division on the liangar deck was nursinp; our planes so well that we were destined to have a ' plane a ailability ' of not less than cjcj.a per cent at any time during our first year, whether in actual coinbat or just routine ojx-rations. In short, wc felt ready. Finally, after a comfortable and uneventful cruise, on ' W ' l ' diicsday, i o cmber 1(144: 04-08 .Steaming as before. 0430 .Sighted land on horizon. 0457 Ceased zig-zagging. Re- sumed base cour.se 245°T. 0500 .Sounded Gen- eral Quarters. 0525 Made preparations to enter Eniwctok Atoll. 0551 U.S..S. Torktoicn passed on opposite course to port, 2500 yards. 0556 Stationed all special sea details. 0701 Secured from General Quarters. 0732 a c stopped. 0734 s e back 2 3. Anchored in Berth K-f), with 90 fathoms of chain out to port anchor at water ' s edge in 27 fathorrLs of water, in Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands. 075,1 .Secured spi-cial sea details. .Set regular sea watches. .Since we were to b - llicre only one day very few got on the beach; however, it was an in- teresting stop, since it was our first call on a small Pacific atoll, and we did enjoy the view from the forecastle and fantail. Eniwctok, too, had been torn and burned by the ravages of war, resulting from our having taken the island a few months before, but, from the ship, it presented a rather pretty and typical picture of a small Pacific isle. The entire length of the island was only about two miles and it averaged about a half mile in width. Its highest point of elevation was probably not more than ten feet above .sea level, but it was pretty, with its remaining palms swinging gently in the warm ■ ship. 52