Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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tropical breeze. And, now tliat we had seen Eniwetok, on Thursday, 2 November 1944: 08-12 Anchored as before. 0934 Lit off No. 2 and No. 4 boilers. 0945 Stationed all special sea details. Made all preparations for getting underway. 1041 Underway from Berth K-9, Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, on various courses and speeds conforming to channel. Captain at the conn. Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. 1053 Secured all special sea details. Set Condition of Readiness III. 1059 X ' isibility reduced to JX mile due to rain squall. 1 1 50 c s to 19 knots, c c to I I5°T and p.g.c, 1 1 1° p.s.c. This was to be a short hop, because on Sunday, 5 November 1944: 12-16 Steaming as before. 1234 .Sighted land bearing 256°T and 253°T, distance 15 miles. 1433 Entered swept channel entrance to an- chorage, Ulithi Atoll. 1533 Anchored in Northern anchorage, Ulithi Atoll, Western C aroline Islands, Berth 153, on the following bearings: Beacon N 322°T, Temporary Bea- con 336. 5°T, Tower on Mangejang Island 057. 5°T, left tangent Lolang Island 083. 5°T. Although we were at Ulithi Atoll h -e days on this stop, only a chosen few were privileged to get ashore due to the shortage of boats to transport liberty parties to and from the many ships present. It seems that a grave emergency existed in the Captain ' s Cabin, because Port- hole. the Skipper ' s cat, was in dire need of a fresh supply of sand. Consequently, Boat- swain Luck was given orders to do the needful, and he did. He took, in addition to him.self, one BMic, two BM2c, three Coxswains, four Sic and Five S2C, and the Athletic Officer, Lt. DeAngelis (to provide the fishing gear), not to mention the No. 2 Motor Whale Boat and its crew of three, and the Bos ' n ' s Gig, to get that bag of sand. They were gone all day on this recreation party to Lolang Island, 2000 yards on our starboard beam, and we happened to be on the forecastle when they returned that afternoon with the Gig just loaded down with all kinds of coral, sea shells and other sou- cnirs entirely obscuring from view the one bag of sand for the Captain ' s cat. Looking up to- ward the aviation boom on the flight deck we could see Porthole ' s head looking down at that one bag of sand, with a forlorn expression on her face, as if to say, It doesn ' t look like they got enough to last until we hit port again, be- cause the Captain has told me where we ' re going. As soon as our forces took Ulithi Atoll the natives were all moved to the island of Fa.ssari, and some of us on the morning watch had a rather interesting experience one morning. We were anchored only about 2000 yards off Fassari, and, with our binoculars, we could get a very good view of the scattered native huts. Just as the sun was rising we had our glasses trained on a fairly large hut, and, as we watched closely, we could see the matted grass curtains pushed aside by a lazy arm, and, there, right before our eyes, was the Fassari counter- part of Dorothy Lamour, stretching and yawn- ing, and, apparently, hating to leave her palm leaf mat just as much as a Park Avenue Debu- tante hates to leave the percale sheets of her Simmons Beauty Rest mattress. But, being a Ulithi frau, she had her chores to do; so, finally, she got up and made a dash for the surf, splashing water all over her face and body to thoroughly awaken herself. Having com- pleted her toilet, she returned to the hut to awaken Pop. With no little effort, he finally got up, and, with spear in hand, walked down to the inlet about 200 yards from their place. After several dives into the breakers made by the coral reefs, he walked triumphantly back to the hut with their breakfast, which appeared to be two very nice fish. You could see them building a fire and cooking, and, soon, we saw no more of them until about sunset when we happened to be on the flight deck. They came sailing by in their over-sized outrigger canoe, with Dorothy ' doing most of the work in sailing the craft, and Pop and the kids lolling in the waning sun. Somehow, there was much to be envied in their way of life. We couldn ' t help recall the Presidential election taking place in the States the following Tuesday and all the sorrow and disappointment that would accom- pany it, regardless of who won. Such trivial matters never bothered Dorothy and her Old Man ; politics was something they couldn ' t even read about. Then, we thought of income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, franchise taxes, capital stock taxes, excess prof- its taxes, tax surcharges, poll taxes, cigarette ta.xes, gasoline taxes, business licenses, auto- mobile licenses, amortizing the mortgage, life insurance premiums and the many other 53