Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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bOPPO ACTION RtPORT, US5 LUNCA POINT 21 DE.CLM E.R 4

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Protestant services were held on the hangar deck by our Chaplain on Christmas morning, followed by Catholic Mass, which was said by a visiting Priest from another ship in the har- bor. Both ser ' ices were very impressive, being high-lighted by the Christmas Stoiy and the singing of Hymns appropriate to the Season. The enlisted personnel had a treat Christmas Day that was almost worth coming to Manus for. They always have turkey on such days as Thanksgiving and Christmas, but, this time, they not only had turkey and all the trimmings but they were privileged to dine on the hangar deck, where they had plenty of elbow room ' and could take their time as they went to work on their drum sticks. All in all, it was about the best Christmas a man could expect to have while in a strange land fighting a war. It did seem funny, though, for so many of us to be spending Christ- mas afternoon walking through the hot palm groves of Pityilu Island, and searching for cat eyes along the sandy beach, while the folks back home were worrying over getting sufficient fuel ration coupons to get oil for the furnace in order to keep out the cold for vhich we longed so. The next couple of days were taken up al- most entirely with loading stores, taking on more fuel and ammunition, and on Wednesday, 27 December 1944: 12-16 Underway from Berth VV-45, Western Anchorage, Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admi- ralty Islands, on various courses and speeds. Captain at the conn. Executive Officer and Navigator on the Bridge. 1234 With black buoy abeam to starboard, distance 100 yards, took departure on course ii5°T and p.g.c, 1 19° p.s.c, at 17 knots. Shortly after leaving port we had our usual Gunnery Exercises, firing at targets towed by planes from the beach. It was, as usual, terribly hot out there in the sun as we fired away at the targets, but we were destined soon to be more than thankful that the Skipper and the Gunnery Officer were so insistent that we get in gunnery practice just as often as possible. After all, we were en route to the real thing, and, with that knowledge, the gun batteries fired away at those targets with even more in- terest and enthusiasm than they ever had be- fore. It was, so to speak, our final test. Ex- cept for our gunnery practice, this short cruise was uneventful, and on Saturday, 30 December 1944: 08- 1 2 Steaming as before. 0834 c s to 5 knots, c c to i97°T and p.g.c, 180° p.s.c. 0841 a e stopped. 0921 Anchored in Berth 24, Kossol Passage, Western Caroline Islands, in 18 fathoms of water with 75 fathoms of chain at water ' s edge to the starboard anchor. 0936 Secured main engines. 0940 Secured the anchor detail. Set Condition of Readiness III, Watch I. 0955 Secured No. 3 generator; cut in No. 2 generator. 1035 Made daily in- spection of magazines; conditions normal. Here we were in Kossol Roads again. And, again, it was to be a vcr short visit: just long enough to take on some more stores and ammu- nition, because we all knew that a really big and important operation was in the offing, and we were to be a very active part of that opera- tion. We still didn ' t know exactly where we were going, but there were many among our Ship ' s Company vho were pretty good guessers. New Year ' s Eve this year was not celebrated by us by the ringing of bells, the blowing of whistles and the usual hilarity that accompanies it, but, instead, we were all very bu.sy getting our ship and ourselves ready for tl e job just ahead of us. As we rang out the Old Year, we also brought to an end another chapter in the Odyssey of the Lunga Point. 65

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PART III LUZON Next came the great Battle of Lii-on: It was nip and tuck with the Sons oj Nippon, As our planes demolished shore installations In liberation oJ the Philippine Nation, And our Ship s guns fought off the foe. In certain victory from the word, Go. Monday, i January 1945: 04-08 Anchored as before. 0430 Stationed all the anchor detail. Made all preparations for getting underway. Set Material Condition Baker. 0601 Underway. Steaming in com- pany with various units of Task Group 77.2 and Task Group 77.4. OTC in U.S.S. California .(BB 44). Guide in U.S.S. Makin Island (CVE 93) - W ' c had hardly gotten underway when the Skipper told us over the general announcing system that we were a part of one of the great- est military operations in history. We were en route to Lingaycn Gulf, where the Invasion of Luzon was to take place, and the numtier of ships invohed would be one of the largest in world history in a single operation. The large number of ships of all types in our own Task Force was already well known to us, and we were told that we would be joined by other groups from time to time as we proceeded on our way. The Old Man also told us that S Day (the Luzon invasion day) was to be 9 January, but that we were to arrive off Linga- yen Gulf several days ahead so that the planes of our group could go about the ta.sk of bomb- ing and strafing enemy shore installations and otherwise softening up the invasion beaches, paving the way for our landing forces. New Year ' s Day 1945, will forever be indel- iijly impressed on our minds, because, instead of sitting at home by the fire, listening to the Rose Bowl game with a group of friends, there was an even bigger game that occupied us, and we were not spectators, either. Realizing the magnitude of the game ahead of us, and determined to live up to what was expected of us, every officer and man turned to with a seriousness of purpose that was bound to spell success for our part of the Luzon operation. Except for one emergency turn, resulting