Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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from ;i siihmaiiiic roiiiad. our rriiisc from Kossol Roads lo the I ' hilippiins was more or k ' ss iiiuvtiitfiil. However, inlcrcst and cx- citcmciU yrcw throiic;hout the ship when we entered Snritjao Straits, rii ht in tlie lieart of the Philippines, all of whose islands, except Leyle, were enemy held, and from that point on we were to run the gauntlet of these enemy held islands right up to Lingayen Cnilf, but not with- out our share of excitement. The sun was just risinu; as we entered Surigao Straits, be- tween I.cNle and Mindanao, and sailed on into the Mindanao Sea, passing Bohol Island and rounding the southern tip of Negros Island where we entered the Sulu Sea. There is no doubt that we were seen by the enemy as we proceeded on this course, because wc were never out of sight of land until after we entered the .Sulu Sea. Quite frequently, wc would encounter native outrigger canoes along the route, one of them being .so large (about 75 feet) that one of our screening destroyers hailed her and sent a party aboard to investi- gate to make certain she was not an enemy. It was quite interesting while on watch topside, at night, to see the large number of fires burn- ing on the islands, some of which were, no doubt, in enemy encampments and some in Guerrilla encampments. Likewise, we quite freciuently saw Hashing lights ashore, and we just knew they were Ja[is signaliinn ahead to the next islarifi, Here comes ' Cal ' Durgin and his boys. Undoubtedly, the only rea.son we had not been attacked up until this time was simply be- cause our Task P ' orce was too pfnverfui for any- thing the Japs had to throw at us then. We felt, however, that, as we cruised north and the enemy was alile to concentrate his forces for an attack, we might have the opportunity to prove the value of our many anti-aircraft drills. ow that we were in the Sulu .Sea, our Ta.sk Force had grown tremendously: so much so that wc could see our Na al essels in all di- rections all the way cjver the horizon. The Japs undoubtedly felt, by this time, however, that they simply had to do something if for no other reason than to save face. Conse- quently, on First J.ap Fl. g Thursday. 4 January 1945: 16-18 .Steaming as before, i 705 Manned anti- aircraft batteries. Ship put at General Quar- ters. 1 71 5 Emergency turn to i47°T and p.g. c, i63°p.s.c. 1 7 16 .Shot down one Jap plane, believed to be a ' Zero, diving from the bow

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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

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and crashing about 75 yards astern of the ship. Ship ' s position 131° 16.8 E 9° 32.3 N. 1721 c c to 090°T and p.g.c, 106° p.s.c. on emer- gency turn. 1725 Second raid bearing 230°T. ■735 U.S.S. Ommaney Bay (CVE 79), bearing i6o°T, range 10 miles, which was hit, aban- doned ship: destroyers picking up sur i ors. We were cruising along, minding our own business, just west of Panay Island and just south of Mindoro Island when we went to Gen- eral Quarters. From the Log, one can easily see that we had hardly manned our gims when that Kamikaze came at us. He peeled off at about 6000 feet and made his dive from dead ahead. We could hardly see him as he peeled off. but as he came nearer and nearer at such terrific speed, his plane grew rapidly in .size un- til it looked like a multi-motored transport. Fortunately, however, our forward guns hit him fatally and at 1716 he was a dead duck, having crashed with a tremendous explosion just astern of us. There was no damage to the ship; however, one officer and one enlisted man were nicked by flying shrapnel from the ex- ploding plane. Chalk up one Jap flag on our bridge! Our first, but by no means our last. There were Jap planes all around, and we, naturally, remained at General Quarters, al- though no more got through to us, thanks to our Combat Air Patrol and the lesson we had already taught the one that did get through. . t 1735, one of our Sister ships, the U.S.S. Ommaney Bay (CA ' E 79), was hit by a Kami- kaze, necessitating abandoning ship, but with comparatively few casualties. She was later sunk by torpedoes from our own destroyers. Finally, tired from .so long at our Battle Stations, we secured from General Quarters at 1902. We had had our first real test; not just a test of the gun batteries and those on the bridge, but a test of the nerve, ability and fight- ing spirit of exery single man in the Lunga Point, and we had come through with flying colors. Yes, we had had our first taste of ac- tual combat with the enemy and we had met the test deliberately and with the determination that was to sustain us and bring us successfully through every engagement confronting us in the future. Our long period of intensive train- ing had produced the desired results, and it was a proud and happy Skipper that addressed the men of the Lunga Point over the general an- nouncing system that night. While the Cap- tain told us of his gratitude to all hands, he also 1 i f : First Jap plane we splashed Sulu Sea; below: Ommaney Bay bui Makin Island right center. xplcded just astern of ng following Kamikaze w arned us that we had to continue at the peak from there on out, because that was just the beginning of our contacts with the enemy, and that we must be prepared for anything, any- time. Squ. dro. ' s First J. p Fl. g Friday, 5 January 1945; 08-12 Steaming as before. 0817 Dog fight re- ported bearing 023°T, 27 miles. 0818 Manned all gun stations. 0820 General Quarters sounded. 0824 One enemy plane shot down by our CAP. . lthough our Squadron had done an ex- cellent job of flying Clombat Air Patrol and Anti-sulDmarine Patrol over our Task Force, they had not, up to now, been able to get in close contact with the enemy. On this partic- ular day, however, our CAP Tally Ho ' d en- emy aircraft about 27 miles away, and Lt. (jg) 69