Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 74 text:

Lt. (jg) Raim-y has his su-ak and rake for ■■splashini; Jap plane. Ranicy shot down a Zcke, the first enemy plane shot down by our squadron. There was much celebration, because our squadron had proven thereby that they could dish it out. Consequently, that night in the Wardroom, Lt. (jg) Ramey had the tradional steak and cake for dinner, while the rest of us had our usual Wardroom meal. And another Jap flag was painted on our bridge. This was destined to be a big day in the life of the Liinga Point and her Squadron, because First J. p Ship 12-16 Steaming as before. 1445 Received orders from OTC to arm four V ' T ' s with tor- pedoes. 1527 Four ' T ' s ready to fly with torpedoes, and four FMs ' s with rockets, to intercept reported Japanese destroyers. Two enemy destroyers had been sighted just ofl Luzon about 20 miles away, and our planes, in company with planes from two or three other Squadrons, went in for the attack. The net result was that, with our rockets and tor- pedoes hitting their target, two Nipponese des- troyers reported to their Honorable An- cestors, and a Jap ship is now among the decorations on our bridge. All of our planes returned safely to the ship. That same afternoon, our Task Force was subjected to a rather heavy enemy air attack, and, while a number of our ships were hit, there was no great damage done any of them and their casualties were small. While we were at CJeneral Quarters this lime no enemy aircraft came within range of our guns, al- lliougli we could see the other shi|js in our I ask Force repelling the attack. .Mlhough we were attacked a number o( times and had many a snoopK-r coming in to get a locjk at us, we arri cd f)fr Lingayen (julf on the ap|3ointed clay, and our planes immedi- ately began their bombing and straling runs on iiiemy shore installations, while our Battle Wagons, cruisers and destroyers stood off- shore right in Lingayen Gulf, giving the enemy beaches a withering gunflre day and night without let-up. literally pulverizintj enemy installations, paving the way for our troops to establish their beach head. S D. Y On .S Day. g January 1945, it was a Liinga Point plane, flying high abo e the Linga- n, ' S ' '

Page 73 text:

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

Page 75 text:

yen beach, that radioed the signal for otir Men o ' War to hft their gunfire inland, and at ex- actly 0930 the first wave of troops hit the beach, followed at periodic intervals by other waves. Our forces of surface craft and planes had un- doubtedly left the enemy dazed by their so hea ily concentrated attack, becau.sc, much to our surprise, the actual landings were made with practically no resistance, and, conse- quently, with hardly any casualties. We were, therefore, able to put ashore literally thousands of troops, vehicles and other material that first day, and our troops advanced on S Day to the point that they had hoped to reach on S plus three. In any event, the hardest part of the Battle of Luzon had been won. On S plus two, 1 1 January, we were par- ticularly pleased to recei e from Admiral Durgin the following dispatch: i am more than plea.sed with the wav our share of thi.s .show is being .a.cciomplished x we un- derstand the reasons for most of your difficulties and are trying to c:orrect them x your loc;al cooperation has eased the pain of many headaclhes x ship handling is good X OUR LIT- TLE FRIENDS HAVE RESCUED EVERY PILOT .AND ARE TURNING IN THEIR USUAL TOP FLIGHT PERFORMANCE X OUR A ' LATORS ARE EXECUTING THEIR MISSIONS LIKE VETERANS AND ARE MAKING THEIR PRESENC:E FELT AT THE TARGET X FLIGHT AND HANGAR DECK CREWS ARE DOING A WONDERFUL JOB X EVERYONE HAS PITCHED INTO A DIFFICULT TASK WITH .SPLENDID SPIRIT X WELL DONE X Lt. (jg) GiLKEY T.-VKES A TrIP We hung around for some time after S Day, with our planes continuing to cover our troops as they advanced south toward Manila, and they did a bang-up job of it, too. We were fortunate, however, in losing only one torpedo bomber in the entire operation, but thereon hangs a long story; too long for Lt. (jg) Arthur W. Gilkey of Front Royal, Va. and his two air crewmen. (His story will be found at the back of the book.) Lt. (jg) Reilly Cr.acks the Whip Like all other aircraft carriers, we occasion- ally have a barrier crash on the flight deck with usually nothing more than superficial damage to the plane ' s propellor or engine cowling. On 1 7 January, however, we had a barrier crash that is undoubtedly unique in the annals of Naval aviation. Lt. (jg) R. C. Reilly was bringing his torpedo bomber in for a landing. The China Sea was rough that day, and the Lunga Point was pitching and rolling to beat the band. Lt. (jg) Reilly ' s approach was satisfactory and the LSO (Landing .Signal Oflicer) gave him a cut. .Apparently, he held ofi too long, and. as he flew just a few feet Lini, ' dvcn Ciult beachhead on .S Day, 30 minutes after H hou . ii strip in center; ' . ' lIigators in foreground.