Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE SMOKING LAMP IS LIGHTED! 95

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ammunition from LCM. 1735 Underway from Kcnnna Redo am lioraKc Claptain al tin- (onn. Kxcciitivi- OliiciT and Navigator on the bridge, a e ahead 2 3. 1737 Ship went to General Quarters. 1 740 Clame to course 2i5°T and p.g.c., 218° p.s.c. 1754 Passed through anti-submarine nets. Kerama Retio had been a hot place in more ways than one, and no one was exactly sorry to be leaxing; howexcr, our really hot time was yet to come, when in diving attack on starboard bow. All guns brought to bear and plane (jn port bow turned away at i.otx) yards; jjclievcd to ha c xrn hit and crashed. Planes on starboard bow turned left at 1200 yards and dtne on U..S..S. Mikhrll, dropping two small Ixjmbs. The plane then crash-dived on an APD. 1858 c c to 240°T and p.g.c. Fires observed on APD. 1916 Ob- .ser ed gunfire by convoy Ijcaring 255° ' r, dis- tance 10 miles. Two enemy planes seen to be shot down in flames. 1942 .Secured from (Gen- eral Quarters. Set Condition of Readiness III, Material Condition Baker. 1958 c c to 27o°T and p.g.c. c s to 14 knots. Bogies having been reported closing on us from both the north and southwest, wc were, of course at General Quarters waiting to open fire just the minute they dared come within range of our guns. At 1843 two enemy planes were seen approaching our starboard quarter and the starboard guns opened fire just before they got within range, throwing up a terrific barrage. One of the planes dared to come in to within 1500 yards, but, apparently, he couldn ' t take it, and turned and dis- appeared. The .second plane, taken under fire by this ship, the Mitchell and the Pallerson, finallv turned to his starboard, low on the 18-20 Steaming as before. i8og Secured from General Quarters. Set Condition of Readiness III, Material Condition Baker. 1823 c c to io4°T and p.g.c, 099° p.s.c. Five destroyers of MinDiv 60 sighted on port bow 2 miles. 1833 Ship went to General Quarters. ' Bogies ' reported approaching from north- erly and southwesterly directions. Transport Group, 6 miles distant on starboard quarter, seen under attack. 1842 c s to flank. 1843 Two enemy planes approaching our starboard quarter. All guns opened fire. U.S.S. Mitchell and U.S.S. Patterson also opened fire. One plane hit and believed crashed. The other plane turned away at 1500 yards. 1844 Two enemy planes approa ching on port beam. The U.S..S. Xawman, MinDiv 60 and this ship all took these planes under fire. Both planes shot down. 1845 c to i50°T and p.g.c. Unidentified plane approaching on port bow in low glide. An enemy ' Nick ' approaching water, and crashed some distance from us. Just about that time, two more enemy fighters approached low on the water to port and were taken under fire by the Xawman and probably MinDiv 60. One of them exploded in the air 94

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U.S.S. Dicirrson ablaze following Kamika r liil ulf Kcrama Rcllo. and the other crashed in llamcs. At 184-) an unidentified plane started a dive on our port Ix-am and all our port guns opened up. and he, too. couldn ' t take our barrage and he turned away at 1000 yards. VVc .saw this plane no more, and. after the gunfire he went through, it is only logical to assume that he is now en- joying a bowl of rice with his ancestors. While this plane was diving on our port bow. another plane, believed to be a Nick. was diving on our starboard bow. but he also turned at 1 200 yards and attacked the Mitchell, dropping two small bombs which fell close astern of her. then heading again for us. Apparently hit by either us or die Mitchell, he turned away smoking, and .-Xdmiral Durgio (ComEsCarForPac) honors us with a isi ofT Okinawa Gunto. ( rash-cli ed into an APD, which we tfxjk lo be the Dickffson, Ix-causc the ship where the Dick- iruDi had last tx-cn seen was suddenly a blazing inferno. While th(jse last two planes were diving at us simultaneously, from Ixjth port and starboard, ev ry gun on the ship had them un- der lire. In the semi-darkness, as all guns belched forth (lames from their smoking muz- zles, our ship resembled a picture of the Gates of Hell being suddenly thrown open on a dark night. The attacks we had repulsed during that day proved to be by far the most extended period we had remained under attack, and, actually, there had been no time during our combat Banta, Sic, is returned aboard after jumping over the side lo avoid failing plane. career that we had been more vulnerable. That morning, we had been attacked while at anchor in a coral atoll unable to maneuver. Even had the Old Man decided to get under- way, it would have been slow going for us, maneu ering our way out through the hazard- ous coral reefs that .surrounded the anchorage. ■So we just had to sit there like a Clay Pigeon and fight the best we could from our sit- ting-position. That, howe ' er, proved good enough. Then, in the attack that evening, we didn t have our usual number of aircraft car- riers and as large a screen with us as we had previously had when under attack. There we were, the main target, with only our three de- stroyers comprising the Task Force to fight off all those planes. Even then, maneuvering was none too easy, because we hadn ' t gotten into the open sea when the attack started, and were bounded bv coral reefs not too far distant