Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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T as those of our escorts. Even at this writing we get quite a thrill out of the sight of them. JAP PILOT Coimss ABOARD On II September at o8o5 a japanese Pilot. S, Hosono, Master in the japanese lvfaritime Service, came aboard to help us through the mine fields as we entered W'akanoura l'Van. It was only reasonable to expect that when Lieut. Comdr. Tippett met the pilot at the No. 3 Sponson to show him to the bridge there was a large crowd on hand to see him, however, they were somewhat surprised to find him a slender little man, who, except for his charts under his arm, looked everything but a harbor pilot. The cruise from there on into XVakanoura was not without excitement, because we were going through waters that were literally in- fested with mines. The pilot knew where the Jap mines were, but, unfortunately, he and we had only to guess where the B-29's had been dropping their mines. It was some comfort to us to know that we had a large group of mine- sweepers sweeping a channel ahead of us. but even that does not always guarantee a safe pas- sage. In any event, we got through safely and dropped our hook in VVakanoura Wan at 1833 that day. It was too late for the -lap pilot to leave the ship, so we assigned him a room for the night, under guard, of course. and he left. us early the next morning. . Q ' Y y l fy 5 ' F 1 f Jap pilot salutes as he reaches flight dCCk With his Charts- KI.-XP.-XN Rlost of us had never been to japan before and were. frankly. quite appreciative of the opportunity to visit the land of the Rising Sun. even though it did delay our return home a little. All of us enjoyed the view of this moun- tainous eoastal region from the ship: however. only oflieers a nd men in 21 duty status got ashore c 2 . Zi-iv 'Taffy The man in the middle is our pilot into YVakanOuF2i Wian' cwzlwfs Street car station--Ywakanoural bff l1f'-' Waka' noura police and Red Cross workers.

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centers to extend the invitation. The supply simply would not meet the demand, and the result was that our buffet supper and dance was graced by the presence of only eight girls for the approximately Ioo ofhcers. They were a very attractive group, however, and they would have gotten a rush anyway. As it was, though, they were simply rushed off their feet. In any event, a good time was had by all, and when we weighed anchor on I September for Ckinawa, we did feel that we had at least had a taste of civilization. V LTNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER Our cruise up to Okinawa this time was momentous in that during this cruise, on 2 September, Japanese representatives came aboard the U.S.S. zldfissouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, and signed our unconditional surrender terms in the presence of various representatives of the Allied Powers. Naturally, we were more than happy to know that the war was over and Captain WILLIAM RIGHT HOLLINGSWORTH, U.S. Navy U.S.N.A. Class of 1926 Commanding Cflicer 5 July 1945r' that we would all soon be seeing our loved ones after so many months at sea, however, we were faced with the realization that we would not all be going home right away, because it was only reasonable to assume that there was work yet to be done in japanese waters. There were PCWDS to evacuate, there were American military personnel to bring home and there was a certain amount of necessary policing to do in this theatre to insure ourselves against any successful Jap treachery. We reached Buckner Bay this time on 5 Sep- tember, but we did not stay long, On the 7th we received orders to disembark VC-98 to make more room for passengers, and on the 9th we set our course for Wakaiioura VV an, Honshu, Japan, sans VC-98, to assist in the repatriation of Allied Prisoners-of-W'ar. This trip was also momentous in that we sailed with our running lights for the Hrst time since we had been in commission, and it was quite a treat to stroll up to the flight deck after dinner at night just to look at the beautiful lights on our ship as WCH

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l I ' Jap Red Cross assists with P.O.W. litter cases. CD11 Platt and Chief Callicoattc to left in picturcj on this particular visit. Those of us who went ashore at Wakanoura on oflicial business were among the first to occupy this particular part of Honshug however, we experienced no dith- culties whatsoever. The Lunga Point had a prominent part in the evacuation of approxi- mately 3,ooo POW's from this area, we having officers and men on duty in the Mampa RO 4' 4 ' . x , wx .' H . A FIISIC group of allied P.O.W. s to icach Wakayaina station. P.O.W.'s at emergency Hrsl, aid station, VVakanoura, awaiting boats to hlampa Ro Hotel for processing. 222