Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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Navy. IOO5 Passed from Inland to Inter- national waters. lOO6 Secured from General Quarters. Set Condition IH, Section 3, 1021 Pilot, Lt. Cdr. Hansen, USCG, left the ship. Took departure on course I3IOiT and p.g.e. 1110 cfc to 164OT and p.g.c.,' The above log entry was not needed to con- vince everyone that we were finally underway on our ccMaiden Voyagef, Notable among those who needed only the pitch and roll of the Lunga Point to convince them that something new had suddenly come into their lives were Lieutenants DeAngelis and Ray, as well as many men scattered throughout the Crew's Quarters trying in vain to calm the seas by laying flat on their stomachs in their bunks, with their agonized heads burrowing futilely into their pillows for comfort, which was no- where to be found. It was during this period that Lt. DeAnge1is introduced a new piece of gear to be carried topside to the open Bridge Top: Seattle from a row boat, bottom: Seattle from air, showing Bremerton ferry. VVateh just a plain bucket. After erossing the Columbia River Bar, we by the Ullieer-of-the-Deck when relieving the , found ourselves in the Paeifie for the first time. 'lihe Paeiiie was everything but what its name implies, however, and our ship pitched and tossed like a cork in the mountainous waves, and the plates of the ship resounded with a boom throughout that first night at sea as they gave under the impact of the heavy seas. lt was, therefore, a relief to all, and particularly those unhappy Usea-sick sailorsf' when we entered the quiet and peaceful waters of Puget Sound the next morning. For the next few days, we enjoyed smooth sailing in what is probably the most picturesque sound in the world, while we called at Port Townsend, lllahee, Bremerton and other points in Puget Sound, taking on various stores, ammunition and other gear, and going through various tests of precision instruments preparatory to our Shakedown Cruise, which was next in our schedule. As we cruised along through the narrow straits of Puget Sound we could not help but feel that we were being allowed much the same view as met the eyes of Captain John Smith as he brought his ships into Jamestown, in the Colony of Virginia, in 1607, because the beau- tiful pines, Hrs and spruce so typical of that beautiful northwest country came right down to the crystal clear wateras edge, as virgin in appearance as one could possibly hope to see. Despite the fact that huge lumber mills were humming beyond the hills and that we were cruising through waters that are literally a highway of commerce between the United States, Canada and Alaska, the view that met our eyes convinced us in our own minds that we were the Hrst ship to chart a course through that panorama of evergreen beauty. While we enjoyed the cruise from a scenic standpoint, we had hardly gotten underway from Astoria when we were made to realize that this cruise was not only a preliminary to our shakedown, but that it was the beginning of an indoctrination period that was to grow in its intensity until such time as all hands had been trained to do the job for which they were best Htted and to do thatxjob well. Drills of all kinds were the order of the day-..,GQnQ-ral Quarters, Fire Drill, Collision Drill, Abandon SIUP Drill and many other exercises that, thOrOLlgh1Y mastered, would enable us to fight our Shlp SUCCessfully when we had reached that

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and the Pacific, and commanding an excellent View of each. There were so many Navy couples there, in connection with the CVE commissionings, that we never lacked for con- genial companionship, consequently, we were never lacking for something to do. Another advantage in staying at either Gear- hart or Seaside was the beautiful drive in to Astoria, with the highway literally banked on both sides with Scotch Broom, its yellow blooms giving you a feeling of driving down a highway of spun gold, through the stately pines and hr of the Coast Range, with Saddle Mouiitaiii rising in the distance. This was, however, a much prettier drive at sunset than at sunrise as many an officer and man from the Lunga Point will agree. During our fitting out, we were constantly stumbling over shipyard workers who were putting the hnal touches to our ship, pointing up this and tightening up that. Despite the general confusion, however, we finished with our work in record time and were ready to put to sea. Consequently, the Crew was given a dance on the hangar deck on the evening of Saturday, 3 june, and it was a most enjoyable occasion. The forward half of the hangar deck had the various signal flags and pennants hang- ing from the bulkheads, forming a very appro- priate and pretty setting for the dance. The Astoria Naval Station Orchestra played for the dance, and many a Krug was cut to smith- ereensw by the jitterbugs of the Lzmga Point. vf Y-vp F Refreshments were served throughout the evening in both the C.P.O. and the Crew Mess to as lovely a group of ladies as ever graced the Lunga Poinl. Sunday, 4 ljune, found most of the Lunga Ptllillf wives en route home or preparing to leave, because Scuttlebutt, straight from the Chow Line, told us that we would soon be getting underway. ANCHORS AWEIGH! Stand Navy down the field, Sail set to the skyl Wttall never change our course, So Army, you steer shy-y-y! Roll up the score, Navy, Anchorjs aweigh! Sail Navy down the field And sink the Army, sink the Army Grey! Hlvlonday, 5J'une 1944: 08-12 Moored as before. Set Condition Baker. 0820 Stationed all special sea details. Made all preparations for getting underway. 0857 Underway from Pier 2, Berth 4, U.S. Naval Station, Astoria, Gregon, on various courses and speeds. Pilot, Lt. Cdr. Clark, at the conn. Captain, Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. 0909 Pilot, Lt. Cdr. Hansen, USCG, relieved Pilot, Lt. Cdr. Clark, at the conn. 0944 Exercised at General Quarters. 0957 Sighted blimpg identified as K-87, U.S. Petting umlerwnv lrom .Xslorian 27

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point of near-perfectionl' for which the 4'Ulcl Man strove so hard. It was just like going to school again, not only because we were having drills of some kind every day, but be- cause we were going to school in fact. The officers were having classes every day in Qllicer- of-the-Deck duties, aircraft and ship recogni- tion and so on, while the enlisted personnel were having lookout and recognition classes, too. Actually, it appeared to us that we were being Nsereenedf, While, no doubt, the Cap- tain was a little apprehensive at the tremendous number of Hdry land sailorsw he had under his command, we donit feel that he ever thought he had a hopeless job on his hands, but that, rather, his job was to try us all out in various duties until he had found the job best suited to our individual capabilities. With this feeling in mind, we all went about our duties cheer- fully and with a determination to absorb all we could from our various training courses and exercises, and, in retrospect, we can now say with justifiable pride that we do feel that we got off on the right foot and that we have been well rewarded for our efforts. After several days cruising in Puget Sound and with all hands ready for a liberty or so after our along cruise, on 'CFriday, 9 june 1944: I2-I6 Steaming as before. 1442 Completed measured mile runs. 1445 Set course 3ooOT and p.g.c. Speed 18 knots. 15oo c fc to o8oOT and p.g.c. cfs to I5 knots. 1524 Cn various courses and speeds proceeding to dock. Lt. Cdr. Willard, Pilot, at the conn. Captain, Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. 1544 Moored starboard side to Pier 91, Berth How, Naval Station, Seattle, Wash., with two ION manila lines and six ik wire lines doubled. The Captain, of course, being in the know as to uwhen and wherel' we were going, al- ready had things arranged, and he simply had to walk down the gangway and be driven to his home overlooking Lake Washington to see his Skipper, while the rest of us, the proletariat, walked the four miles in to the Seattle business section for much-needed Srest and recreation. This, of course, was not our first visit to Seattle, because we had all spent several weeks in Brem- erton, at the CVE Pre-commissioning School prior to going to Astoria to commission our ship, however, we were all kept so very busy J-?..1xvwn-. ...v l 1 ' ' ' 0 . if l X N ' . ., , if V , ll ffszswiss X at ,SQ:.3::SL?,?:2Ia1f 1 gl ' 4 ' ':f1f iii Q . lui 'SM' A -' it ' '52 411-fn W' - T 5 3 gp X .. , 1 1, . A . Q., I - jf, T , ' , Y I' R ji!-5' X - 1 - ' I , . f , ,N ii - S I l 7 ' rf-..., t' while in Bremerton, attending classes, holding personnel inspections and so on that we had heretofore seen very little of Seattle proper. Seattle had much to offer us in the way of diversion from our shipboard duties, and we found the typical Northwest hospitality much in evidence, what with various Service Clubs and Fraternal Crganizations, as well as the hotels, ready to welcome us with open arms. As a matter of fact, on arrival in the Cocktail Lounge of the Hotel Olympic a short Cvery shortj while after we had docked, we found quite a number of Lunga Point men already en- joying their 'crest and recreation. The whole city was crowded that night, as well as all the time we were there, because we were not the only Naval vessel in port, and the Bremerton crowd from the Puget Sound Navy Yard was sufficient to over-flow the city, anyway. De- spite .the usual Seattle wartime crowd, though, we could eventually find a restaurant where we didn't have to stand in line more than an hour, and we even found a couple of night clubs that had room for us. Quite a number of our men from the Seattle-Tacoma area had the pleasure of a short visit with their families. All in all, our first night, as well as the days to follow, in Seattle were most enjoyable. It was also while in Seattle that we in the Wardroom were served that never-to-be-for- gotten dinner-A--three courses of themlon Sat- urday, IO june 1944. It made such a lovely impression on our guests that we shall ever be grateful to our NVardroom lNIess Caterer, Lt. tjgj C. C. Smith, for his ingenuity in planning such a delicious menu. As long as we live we shall blush at the sight of a Boston Baked Bean. Having finished our loading of stores in D D Seattle, on Monday, 124111110 1944: 12-Ili lkffoored as before. 1232 Underway from Pier 91, Berth How, U.S. Naval Station, Seattle, W'ashington, on various courses and speeds.