Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 48 text:

Having spent a very pleasant hour witl1 our friends at the Seaplane Base, we hopped another jeep ride back to the boat landing. En route, we passed three natives, dressed 111 their best loin cloths, with their arms full of miniature out-rigger canoes, which we felt cer- tain they were taking to the landing to sell as souvenirs to the Army, Navy and Nfarine per- sonnel stationed thereg so we asked our bene- factor if he would mind stopping long enough for us to buy one. We approached the elder of the three and said, 'fHow much?', Not a grunt was forthcoming, even after the third attempt. Then, in our very best French, which we hadnjt used in 18 years, we said, f'Qu'est-ce que le prix? Immediately, the words came back, ffFifty Centsfi We finally got out of him that the only English they spoke was f'Money, and we can well understand that, because we later learned that, two years before, American service men could buy boars teeth from them Top: Sailing off Long Beach, below: Rainbow pier and Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach. for Q5 cents, wliercas, now that they have learned that all .Xinericans are rich, they cliargctl 'l'cn llollarii for ll'H'll'l, and they got it. XfVilh the Ciaptain's pants and our out-rigger C'2lllOL', we returnecl to the ship perfectly con- tent with our three-honr visit to the New Heb- rides. Upo11 arriving at the ship, we saw that the main reaso11 for our calling at Espiritu Santos was to take on a large l'll,lIl'llXTI' of Army, Navy 2l11Cl Marine personnel for transportation back to the States. Our flight deck and hangar deck were loaded with planes, and there were row upon row of cots all up and down the hangar deck for the enlisted pas- sengers, and every inch of space in Cfiicer's Country was taken up with oflicer passengers. They were a most cheerful lot of passengers, be- cause they were all going back to the States, either on duty or leave, after many months in the New Hebrides getting our various bases established. We, too, were in a cheerful mood, because the prospect of an early reunion with our families meant much to us also. There- fore, it was one happy ship when on f'Friday, QI july 1944: 12-16 Moored as before. 1422 Stationed all special sea details. Made all preparations for getting underway. 1458 Underway from Berth 16, Espiritu Santos, on various courses and speeds proceeding out of Segond Channel. Captain at the conn. Executive Cflicer and Navigator on the bridge. 1546 Passed through anti-submarine netsf' The Plan-of-the-Day for Saturday, 22 july, had thereon the note, 'fEn route San Diego, Uncle Sugarf, which was most welcome, but not altogether unexpected news to all ha11ds. Until then, we had been afraid they might, by some remote chance, transfer our cargo and passengers at Pearl Harbor, and send us on the road to Tokyo without another good look at the U.S.A. before starting on our business tripfj O The cruise back to the States was a very pleasant one, with most of our spare time spent either in classes of one kind or another or out on the forecastle or fantail, watching the many species of flying fish as they sailed excitedly away from our ship, and otherwise enjoying the PCQUFY Of the Pacific waters, while telling and listening to all manner of Sea Stories. We could not have desired a nicer bunch of

Page 47 text:

T H8l1Q'll' deck p'rsse-nge-rs returning to Uncle Sugar l-l'Ul'I'l lNew Guinea VVe were getting the fffeel of the sea., Cur Gunners were staving Hon target more and more in our Gunnery Exercises. We had a definite feeling that our f'Progress for Combat ' was shaping up to the satisfaction of all con cerned, and a definite feeling of pride in our ship and in ourselves was beginning to develop. We not only felt, but we knew we were 'on our way, and that we had reached that near state of perfection with our many drills and exercises. It was, therefore a happy and more confident crew that on ESPIRITU SANTC8 Thursday, 20 july 1944: 3 16-18 Steaming on various courses and speeds preparatory to entering harbor of Esprrrtu Santos, New Hebrides. 1616 Dead in water Captain at the conn. Executive Officer and Navigator on the Bridge. 1631 All engines ahead 113. Maneuveririg to enter Segond Channel. 1631 Passed through anti-subma rine nets 1653 Passed Beacon A' abeam to starboard 1708 Passed Beacon C abeam to starboard. 1714 Passed Beacon ' G abeam to starboard. 1720 Maneuvcring to moor at Buoy 16. 1728 Line aboard buoy. 1 43 Moored to Buoy 16, Segond Channel, Espiritu Santos Island, with ro manila bowline and wire preventer. Various cargo and repair craft moored in harbor. SOPA: U. S. S Briaius 1743 Sludge birge reeeiveel alongside Secured main engines. I7-,7 lixe cuted colors lhe sun having set just as we anchored, we saw no prospect of getting ashore that night and Scuttlebutt, straight from the Chow Line, having pretty well convinced us that we would be getting underway sometime the next day our hopes for getting ashore rapidly diminished Fortunately for us, however, the Captain still hadn t gotten his khaki pants, so he sent us rn at o8oo on the QISY to try again to get them for him We found the pants right aw ay, which we didn t mind very much, because after all there were no more places of interest to shop in between Esprritu and Uncle Sugar and we had every reason to believe we were returning to the States Our boat was not to return for us until IIOO, so we had over two hours to w art We decided to use that time to look up some friends at our Seaplane Base so we hopped a ride down there in a eep Bn route, we w ere immediately impressed with the fact that the New Hebrides were a much prettier and more cn ll17td Gunto than we had expected Phere w as not as much mud as rn New Guinea and the SeaBees had built perfect sand and more afllue nt crtize ns were of Fre nch extraction and lived rn xery attractrse homes scattered :long the roads and many of them had their own lrench automobiles though thex were of 1 rathc r old x int rge luxe n the natrxes lrxed in more enxrlmd hornes than were found rn New flume 1 howexer we saw noxrllages the homes me ic ly be ing se rtte red sparse lx tlong the roads with ple nty ol l eibenstraurn .1-....i. 1, 4 1 1 1 T f ' I , 'YB x 1 1 ' A 1 ' 1 w v y Q - 1 1 ,H n - , . . . , ll s 3 - Aw D l ' w a - - ' - .x w 7 3 A . N . , . . l . C 77 ' . , . 3 7 ' 3 7 . . . . K E , 1 N . I 7 . r i n f ' ' . . . cc ' ' ' , ' 1 -1 'I V v U 1 . F 1 L '. ee a ' y x -. 1 yn'h fx .. - 1 e . ' ,' ' 4 te as , , , 'V 4 1 1 L- 'Y N-1 yl '1 N 'I l Y V . - l s s x f ce a - s ss. . ' ,. s 1 , C I . e r cc an ... . , d d , , ' d . .' gravel roads all up an own the rslan . The c nv , , , ' ' , . V J -1 s Y - ' , . 1 . . , ' X ' ,x. 1 V Q ' y s s , s . . . 1 ' x r 1 1 f X I 7 e K ., n V 'W ' , , ., . , . . . 1. . , . .. ., ' L' u 1 ll . ., ,. .' Y, ., Bvx -'sv 'vs ' ' C' I X . L , '. 'f '.7..'Av sk- L rx- ' ' Y Y ' sf - 'yy vs- wx sf lv v. 1 -ws 3 s , 4 , , . g ., .. ' I-, J C J, x. . ,., X' - it sz e-s xv 4 ,tux yi - y - . s . .. . e 7- 1 1-9, xv. Y r v i 53 JA' V x rw -f N55 . 43

Page 49 text:

W, , passengers than we had on our rt'turn trip, antl many friendships were l'ornit'tl aniongst tht-in, The enlisted personnel were a partieularlv wt'll behaved and orderly group. antl at least one ol' them was a rather enterprising young t'hap. He was a lNlarine l'rivatt'. antl he hatl with hiin one of those niiniaturt' Singer sewing inat'hint's. Our Tailor Shop is always rushetl with work prior to returning to tht' States. ht't'aust' they have much work to do, not only in pressing, but also in sewing elean Xvateh tape antl Rating Badges on uniforins, so that tht' inen will look their best when they set' their one antl onlyf, Consequently, this lNl,arine, not wanting to overlook a good thing. just st't up business right there on the hangar detk, and ht' did sueh a thriving tailoring husint'ss that there is no telling how inueh he did inakt' on that t'ruist'. Everytime wt' passed his eot, ht' st't'int'd to have all the business he could handle. As an important part of our training, wt' never overlooked an opportunity lor Gunnery Exercises. Frequently. whilt' at sea, we would have one of our own plant's tow a sleeve targt't for us to practice on, but nearly always, just before entering, or just after leaving port. we would have one or more planes from tht' beach tow targets for us, because wt' felt pretty certain that we would soon be grateful for all the gun- nery practice we could cram into our routine. Our first contact with the States on our return therefore, was with planes from North lsland towing targets for us. NVe could. at that point, see concrete evidence of the results of our many hours firing at towed sleeves in the hot tropical sun, because we were hitting the target pretty regularly. We had hardly secured from Gun- nery Exercises when on c'Saturday, 5 August 1944: O8-I2 Steaming as before, 0804 cle to 0ti4O'll and p.g.e., 0560 p.s.c. 0807 cfs to 1b knots. 0838 Sighted outer buoy bearing 063018, distance 2 miles. 0839 aye ahead Q xg. 0901 cfs to IO knots. 0917 Ciommeneed maneuver- ing on various eourses and speeds to conform to channel. 0931 Pilot, 'lf -lohnston, came aboard. 0957 Passed Point Loma. abeam to port. I03O Nloored starboard side to Pier Item, North Island, San Diego, Calif. IISQ Passengers disernbarkt'd.', 1 8 . Everyone on board was happy that morning as we docked at North Island, but nont' wert' happier than our passt'ngers who wt're return- ing to tht' States after many months duty in the South l'at'ilit', antl they nearly went wild with t'ht't'rs wht'n tht-y saw tht'ir first American girl sinet' leaving tht' good 7olt' U.S.A. She was a civilian einployet' of tht' Air Station, driving a tractor on tht' dotrk, but sht' looked like a glam- tariffs. -ru.. ' U.. 'infix Beaeh antl Tennis Club, del Coronado Hotel: t't'rz!o'.' de tloronatlo llotelg lmllnm: .Xerial view of San Diego. 415