Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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I,.EY'l'li C U I .F Layte Gulf uvlx ht'f.ffl'.S'f nfu'rf1l1'ur1, In herjighifar our gym! nalmn, With her Squadron, triwl mul haue, Flying awrni, over the blur. There she proved IIFIINt'ff1fllU-IQIAIIIY'11, Tkoumndx of fllliltkl' .vhfffl .w11'le'rl llllIlffUIl'll. Shortly after getting underway from Pearl Harbor we acquired a strange new word for our Vocabulary--- Eniwetokf' because we were told that we were en route there. After fran- tic scanning of large scale charts we found a pin point atoll in the Nlarshall Islands bearing that name. It was not thc last island or atoll we were to visit bearing an unfamiliar name, though. In fact, we have visited so many places perfectly strange and unfamiliar to us that we have long since lost confidence in our old brown 'fGeography of the Worldf' Now that we were on the outskirts of the combat zone our duties became heavier and the everyday routine was accomplished in a more serious and determined manner. Frivolity was on the wane, and seriousness of purpose was the order of the day. Everyone went about his duties in a grim sort of manner, know- ing that we might contact enemy undersea craft at any moment, and that we would soon be within striking range of enemy aircraft. Lookouts were constantly alerted and the Captain spent more and more time on the bridge, because he wanted to be there ready for any emergency. At this point, however, our training had reached such a degree that all hands had been more or less permanently settled in the job where they could serve best. The Captain had selected O0D,s in whom he had sufiicient confidence to turn over the bridge to a good part of the time. The Chief Engi- neer had whipped the Black Gang into a smooth operating organization, and the Gun- HCFY Officer seemed content with his gun batteries. In fact, we had practically finished our indoctrination, and were eager to get into combat to see the actual results of our long period of training, which had, quite frankly, reached the point of monotony at times, par- ticularly, as we on the guns stood out in the broiling hot sun at gunnery exercises, hour after hour, preparing ourselves to repel any- PA R' 1' II thing the ,laps might throw at us. Our Air Uflieer had built up a most efficient Air De- partment, and we could already see that we Welt' going to have a record in air operations seeond to none. Yes, our indoctrination pe- riod was virtually over, although we did con- tinue to have classes in aircraft identification, and they continue to this day, so that we can keep up with the latest models of enemy planes. lt was, therefore, with a feeling of mutual con- fidence existing between the Skipper and the entire Ship's Company that we sailed into the West, determined to do our utmost to bring glory to our Country, to the Lunga Point, and to VC 85. Our Squadron had long since sold them- selves to the Ship's Company, and, from here on out, VC 85 and CVE 94 were one and the same. We couldn't have desired a finer and better qualified group in any Squadron than we found in VC 85. The sole and primary purpose of an aircraft carrier being to serve its Squadron, we feel that, with pardonable pride, we can safely say that we had already achieved our purpose in that respect. The spirit of co- operation existing between our Squadron and the Ship's Company was certain indication of the joint success we were to achieve in action in the months to come. The only sign of friction ever existing between the Squadron and the Shipls Company resulted from the fact that the Squadron had better ffcard playersw than we had. Even so, it was all forgotten before breakfast the next morning, and plans were again being made for that eveningss wrec- reationf' Later on, even this friction was to be alleviated by the Execjs clamping down on HTen 0lClock Lightsfl Already, our planes had taken to the air, and were doing an admirable job in providing us LCAP fLocal Combat Air Patrolj, and LASP fLocal Anti-Submarine Patroll coverage, and to say that our planes overhead gave us a corn- fortable feeling is putting it mildly. Enough of our planes had already been launched and recovered by us to convince us that our pilots were able to handle any mission assigned them. We had also seen them operate enough to know that our LSO, Lt. fjgl Hatcher, and his As- sistant, Lt. Cjgj Whitehouse, were to be large- ly responsible for the very small number of flight deck crashes on our ship as compared

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1125 All engines stopped. 1143 lX1oorecl star- board side to Quay F-3, Ford lSilll1Cl, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, T. H. Early liberty was granted at Pearl, because they still had an early curfew, but, despite this. all hands were able to see something of Hono- lulu during our very brief stop, since both Port and Starboard watches had a liberty each. Hawaii was nothing new to the Old Timers aboard, but, to those new to the Navy, it was a place of great interest. All were impressed with the natural beauty of the islands, Oahu in particular, however, the most interesting thing to those of us who had never been there before was the fact that we found Honolulu such a thriving, modern and hospitable city, very much the same as our own cities back home. In this connection we were much impressed, the one afternoon we had in Honolulu, by several truck loads of school children, riding down one of the main business streets, going to a football game, and singing their school song to the tune of c'The Oaissons G0 Rolling Along. In their haste to see as much as they could while they could Lunga Point men scat- tered in all directions immediately on getting ashore, some going to Waikiki Beach, some to tlie illllI'lL1Qt'l' Club, some just shopping the streets, and some had a very unique experience. lt seems that most ol tl1e barbers in Honolulu are llt'lllilll'N. Sonic of o11r men had the uniqug experience ol' lil2lX'lIlLQ their hair trimmed by these l.iltly Bill'liK'l'S,u which is not only the last llllll' they have been near 21 woman up to this writing, b11t it is also the last non-Reg hair- cut they have had. So, with a boat loadi' of Hula Skirts, Leis, Ukuleles, and pleasznit memories of this most hospitable outpost of the United States, on Mlaleclnesclay, 25 October 1944: 08-12 lN4oored as before. 0816 Underway from ldcr F-13, Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, 'll.H. Pilot, Lt. ,lames Oillcn, USNR, at the conn. Captain, Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. Maneuvering as necessary to clear berth. 0822 Clear of berth. aye ahead 113. On course lx53OT, 1550 p.g.c., and 1400 p.s.c. 0904 Passed lighted buoy No. 6 abeam to starboard, 50 yards. Pilot left the ship. Captain at the conn. 0907 Exercised at General Qiiarteiss. afc ahead QX3. 0911 afe ahead standard. 0916 took departure from Pearl Harbor, 'lf'.H., on base course of 253011, 255Op.g.c., and 244Op.s.c.w Diamond Head as se en from our ship,

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with the number of such crashes customarily expected. Likewise, our Flight Deck Crews were already operating like veterans as they re-spotted the deck in record time, while our V-2 Division on the hangar deck was nursing', our planes so well that we were destined to have a plane availability of not less than 99.2 per cent at any time during our first year, whether in actual combat or just routine operations. In short, we felt ready. Finally, after a comfortable and uneventful cruise, on 'CWednesday, 1 November 1944: o4-o8 Steaming as before. o43o Sighted land on horizon. O457 Ceased zig-zagging. Re- surned base course 245011. o5oo Sounded Gen- eral Quarters. o525 Made preparations to enter Eniwetok Atoll. 0551 U.S.S. Yorktown passed on opposite course to port, 2500 yards. O556 Stationed all special sea details. 0701 Secured from. General Quarters. o732 axe Berth K-9, with no fathoms of ehain out to port anehor at water's edge in 27 fathoms of water stopped. o7j54 s e haek 2 rtjg. Anehored in ' ! in liniwetok Atoll, Marshall lslands. 075i Seeured speeiztl sea details. Set regular Sea watches. Since we were to he there only one day very few got on the heaehg however, it was an in- teresting stop, since it was our first call on a small Pacific atoll, and we did enjoy the View from the forecastle and fantail. Eniwetok, too, had been torn and burned by the ravages of war, resulting from our having taken the island a few months before, but, from the ship, it presented a rather pretty and typical picture of a small Pacific isle. The entire length of the island was only about two miles and it averaged about a half mile in width. Its highest point of elevation was probably not more than ten feet above sea level, but it was pretty, with its remaining palms swinging gently in the warm E l t 1 Eniwetok as seen from our ship.