Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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,if ' v. L.. Vit I :iii xtviiil- liAr'lltt s tt: .ill li.iiitls .tt i.liitsliii.is l.uty. . 1 , would ht' in iiiitl tiitiiiiitl Xl.ll1lIsltJl'slJIIlt'XX't't'liS bcfort' our iii-xt tipt't'4lIttili. Wt-hacl,1it this tiiiit-, ht-vii mit ol tht Nt itis sincc' iii Urtolwi' 'iiitl i-su-pt lot tl vviw' lvw ' vt' lmtl iAt't't'tx'i'cl no lettvrs awaiting its .it llithi, x f il is thi- om- thitii ut mail sinu' lt-4ix'iii4. Nl.ii ' look lorwaircl to iiiort' than .iiivthitig vlst- lit-iiii-' sCConcl only to aivtiiiilly t' 't i t irtiiiif' to tht' X-titvs 5 i I i Consvqttviitly. iiothiiig uiiiltl h.ix'i- pltuisvtl its tht thi sit ht ol' iii lC'Nl hill til. iniil fl'10I'l' - ' f Il voiiiing zilongsiclt' our ship cvvn hvforc we had cli'oppt'cl our hook in Svc-acllcr Harbor. XVC it-t't'ix't'cl thirty odd hags all told. and nothing c-tiiilcl liavt' inaclt- tis happier at that point than thi' inaiiy lt'ttt'i's wt' 1'cCQix'cd that aftcrnoon, liwgiiist' our invn in thc' Post Qflicc had worked likt' 'lioiatis to gvt it up for us at thc Carliest possihlt' inmnvnt as thtiy always do. Also, the-ii' tlvsirti to got our mail to us as soon as possihlt' inadt' an t'x'c1'lasting iniprcssion on us i dn: It - 'in' lv E f . e Zn, 1 ' ,Al xx --Nw ,.' X . 'if' ,pl-OA H. X' A . lil- fit. 5' ,V Y W, ' 'ff .qv 3-N V l.iiImi, fXl.1i1iis. I Hi llplp- Ntiillllil l i l l i i i i t 4 l VU -J

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THE ADMIRALTIES Long before reaching Manus, our base at Seeadler Harbor, we had begun to suffer from the heat worse than ever before. While the Top: Tango on Pityilu with his ration of beer, below: Liberty at Pityilu. i Santa Claus collects nickels and dimes at c'Times Squaren on Christmas Eve. air was hot and humid in New Guinea, we weren't bothered by it much because of the eX- citement of our first visit to a South Pacific island as well as the fact that we were hardly there long enough for it to Htake hold? We had now been cruising for several days in the Equatorial heat, and the Admiralties are prac- tically on the Equator. At first, the heat was almost unbearable, and nearly everyone aboard went to Sick Call daily for heat rash treatment. Even at night, we would lie in our bunks liter- ally wringing wet from perspiration, Al- though, it seemed impossible at first, we did finally become pretty well accustomed to the climate, in addition to which we were to have ample opportunity to swim in the beautiful, crystal clear waters of the Pacific, and this alleviated our discomfort from the heat some- what. Probably more than anything else, we simply became reconciled to the heat, because we had already heard the most reliable Scuttle- butt, straight from the Chow Line, that we . S

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Santa Claus passes the quarter deck as he approaches the stage. Santa Claus delivers the goods. of the excellent service that the Manus Naval Base rendered the Fleet. As a result, we be- lieve that all hands really enjoyed their stay in Manus more than at any other place we have called up to this writing. Native hut on Pityilu. There were many things to interest us at Manus, not the least of which was the oppor- tunity to visit with friends from the many ships in the harbor, as well as with friends attached to the Naval activities ashore. The recrea- tional facilities here were, by far, the best and most complete we have seen in the Pacific. On Pityilu Island, where we have an air strip, there was an unusually nice enlisted men's recreation area, featuring 'cDuffy,s Tavern, where our liberty parties were allowed from two to four bottles of good, cold beer or Coca- Cola per man per day, depending upon the supply on hand. There were ball diamonds, basketball courts, hand ball courts and tennis courts, not to mention a beautiful white sand beach right out in front of Duffy's Tavern. It was a rather picturesque sight to see the hordes of soldiers, sailors and Marines from the many ships present as they lounged about the tables in the tavern and otherwise made use of the facilities at hand. There were always many of them taking advantage of the oppor- tunity to hunt 'feat eyesw and fftiger eyes' and the many other literally thousands of various sea shells peculiar to the Admiralties. Some of the cat eyes found were very pretty, and there is many a None and only back home now wearing a cat eye ring made on board our ship from a piece of stainless steel which was also 'cfound on the lJC2lCl1.i, Another favorite