Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 77 text:

Om' of our f.l1t11l'11l :w1'111'1s 1.1111-Q 11111- mm' 11114 Mm, Slrllfll lII1111.1 1.111111 1511111 11mm 1IllIl ll UI'41llllfl xxxrll gh SI11- 1111'11x into thc: wind N1'41. 1111'1:1111.11u1'y 111 l't'tUXf'l1IlL' 11121111-X. HTIICSCIZIY. 2j g.la11111z11'y 111-132 ill lic-1'll1 3151. Ulillli. XN'cs1c-111 C,:2ilnOliI1C Is- , , v 1, I l2lIlClS.H 04-O8 St1'111n111g ns lm1'l1m1'1'. flfjlil 31151111-cl llfllll ' ' , .' - -O' ' A , , . . - . . . v . . . w . OH Ullthl 31011. 1141111112 U-1,1 I- CIINU-IW IJ .X1'1'1xf111Q 111 L1l11l11.z1s1s11s11z1l. 1l1cf11-spyob at IUIICS- 0725 5f2ll1UW'd UH UN' 2'1N'lWV dmilll- I11111cl was thc' tznking' on of stcarcrs. fuel and mu- c'O8-12 Stczlming as lx'11m1'1'. 119114 USB. .S'!1f1111- niliqmg, 'lhig qlfmg, wp wg-1-Q 311 ready fgr 3 rodf Bay QCYYIC 845 1111c'h111'1'cl. 1:19:33 .XllC'llCJI'l'Cl lilllv 1'c'st amd 1'c'c'1'cz11io11 and the four bottles of ,fm A ' A N wg 1 1 X , ...K 33 XL, ' . l'u111 KIXIQ'kNlx1lmp1'1N .1l 11111-ul 1llll'uIl-IIWPY l1o111's all lflilhi. T3

Page 76 text:

L, i S ii si 1 1, 1, ' I i 1 ,-an wise-.sane Top Enemy trucks destroyed by our planes during Lingayen op eration below Underground ammo dump near Santa Cruz Luzon S +5 bove the flight deck the heavy sea pulled the deck down so that his hook would not grab the arresting gear cables, but, instead the hook caught the top wire on the No 2 barrier With a Bang his plane landed on the starboard side of the flight deck just forward of the island not in one piece but in two pieces The impact had been so great that it literally jerked that big torpedo bomber half in two just aft of the p1lot's cock pit It would not have been sur prising if the pilot and his two crewmen had been killed or seriously injured On the other hand, two of them came out unscratched, and the one air crewman who suffered superficial cuts was discharged from Sick Bay the next day We mention this merely to show that, while we do have accidents occasionally they do not necessarily result in death or serious injury u1te some time after S Day we were given orders to leave the Lingayen area, un doubtedly because the Army had the situation well in hand and now had sufhcient landbased air cover to release us. From here on out, the complete conquest of Luzon and, ultimately, the Philippines, seemed to be nothing more than a methodical reduction of the Jap forces by our Army. lt had been an interesting and exciting operation, but we were glad to be leaving, because we were very tired from run- ning to General Quarters at all hours of the day and night and attending to the other arduous duties pertinent to our part in the Lingayen operation. The idea of a little rest and recre- ation in Ulithi was a happy and welcome pros- pect to us all. We were also quite anxious to get to calmer seas, because that South China Sea had really been rough since we had been there, and it was a real credit to the ability of our entire Air Department, and to our LSO in particular, that our plane handling on the Hight deck had been so successful during the operation How they brought those planes safely down on that flight deck ID such heavy seas will always be a mystery to many of us Then, too, we were most anxious to get our Senior Medical Officer back to waters that more closely resembled the flat prairies of Kansas All in all, no one was sad when we set our course southward En route to Ulithi we could see further ev1 dence of the success of our operations at Linga yen Gulf because we were constantly sighting our own transport planes flying north to Luzon, unmolested, over routes that just a few weeks before would have been extremely hazardous to say the least That was all the proof we needed to convince us that we now had com plete control of the air over the Philippines Ll Cjgl Reilly s flight deck crash

Page 78 text:

beer that go with it. Due to the large number of Naval vessels in port, however, it was quite a problem for the local Service Squadron to furnish each ship sufheient boats to handle its liberty parties Our problem was somewhat solved though through the kindness of the AK-35, which loaned us two boats and crews, AA an--I1IZ'e 7 7 1--... -. ,Q :K t J J ? TT My -gy .',',1----- 1 -:,--ililif , 13: -:11 Q1 A - if ,W - .,.......-.Sf I --T f X ,Q l rv-Image ... fxfvl H!! I Xl 34 Q' l 1TT, thus, we were able to send a Section ashore each day We were 1n the Southern Anchorage however, and it was too long a boat trip to attempt to take our liberty parties to Mog Mog Island where there were organized recre ational facilities as at Pityilu Consequently we and all the other ships in the Southern An chorage decided to use F eitabul Island, which was uninhabited and just about 6ooo yards from our berth While there were absolutely no recreational facilities on this mile long island we managed to get our per capita allotment of beer each day, and it was really a treat to go to F eitabul, because it was the one island we had seen that had been absolutely untouched by the ravages of war With its many beauti ful coconut palms and its very dense under growth, It was everything we had expected to find in a typical South Pacific island. Tropi cal flowers were numerous, and you couldn't step on a spot in the Jungle without stepping on coconuts, the ground being literally covered with them. There was a beautiful white beach on the lagoon side, and the ocean side X..g-f-I-:.'k:,:1 . I f ' l I N ' J ' 3 7 s presented a very pretty sight, with the clear, blue-green waters breaking over the coral reefs iooo yards olf shore. Since so many ships were in the same Hx we were in, there was al ways a crowd on the island. Many parties open fires in the shade of the palms. In one sense it was like Main Street back home be- cause one was constantly running into old friends there from other ships present. Even when in port, however, itls not all play with us by a long shot. We are all kept very busy attending to our part in the preparations for the next operation. Then, too, there is no little cleaning of bright work, and there is, of course, the ever present painting to be done We don't believe there is ever a minute in the day that somebody on board isnlt painting somewhere, trying to keep one jump ahead of the rust and corrosion caused by the salt air. We do, as often as possible, have Happy Hours, which are put on by officer and enlisted personnel from the ship and squadron, and we had one of our best while at Ulithi on this visit. It was highlighted by a boxing match with the team from the Bismarck Sea CCVE 955, though we are forced to admit that they licked us in that department, but not without our men put- ting up a good scrap. As a matter of fact, it was a great fight, and we lost by only one bout. Our spirits were undaunted, though, and we pro- ceeded to put on a good show for them, any- way, with our orchestra, our string quartet, our soloists and our piano-accordionist. We had many guests from the Bismarck Sea as well as other ships, not the least of whom constituted the 'fbiggest cargo of gold braidv we've ever had aboard at any one time before. The ship was literally listing to port under the weight of the head gear worn by the Old Manls dinner guests, Captain Whaley of the Makz'n Island CCVE 933, Captain Pratt of the Bismarck Sea CCVE 95D, and Captain Frank T. Ward, Jr. of the Shamrock Bay CCVE 841 After nearly three weeks of work and play, mostly work, and guessing when we were get- ting underway and where we were going, we had every reason to feel that we had success- fully completed another leg in the travels of the Lunga Porn! and were about to embark on another. brought rations along and cooked supper over