Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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I .nl.1......,., gud thus sent aliotlier Son ol' Nippon on Itift way to Visit his l1l'll't'SlUl'S. 'l'his xwttsgjttst at part gf the outstanding work ol our Scluzttlrott tts they Supportefl the slow, lull sttwltly 4ltlx'zl11t't- of our forces on the island. lilill.-Xlkl.-X R1-71 1'o Monday, 2 April 194333 08-12 Steaming as before. 0805 on various courses and speeds eonliorniing to elmnnel into Kerama Retto anchorage. 0810 .fknclioretl in Berth K-gg in QQ liathoins ol' wzllel' with 75 fathoms of chain out to the port anchor. 0815 Set Condition Baker. 0833 Unidentitied air- craft reported bearing 1ti2O'l', distance I5 miles. 0837 Set Condition of Readiness lll. 0840 Two enemy aircraft reported sout 1 of anchorage. Ship went to General Quarters. 0856 Gne japanese aircraft, type llony,' shot down by this ship, crashed 1250 yards astern on port side of LST 735. 0912 Secured from General Quarters. Set Condition of Readi- ness III, Material Condition Baker. 0927 Went to General Quarters. Unidentified air- craft reported bearing 0o0OT, distance 8 miles. 1028 Secured from General Quarters except for AA Batteries. Set Condition of Readiness III, Material Condition Bakerf' ff? f X lx umlt in in dt ith thu alttt being shot down by ship s guns at lXLldfIld Rctto. y V, ly, if ff' 5 ,f 517, X yo , ,, 4 4, ff 2 -z 'f: :' -'fp if I . -v 1 ANOTHER .IAP FLAG Qur greatest excitement of the Okinawa Gunto operations, and our most trying day, was on Easter Monday, 2 April. Early that morning we anchored in Kerama Retto an- chorage, which, just a few days previous, had been occupied by vessels of the Imperialjapan- ese Fleet, or, rather, what was left of their Fleet. We had just turned to on the business of our visit, and were riding peacefully at an- chor, when that gong began to ring, and we went quickly to General Quarters. At 0852 Jap plane Crashes 50 ft. from LST 735, 1,250 yards :tstern of us, after being shot clown by our .MX batteries at lifflllllil Retto.

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Landing craft orbiting transports off Okinawa on HD, Day. that it would be the longest operation of its kind in Naval history. Having gotten the word from the Captain, we crawled in our bunks that night, knowing full well that we would in all probability have some tough going ahead of us. Q The Captain had already told us that Ln Day CLove Day-the Okinawa invasion dayj was to be I April, Easter Sunday, and, as usual, the carrier and battle forces arrived off Oki- nawa Gunto several days ahead. We immedi- ately began our softening up attack on Oki- nawa Shima, Kerama Retto and other islands scheduled for invasion. Kerama Retto is a small group of islands just southwest of Okinawa Shima, and our forces took the Retto a couple of days before LU Day, without too much opposition. Since Easter Sunday marked the invasion of Okinawa Shima, we would be occupied with our attack, and would, therefore, be unable to have our usual Easter Divine Services. Con- sequently, the Captain had the Chaplain read the Easter Story and say appropriate prayers over the general announcing system on Easter Eve. The next day, however, we did Wel- come Happy Morningn in our own hearts, be- cause, after all, we were giving everything we had toward trying to make this a better world in which to live, a world which would truly be governed by the 'fGolden Rule. The invasion on Easter Morn was a com- bined Army and Marine operation, and our forces went ashore without too much opposi- tion and with small casualties. They were destined, however, to move slowly, because the japs had 'cdug inf, and were defending this sixty mile long island of Okinawa Shima from caves, large concrete pill boxes, block houses and burial vaults, and otherwise availing them- selves of the natural topography of the island, which lent itself well to defensive operations. Apparently, the japs had long since realized that they could not prevent our forces from landing on their islands, and they had adopted the strategy of fighting a delaying action, trying to make our conquest as costly as possible after the landings had been made, because here, as at Iwo Jima, they seemed determined to iight to the last man. Our forces moved ahead according to plan, however, and had complete- ly occupied the main air strip, Yon Tan, a couple of days after ULU Day, and, within a week, our Army, Navy and Marine pilots were using the air strip. The island was virtually ours after the tenth day of operations, however, as in all similar invasions, despite tremendous losses inflicted on the enemy, it developed into a systematic extermination of the Hendish fanatics otherwise known as Japanese. ' ANOTHER JAP FLAG F OR OUR SQUADRON On 'fLove', Day, our Squadron contributed another Jap flag to the decoration of our bridge when Ensign Houk and Lt. Cjgj Couch jointly 'csplashedw ajap Tony over Okinawa Shima I I l Landing craft maneuvering off Okinawa beaches on Love', Day -VC 85 Hghter overhead.

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two Jap planes were sighted flying high over- head, barely within sight, and, as we watched, one of them began a steep dive at us from about 5000 feet, but his aim was poor. He passed overhead through the fire of our guns and pulled up at about 1800 feet, evidently realizing he was going to miss us. He turned from port to starboard, gaining altitude all the while. When he returned to our starboard side he presented a better target for our guns, and, as he apparently began a dive on the U.S.S. Saginaw Bay COVE 821, anchored on our starboard quarter, we hit him fatally and he crashed, out of control, about 50 feet from the LST 73 5, which was anchored I2 50 yards astern of us. We can only imagine how the crew of that LST felt after their narrow escape. Where the other Jap went, we donit know, but we do know that there was another Jap flag painted on our bridge that morning. c'B0giesf' were reported around all during the day. Consequently, we remained at Gen- eral Quarters, insofar as the anti-aircraft bat- teries were concerned, for the remainder of our stay at Kerama Retto. While no more HBan- ditsl' came at us during the rest of our stay, the Top Yon Tan airfield and landing beach, Okinawa, on L -l-2g below Showing destruction of Naha airfield, Okinawa on L +2. Okinawa bmchhcad on Love,' +Q.