USS Lunga Point (CVE-94), originally Alazon Bay, was a Casablanca class escort carrier

Casablanca class escort carrier

The Casablanca class escort aircraft carriers were the greatest number of not only escort carriers, but also any size aircraft carrier ever built to a like-design by any nation at any time. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years - 3 November 1942...

. It was named for Lunga Point

Lunga Point

Lunga Point is a promontory on the northern coast of Guadalcanal, the site of a naval battle during World War II. It was also the name of a nearby airfield, later named Henderson Field....

 on the northern coast of Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...

, the site of a naval battle during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. It was laid down by Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...

 on 19 January 1944; launched on 11 April 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Mary Elizabeth McKay; and commissioned on 14 May 1944, Captain

Captain (naval)

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

 G. A. T. Washburn in command.

World War II

Following a period of brief training during the early summer of 1944, Lunga Point sailed for the Pacific to deliver Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 bombers to New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

 and bring war-worn P-47 Thunderbolt

P-47 Thunderbolt

Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...

s back home. Upon return, she became a unit of Carrier Division 29 (CarDiv 29) and departed San Diego on 16 October to participate in the Leyte Gulf

Leyte Gulf

Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...

 operations, touching Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

, Eniwetok, and Kossol Roads

Kossol Roads

Kossol Roads, Palau is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob. During World War II, it was used by the United States Navy as the location of a floating resupply and repair base....

 en route. From 13–22 November, she provided air cover for transports and surface units engaged in the campaign. Relieved on the 23rd, she sailed to Manus Island

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...

, Admiralty Islands

Admiralty Islands

The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...

, to prepare for the Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

 campaign.

The escort carrier sailed on 27 December from Manus to supply air support for 6th Army landing operations at Lingayen Gulf

Lingayen Gulf

The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...

. On 4 January 1945, she splashed one enemy aircraft and witnessed the sinking of which had been hit by Japanese planes. Fighting her way through 14 enemy attacks, she arrived off Lingayen Gulf on 6 January, and commenced 11 days of intensive air support during which time her aircraft flew an average of 41 sorties a day. On 17 January, the support carriers were withdrawn and returned to Ulithi

Ulithi

Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...

.

From 23 January-10 February, Lunga Point prepared for the invasion of Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...

, and stood off the beaches with the advanced amphibious forces 16 February. Enemy airstrikes developed in strength by 21 February, when some 16 planes attacked carriers in the vicinity. was damaged and was sunk, but Lunga Point splashed three Nakajima B6N

Nakajima B6N

The Nakajima B6N Tenzan was the Imperial Japanese Navy's standard carrier-borne torpedo bomber during the final years of World War II and the successor to the B5N "Kate"...

 "Jills" while suffering only minor damage. By 8 March, land-based planes were present in sufficient strength to allow the ship to return to Ulithi to get ready for the Okinawa campaign.

The ship reprovisioned, and on 21 March sortied from Ulithi with other advanced form of Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

 Clifton Sprague

Clifton Sprague

Vice Admiral Clifton Albert Frederick Sprague was a World War II-era officer in the United States Navy.-Biography:...

’s Task Unit. From 24 March-27 June, Lunga Point remained in support of the operation providing air cover, pounding enemy ground targets in the Ryukyu Islands

Ryukyu Islands

The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...

 and fighting off constant kamikaze

Kamikaze

The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....

attacks. She completed this duty without mishap, and returned to Leyte 27 June.

This was followed by a minesweeping operation west of Okinawa in early July, and an anti-shipping sweep along the China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 coast from Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 northward in August. This duty terminated the 7th, and she sailed to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, where she received news of the Japanese peace offerings.

In late August the ship, attached to the 5th Fleet, aided in evacuating Allied prisoners of war from the ports of Wakayama and Nagasaki, on 19 September she transported 760 men of various nationalities to Okinawa. She was ordered to Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Bay

is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...

 in early October, and en route took part in the unsuccessful search for Rear Admiral W. D. Sample missing in a PBM Mariner

PBM Mariner

The Martin PBM Mariner was a patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War period. It was designed to complement the PBY Catalina in service. A total of 1,366 were built, with the first example flying on 18 February 1939 and the type entering service in September 1940.-Design and...

 on a patrol flight. Lunga Point stood out of Tokyo Bay 28 October, and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 7 November. She sailed to San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

 arriving on 15 November, and made voyages to the Pacific before returning to the west coast early in 1946.

Post-War

On 24 October 1946, the ship was decommissioned and became part of the Tacoma Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was reclassified CVU-94 on 12 June 1955 and AKV-32 on 7 May 1959. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 April 1960, and sold at San Diego to Hyman Michaels Co. on 3 August 1960.

Awards

Lunga Point received five battle star

Service star

A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service...

s and a Presidential Unit Citation for her World War II service.

External links

• Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center
• Photo gallery at navsource.org