RARE NAVY CRUISE BOOK USS LUNGA POINT CVE-94 1944-1945 WWII Signed Citations

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RARE NAVY CRUISE BOOK USS LUNGA POINT CVE-94 1944-1945 WWII Signed Citations:
$70.00

U.S.S. LUNGA POINT CVE-94 1944-1945 WWII CRUISE BOOK w/ signed Presidential Unit CitationsNavy cruise books are yearbook-style books assembled by volunteers on board ship to commemorate a deployment. They usually include portraits of the sailors, officers, and other personnel aboard. This sale is for the U.S.S. Lunga Point (CVE-94). It includes a signed Unit Citation letter from the Secretary of the Navy (John L. Sullivan) and a letter from the Commander of the Ship Captain G.A.T. Washburn informing the the crew of the citation. These letters were taped on the inside cover of the book (see photos). A signed letter from Congressional Medal of
Honor winner, Lt. J. M. Bunch, U.S.N., is also included. It informs crew members of the U.S.S. MONROVIA of a Navy Unit Commendation. This is a truly unique lot.History of the U.S.S Lunga Point (CVE-94)Named for the location of an important WWII naval battle, the USS Lunga Point was a 7,800 ton Casablanca-class escort carrier that was constructed in Vancouver, Washington in January 1944. The USS Lunga Point was first commissioned in May 1944 and, at that time, was placed under the command of Captain G. A. T. Washburn. For heroic service in WWII, the USS Lunga Point was awarded five battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. In total, she spent 16 years in service to the Navy.Service RecordWhile her first operation involved training exercises, the USS Lunga Point joined the Carrier Division 29 to provide ferrying and replenishment operations in the Leyte Gulf. After providing air support for ground troops in this region, the USS Lunga Point prepared for the Luzon campaign.By December 1944, the USS Lunga Point was providing air coverage to army operations in the Lingayen Gulf. The following month, she would come under fierce enemy air attacks, known as kamikazes, and would witness the loss of the USS Ommaney Bay. The USS Lunga Point would survive 14 enemy attacks and, would, subsequently, continue to provide air support to forces in the Lingayen Gulf.After preparing at Ulithi, the USS Lunga Point supported the invasion of Iwo Jima. In February 1945, 16 planes attacked her and other escort carriers. Although the USS Lunga Point would only sustain minor damage, the USS Bismarck Sea was sunk. Surviving this attack, the USS Lunga Point again stopped at Ulithi to prepare itself for the upcoming Okinawa attack.Joining the Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague\'s Task Unit, the USS Lunga Point provided air support for ground troops who successfully took out key enemy strongholds. The Navy then commissioned her to perform a mine sweeping mission in Okinawa and along the coast of China. During these operations, the Japanese surrendered in August 1945.In her post-war missions, the USS Lunga Point helped evacuate prisoners of war and played a role in a search for Rear Admiral W. D. Sample that ended unsuccessfully. By October 1946, the USS Lunga Point would be decommissioned and ordered to join the Pacific Reserve Fleet in Tacoma, Washington. In 1960, she would be struck from the Naval Register and sold to a San Diego company for scrapping.Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan
John Lawrence Sullivan (June 16, 1899 – August 8, 1982) was Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) 1946-47 and the first Department of Defense Secretary of the Navy in the Truman Administration 1947-49. He was appointed to that position upon Secretary Forrestal\'s installation as the first Secretary of Defense. He resigned in protest after the second Secretary of Defense, Louis A. Johnson, canceled the heavy aircraft carrier United States. This event was part of an interservice conflict known as the Revolt of the Admirals.