Batten Down The Hatches is an Understatment...Or Is It .USS LUNGA POINT CVE 94 WWII

[patches]

Is this foto for real??? Ocean doesn't look that stormy

 

 

 

USS Lunga Point, Is it me? looks shopped? note the ships Island, it's not tilted, what, did this ship have an articulated front flight deck???

[WW2JAKE]

Isn't that when it ran aground during towing or something like that?

[patches]

Isn't that when it ran aground during towing or something like that?

Here's but one site on Flattops, makes no mention of this.

[38Driver]

Looks tilted to me. I've seen another view of a Jeep carrier in a crazy tilt in heavy seas too. I'll try and find it.

[patches]

Here's a larger view, as well as another view of it strait on.

 

 

 

It comes from NavSource Site.

 

 

[WW2JAKE]

How about this one?

[Jeffro]

According to navsource, the photo were taken during a storm in 1945 from the USS Makin Island CVE-93.

[patches]

Looks tilted to me. I've seen another view of a Jeep carrier in a crazy tilt in heavy seas too. I'll try and find it.

It's the Island that's not tilted, it is upright in comparison to the flight deck.

[38Driver]

Found a few from Halsey's Typhoon in 44. Cowpens is the CVE

[38Driver]

Two more

[WW2JAKE]

"The U.S. Navy escort carrier USS Lunga Point (CVE-94) in a western Pacific storm, October 1945. Another escort carrier is steaming astern, beyond her starboard quarter."

[patches]

How about this one?

cvu91-2.jpg

Right, but Makassar Strait, when this was taken was a Target, a decommissioned vessel and ran aground close to shore, Lunga Point was out on the High Sea, looks to be breaking up right, but there no narrative on this.

[Jeffro]

It's the Island that's not tilted, it is upright in comparison to the flight deck.

I think it may just be the angles and camera view playing tricks on you. The island is tilted in relation to the horizon.

[WW2JAKE]

Right, but Makassar Strait, when this was taken was a Target, a decommissioned vessel and ran aground close to shore, Lunga Point was out on the High Sea, looks to be breaking up right, but there no narrative on this.

sorry I'm running on no sleep that's my fault...

[patches]

Found a few from Halsey's Typhoon in 44. Cowpens is the CVE

In all instances the vessels Islands are not out of joint with the flight deck.

[38Driver]

In all instances the vessels Islands are not out of joint with the flight deck.

 

I think what's make it look off is the presence of the ship behind it. The island on the rearmost ship is in line with the island of the closer ship

[patches]

I think it may just be the angles and camera view playing tricks on you. The island is tilted in relation to the horizon.

I don't know, look at the angle of the flight deck, the face of it is almost perpendicular to to the water, and the area just in front of the Island, seems to be level, like the forward part of the vessel is breaking, the vessel breaking in two.

 

Strange, Also what looks like personnel on the deck, they look like they're walking around normally, at such an angle like this, they would practically if not altogether be in an inverted crawl.

[WW2JAKE]

wait a minute! that ship is coming towards us going up and down in the waves rather than rolling side to side, notice the white line to the left it runs up and down the deck from bow to stern of the deck. as shown in this picture of the USS SAVO ISLAND (CVE-78) which i added arrows to show the lines i am talking about.



this would be a slightly angled deck with the stern higher than the bow rather than something similar to the USS MIDWAY'S 26 degree roll that in theory should have capsized her.

maybe im the only one who thought it was traveling to the right side of the picture rolling to the side?

also sorry about earlier I was definitely in no state to be contributing or trying anyways...

[Jon_H]

Hello All, 

I have a little history to add to the mysterious photos of the Lunga Point. First - she is not breaking up; just pitching and rolling in heavy seas. She was underway with the Makin Island and Task Unit 51.4.7 from Wakanoura Wan (Honshu Island) on October 2nd bound for Tokyo but the Task Unit was diverted back to Wakanoura to aid in the search for one missing Rear Admiral William D. Sample. The search lasted several days but was not successful. Sample ultimately perished in a seaplane crash. While conducting the search, the Task Unit was buffeted by bad weather and an approaching typhoon, so the ships harbored again at Wakanoura. The Lunga Point did ultimately make it to a location near Tokyo, but the Makin Island never came closer than about where our mystery photos were taken.

 

The other thing to note in the photos of Lunga Point is that they were in the collection of J.L. Highfill, a Navy photographer who served aboard the Makin Island, Saratoga, and other ships. You can tell by the handwriting - it is an exact match to the handwriting on many other photos in his collection (collection now kept by San Diego Air and Space Museum). He, or another photographer with him, frequently annotated photos in this manner. The photo collection was donated by his daughter, Phyllis Sherrill.

 

Thanks!

Jon