Guam - Disappearance of Pan Am Hawaii Clipper Flight 229, enroute Guam to Manila, 28 July 1938

[Richard]

On 28 July 1938, Hawaii Clipper Flight #229 carrying nine crew members and six passengers were flying from Alameda, California to Manila by way of Honolulu, Midway, Wake, and Guam. Its passenger list included distinguished men such as Dr. Earl Baldwin McKinley, Dean of Medicine at George Washington University, and Dr. Fred C. Meier, a plant pathologist of the Department of Agriculture. They were en route from Guam to Manila to research the spreading of trans-oceanic diseases and plant pollen. The Hawaii Clipper disappeared over the Pacific.

The Hawaii Clipper in port.

Search for the Hawaii Clipper
The disappearance launched one of the most intensive sea and air searches in Asiatic waters. At the break of dawn on July 29, 1938, the Army dispatched six Martin bombers, with a 1,000-mile range, to search the plane’s last reported position.

After directed to the area, the Army freight transport USAT Meigs searched for two days and nights. Using several searchlights on the water and periodically flaring rockets. ...

On July 30, The USAT Meigs identified an oil slick 1500 feet in circumference about 50 miles south of the last reported position of the aircraft. Oil slick samples were analyzed and found to be from a ship's bilge. No wreckage or debris was observed. ...

After three days of extensive searches in perfect observation conditions and calm seas, it became apparent that disaster had occurred. Investigators were baffled at how the airliner could vanish without a trace...

There is a theory that the Hawaii Clipper disappearance was the result of a hijacking to Truk Atoll by radical officers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. According to this unproven story, all fifteen crew members and passengers were murdered and their bodies entombed within a slab of wet concrete on Dublon Island at Truk Atoll.

Fifteen persons were officially declared missing following the 1938 disappearance of the Hawaii Clipper:

Crew

Captain Leo Terletzky
First Officer Mark A. Walker
Second Officer George M. Davis
Third Officer Jose M. Sauceda
Fourth Officer John W. Jewett
Engineer Officer Howard l. Cox
Assistant Engineer Officer T.B. Tatum
Radio Officer William McGarty
Flight Steward Ivan Parker

Passengers

Kenneth A. Kennedy
Bacteriologist Colonel Earl E. McKinley, M.D
Scientist Fred C. Meier, Ph.D.
Major Howard C. French
Wah Sun Choy (who went by the name Watson Choy)

LINKS:

The Hawaii Clipper Disappearance of 1938 | Historic Mysteries

Hawaii Clipper - Wikipedia

Mystery Still With Us - Pan Am Historical Foundation

What Happened to the Hawaii Clipper?

 

[Catmommy]

Fascinating mystery. I bet the sea knows the answer.

 

[Richard]

In the 1930's trans oceanic commercial flights were accomplished by "flying boats".

Here are some film clips of the Hawaii Clipper and its sister ship the China Clipper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=362cfVEyu0s

 

[Catmommy]

Pretty darn fabulous craft thinking of the times.

 

[Richard]

Nine lost Pan Am crewmen:

Leo Terletsky, Captain & Pilot – Palo Alto, CA
Mark A. Walker, First Officer – Berkley, CA
George M. Davis, Second Officer – Santa Barbara, CA
Jose M. Sauceda – Limon, Third Officer – Oakland, CA
John W. Jewett, Fourth Officer – Oakland, CA
William McGarty, Radio Officer – Alameda, CA
Howard L. Cox, Engineer Officer – Alameda, CA
T. B. Tatum, Assistant Engineer Officer – Honolulu, HI
Ivan Parker, Flight Steward

Six Passengers:

Dr. Earl B. McKinley – Washington DC
Dr. McKinley was the President of the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists. He also served as the Dean of the College of Medicine at George Washington University and had been a Professor of Bacteriology at the college since 1931. Widely recognized throughout the world as an expert on leprosy Dr. McKinley had studied this disease in the Philippines, where he was the field director for the Rockefeller Foundation and had served as a member of the Governor General’s Advisory Committee on Leprosy. On board the Hawaii Clipper with McKinley were two newly developed serums to test on 250 lepers in the Philippines to compact the disease. McKinley’s contributions were also evident at Columbia University, The School of Tropical Medicine in Puerto Rico, The Washington Academy of Medicine Baylor University. Prior to being a highly respected educator, McKinley was a front lines officer in World War One. He was 43 at the time of his disappearance.


Dr. Fred C. Meier – Washington DC
A botanist, and plant pathologist with the Department of Agriculture. In 1937, Mr. Meier arranged Amelia Earhart to have Fred Noonan use an air-hook, which had been developed by Dr. Meier and Charles Lindbergh to collect airborne dust, pollen, spores and disease germs at attainable altitudes. Fred Noonan had taken such samples over the Atlantic portion of the flight around the world and Mr. Meier had been able to establish with the samples sent back by Amelia Earhart that at least forty micro-organisms, plant and disease, were being carried across the Atlantic on the upper air currents. Mr. Meier had hoped to prove the same with the Pacific leg of the flight but as we all know never received the samples.

Edward E. Wyman – Bronxville, NY
Mr. Wyman was the former assistant to Pan American Airways President, Juan Trippe and was hired on June 3, 1938 as Vice President of Export Sales for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation (new fighter aircraft division). Wyman graduated from Yale in 1918 and became a World War One pilot who still retained the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy Reserves. After the war, he pursued a career in industrial mechanization having worked with Mack Truck Corporation for nine years. Having risen to National Sales Manager for Mack, he left to join Pan Am Airways where he stayed for ten years assisting Juan Trippe build his airline empire. Mr. Wyman was en-route to China to conclude business with the Chinese that would enable them to buy and install engines for the new Curtiss Hawk 75-A fighters (P-36) that china had bought to replace the Hawk 75 currently in service (cost of 50 fighters valued at 3 million dollars). Wyman was also a Lt. Commander in the USNR. Wyman was 45 at the time of his loss.



Kenneth A Kennedy – Palo Alto CA
Mr. Kennedy was the traffic manager for PAA’s Pacific Division, and was en route to the Orient on company business, possibly to reschedule the connections with CNAC (China National Aviation Corporation), which had been disrupted as the result of recent Japanese military advances. Prior to joining Pan Am Airways, Kennedy served United Airlines while living with his family in Denver Colorado. This location was purely strategic as he was heavily involved in the purchase and organizing of the airlines transcontinental flights from Chicago to California. The Hawaii Clipper incident was not his first as he had survived a serious aircraft accident near Park City Utah. The Kennedy’s put down deep roots in Colorado as he belonged to University of Colorado’s Alpha Tau Omega and his wife to become a Pi Beta Phi housemother and eventual staffer at the CU chapter. K.A. Kenedy himself was an Alumni President of CU in 1914 and lead the efforts to construct the first University Memorial Union Building, was an assistant manager for the football team and manager his senior year.



Howard C. French – Portland OR
Major Howard French was the active commander of the 321st Observation Squadron at Pearson Field in Vancouver Washington state which flew Douglas O-38 biplane reconnaissance aircraft. In addition to his military duties, he also acted as the Oregon state aeronautics inspector under Governor Julius Meier and was the Vice President of the Oregon Aero Club. French previously served in the Mexican American War and was shot down twice while with the 5oth air squadron in World War I. Aviator stationed at Pearson Field and worked in auto sales and a building contractor in Tacoma. At the time of his loss, he was en route to China and had stated to a reporter from the Oregonian before his departure that he would be making his way to Canton China to observe Japanese aircraft bombing methods. French was single and lived with both his mother and sister.

See next post for sixth photo of passenger...

 

[Richard]

Choy Wah Sun aka “Watson” Choy – Jersey City, NJ

Watson was a very savvy entrepreneur. He had emigrated from China for the same reason as most immigrants; to take advantage of perceived opportunities a growing nation had to offer. Unfortunately, the opportunities facing the new immigrant were limited and often selected based upon ones race. In the early days of the 20th century, Chinese migrants had few choices for employment and were relegated to working on railroad construction, laundries or restaurants. It was the latter that the young Wah Sun, or known later by his Romanized name “Watson,” would choose and eventually be very successful.

From his initial arrival on the East coast of the United States, Watson must have pondered what realistic opportunities were available in a land where racism and bigotry were almost at their near height. In the early days, cooking food or doing laundry seemed to be the profession selected for Orientals. The outright discrimination stemmed from earlier national practices like the US Congress’s Chinese Exclusion Act and the Geary Act. Both legislations outlawed any Chinese from migrating to the US (the only time a law was used to single out a particular race to prevent immigration) and significantly contributed to a national bias. However, Choy was able to successfully navigate the obstacles placed before him and navigate a path to open three dining establishments in New Jersey and New York.

National newspapers stated he was a Jersey City Chinese restaurateur who was carrying a large sum of money for the “Chinese nationalist cause”, something that would probably should not have been widely circulated given the war between China and Japan and the plight of most peoples poor financial prospects at the time. He was 37 when he was lost.

LINKS:

Flying boat layout design for NC14714

 

[Richard]

The following is the complete log of the Hawaii Clipper from Guam until it disappeared:

THURSDAY 11:39 a. m. (P.S.T.) 29 July 1938

Trip 229. Departed Guam.

12:08 p. m. (P.S.T.) off water.

12:30 p. m. Air speed 96 knots, lai. 13.30. long. 144.08 E.

1 p. m. Temperature 13 degrees cent. Altitude 10,000 feet. Wind 10 knots, moderately rough. . . . Misty weather … at 11,000 feet. . . . Sea slight with no swells. No blind flying.

1:30 p. m. Air speed 105 knots. Lat. 13.36 N, Ions. 142.17 E.

2 p. m. Temperature 14 degrees cent. Altitude 10,000 feet. Wind 18 knots. Moderately rough. Lat. 13.32 N. lon& 141.10 E. Ground srpeed 111knots. … No blind flying. 106 M. P. H.

2:30 p. m. Air speed 108. Lat. 14.36 N, long. 140.20 E. 3 p. m. Air speed 107 knots. Temperature 13 degrees centigrade. Altilude 10.000 feet. Wind 18 knots. Light turbulent air. . . . Ground speed 111 knots. . . . Sea slight. No blind flying.

3:30 p. m. Air speed 107 knots lat 13.42 N. Ions. 138.22 E.

4 p. m. Air speed 107 knots. . . . Altitude 10.200 feet. Air 18. Smooth. Lat. 13.37 N, long. 137.27 E. Position by sun line. Ground speed 100 knots. No blind flying. . . . Turreted cumulus clouds to the North Northwest. SLIGHT SEA

4:30 p. m. Air speed 107. Lat. 13.38 N, long. 136.30 E. …

5 p. m. Airspeed 104. Temperature 13 degrees cent. Altitude 9900 feet. Wind 18 knots. Smooth from 22S. 13.40N, 135.40 E. … Six cumulus 9000 feet. Slight sea. No blind flying.

5:30 p. m. Air speed 105. Lat. 13.00 N, long. 135.13 E.

6 p. m. Temperature 13. Altitude 8600 feet. Wind 12 knots. Smooth . . 10 strata cumulus at 10.000 feet and 10 cumulus at 11,000 feet. No blind flying.

6:30 p. m. Air speed 108 knots. Lai. 12.00, long. 133.35. …

7 p. m. Temperature 13. Altitude 10.000. Wind 19 knots. Light turbulent air … no blind flying.

FINAL REPORT :

7:30 p. m. Air speed 108 knots. Lat 12.15 N, long. 131.37 E.

8:09 p. m. came the final report after which silence swallowed all trace of the Hawaii Clipper: Temperature 13 degrees centigrade. Altitude 9100 feet. Wind 19 knots. Rough air from latitude 12.27. N, longitude 130.40. Ground speed 112. Desired track 282. Weather rain. Ten stratus cumulus at 9200 feet Ten cumulus at “7000 feet. Radio bearing 101...

LINK:

75th Anniversary of the loss of the Hawaii Clipper

 

[Richard]

Here is a link to an interesting website which discusses the Lost Clipper. It indicates that the site owner/author believes that the Hawaii Clipper was hijacked by the Japanese military, flown to Truk in the Pacific and the crew and passengers murdered and buried under a slab of concrete.

The site indicates that he made two trips to Truk, one in 2009 and the second in 2012. On the second trip he brought with him some in ground radar equipment to examine the suspected slab of concrete. Unfortunately, the website narrative ends in 2012 with no results of the inground radar search stated.

LINK:

The Hunt to Solve the Mystery of the Hawaii Clipper (2011-2012)

 

[Richard]

On 30 July 1938, US Army personal manning the rails of the USAT Meigs (an Army cargo transport ship) smelled noxious vapors coming off the water at dusk.

Meigs had been taken off course en-route to Honolulu from Manila, and dispatched to search for the vanished Pan Am Hawaii Clipper. Around 5:10 pm local time (1:10am PST), she spotted an approximated 1500 foot oil slick at Latitude 12.1 North – Longitude 130.33 East.

As soon as she was on station, a small boat was lowered to retrieve samples of the “thick” oil slick (a mix of lubricating oils and fuel) for testing. The ship kept a vigil on the oil thru the night firing flares at fifteen minute intervals and checking for debris with search lights. Much later in the evening with choppy seas, the patch slowly dissipated into the ocean current. Soon thereafter both samples (kept apart) were analyzed and any connection to the Hawaii Clipper was ruled out due to the nature of the samples - it was not aviation fuel.

Meigs was not alone. The Navy had dispatched the USS Penguin from Guam and other vessels and aircraft to locate any sign of debris or survivors. But then, an odd message was sent out from a very unlikely source; an Imperial Japanese Navy Cargo vessel, the IJN Canberra Maru.

Canbara Maru initially reported having seen “something” when she arrived at Douglas Reef. Whatever it was, the story was later changed and the rest was history.

Speaking of history, fate was not kind to either the Meigs or the Canberra Maru as both were sunk by dive bombers during World War II (in 1942). The Meigs by Japan and the Canberra Maru by the US Navy.

USS Penguin was lost on 8 December 1941 during the Japanese attack on Guam (only hours after the attacks on Pearl Harbor). While bombs fell on Guam fuel storage tanks and shore installations, Penguin slipped her moorings and moved outside the harbor to gain maneuvering space and counter attack the Japanese bombers with anti-aircraft fire. She shot down one aircraft, but she was then bombed and strafed by others. There were no direct bomb hits, but a group of bombs straddled the ship, killing one sailor, wounding over sixty, and causing extensive damage to the ship. To avoid her capture by the enemy, the captain ordered Penguin scuttled in 1,200 feet of water. Her crew made the shore in life rafts; those not seriously wounded continued the defense of Guam. All were subsequently captured when Guam fell and were among the first US military to become WW II Prisoners of War.

Ships which searched for the Hawaii Clipper in 1938:


USS Penguin (AM-33)



USAT Meigs & IJN Canberra Maru

LINKS:

USAT Meigs

File:USS Penguin (AM-33).jpg - Wikipedia

 

[Richard]

As an update to the previous post which stated a team was going to Truk with in ground radar detecting equipment: They did not find anything on that trip, but on a later trip, did come across some articles of western clothing which indicated that they might be "close".

Here is a link to Guy Noffsinger's website which has some interesting commentary and photos:

Pan Am PBS Documentary “Across the Pacific: Another Ocean” Pt. III

 

[agapoyesoun]

Sad and chilling. What a shock for their friends and families. x

 

[Richard]

Passengers NOT aboard the flight, having disembarked after the first stop over in Honolulu were:

Henry C. Huntington- a St. Louis Manufacturer
Dr. Fred Reichert – Stanford University (traveling to perform emergency surgery on Huntington’s brother in Hawaii)
Homer W. Orvis- New York
Darwin Teilhet- Hawaiian Pineapple Company
Marvin Murphey – Philadelphia
Erich L. Nelson – New York
Harry H. Shaw – Pan Am Airways

LINK:

Flying boat layout design for NC14714

 

[Richard]

Photos of the Hawaii Clipper

 

[Richard]

There are some who have proposed a theory that the Hawaii Clipper was hijacked by the Japanese military and flown to Truk, where allegedly the crew and passengers were executed and buried under a concrete slab. Although to date, no forensic evidence of this has turned up, the theory has some basis for believability.

A potential reason for hi jacking the Hawaii Clipper would be to prevent the fortune in gold certificates being transported by Watson Choy to China to assist in China's war effort against the occupying Japanese forces which had invaded in 1937.

If such a scenario were to have taken place, it is likely that it would have been carried out as a carefully scripted operation by the Kempeitai, rather than by rogue officers of the regular Imperial Japanese Army or Navy.

Meet the Kempeitai – The Gestapo of Imperial Japan

The Kempeitai functioned much like Hitler’s Gestapo did in Nazi-occupied territory, but had broader authority.

Organized in the late 19th century as an elite corps of military police for the Japanese Army, the Kempeitai evolved into a dreaded imperial security force, whose duties went far beyond policing the military.

Among their responsibilities was enforcing conscription, which met with some resistance in Japan when it was introduced, especially in rural areas where drafting able-bodied young men caused hardship for farm families.

The Kempeitai also conducted military espionage and counter-espionage...

... In occupied territory, Kempeitai officers had sweeping powers, including the right to arrest, condemn, and execute suspect civilians—many of whom were interned as enemy aliens by the Japanese—as well as defiant prisoners of war who refused orders from commandants or tried to escape.

American Doolittle Raider Lt. R.L. Hite is escorted by Kempeitai into captivity. He was later executed, along with two other crew members.

A Kempeitai handbook authorized the use of torture, including “kicking, beating, and anything connected with physical suffering.” Torture was supposed to be applied only “when everything else has failed,” according to the handbook, but the Kempeitai were often quick to brutalize suspects until they confessed...

LINK:

Meet the Kempeitai – The Gestapo of Imperial Japan

 

[Richard]

LINKS:

Hawaii Clipper

http://www.floridaahs.org/uploads/1/7/2/0/17207228/fahsjan19-2.pdf

Vanished!: What Happened to the Hawaii Clipper?

 

[Richard]

The Pan Am Hawaii Clipper. Note the American flag painted on the side.

Click on photo twice to enlarge and see details.

 

[Rocky1]

Pretty darn fabulous craft thinking of the times.

Actually, Pan Am only had "Flying boats" in the beginning. They started out hauling mail from Key West Fl. to Havana Cuba. When the founder Juan Trippe thought about using airplanes for passenger transport, most thought he'd lost his mind.
Pilots had to know how to rebuild an engine, and "fight attendants" were all males because they had to row passengers put to the aircraft.

 

[Rocky1]

The Pan Am Hawaii Clipper. Note the American flag painted on the side.

Click on photo twice to enlarge and see details.

Pan American was the flag ship for the US. The airplanes were all named some type of "Clipper" and they all had the US flag on the tail.
Pan Am was also the company responsible for developing our Air Traffic Control System.
Far cry from air travel today. Back then, men dressed in suits and ties, and women in their best clothing to fly. They served the best food, like Lobster etc, and the food was prepared by French chefs.
As time went on, the flight attendants were mainly women. They had to speak different languages, and they could only wear a certain color lipstick. When they were hired, they had to be a certain height and weight.

 

[Richard]

It might help to put the 1938 disappearance of the Pan Am Hawaii Clipper in perspective to see what Japan was doing in China from July 1937 on.

One theory is that Japanese Army agents wanted to steal a large amount of money which was being transported to Chinese opposition forces aboard the aircraft.

LINKS:

The Japanese Occupation of China 1937-45: The Divided Opposition and its Consequences by David White

JAPANESE ATTACK ON CHINA 1937

THE RAPE OF NANKING OR NANJING MASSACRE (1937) – 1937 Nanking Massacre

 

[Aristaeus]

Fix on the rising sun by Charles N. Hill is an excellent book.