The
battleship USS Colorado was on a NROTC training cruise from the
west coast to Honolulu, arriving at Hilo for a two day visit, then on
to Lahaina area for gun fire practice, then to be berthed at Pier 2, Honolulu
until July 6, 1937. The captain was Wilhelm L. Friedell, and four distinguished
guests were aboard, representing their schools for NROTC training: Dr.
Marion Luther Brittain, President of Georgia School of Technology, Dr.
Lee Paul Sieg, President of University of Washington, Dr. James Washington
Bell, Professor Of Money and Banking at Northwestern University, and Dr.
Charles Derleth Jr., Dean of the College of Engineering, University of
California. While in Hawaii, the Colorado was made available to
the Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District, commanded by Adm. Orrin G.
Murfin. Sometime before departing, Capt. Friedell met with Murfin and
Capt. Kenneth Whiting, Fleet Air Base, Pearl Harbor, among other officers,
to discuss the possible path and location of Earhart's plane. There was
general consensus that stronger headwinds would have carried Earhart southeast
of Howland, and that this area should be searched by the Colorado
and its three Vought O3U-3 scout planes.1
The Colorado
left Honolulu at 1300 July 3, local time (2330 GMT). The original plan
was to conduct search operations southeast of Howland by steaming eastward
along the equator, covering a 120 nm front with the scout planes. Expectations
were that four flights per day could be conducted. During the passage
south from Honolulu to Howland Island, new information regarding the radio
signals forced a deviation from the plans. Specifically, if the signals
were from Earhart, then she had to be on land, and that surely would be
from the Phoenix Island group, which was on the LOP provided by Earhart
during her last transmission. Since the Phoenix Islands were SE of Howland,
this hypothesis made sense given the Colorado's officers previous
discussions with COM14. Finally, in response to an amateur radio report
stating that Earhart was on a sandbank, it was decided that the Colorado
would also search Winslow Reef, SE of Howland.
All times
GMT unless otherwise noted.
July
7
|
0135 |
COM14
officially put the Colorado in charge of all Navy and Coast
Guard vessels involved in the Earhart Search, and the CG San Francisco
office suggested that the Colorado search the section 320 to
360° from Howland out to 250nm. However, if the radio signals
from the previous night were to be believed, and if what Lockheed
stated about only being able to send radio signals on land were true,
one could disregard this suggestion,2which
the Colorado did. |
0225 |
The
Colorado informed COM14 that it intended to refuel Itasca,
then would inspect Winslow Reef, the Phoenix Islands, and Carondelet
Reef, an underwater reef outside Gardner Island.3 |
0505 |
Colorado
told Swan to go to 0°N, 175°W at 8 knots speed.4 |
1005 |
Navy
Radio Wailupe reported that several Hawaiian amateurs had heard a
carrier on Earhart's frequencies.5
Itasca and Howland continued to hear snippets of carriers on
3105 kHz as well throughout the night. |
1808 |
The
Itasca rendezvoused with the Colorado, and began the
refueling process. Various provisions were also brought aboard the
Itasca. The refueling continued until 2208 GMT. |
2122 |
The
Colorado gave Itasca its search directions: go at 15
knots from 0°20′S, 178°W, searching along a bearing of 157°
to 120 miles eastward, allowing for drift.6 |
July
8
|
0130 |
COM14
indicated to CNO his intention of releasing the Colorado from
search duties once the Lexington entered the search area.7
There were restrictions on the time NROTC personnel could be away
on training. These time restrictions caused a fair amount of consternation
between Navy headquarters and COM14 staff. |
0203 |
The Colorado
launched its three planes to search for a Reef and Sandbank and Winslow
Reef, both poorly located and position doubtful. They returned at
0424 without sighting them. As it was nearing dusk, the Colorado
swung a wide berth of these poorly mapped features as it headed south
towards the Phoenix Island chain. |
1659 |
George
Putnam asked the CNO what was known about Japanese efforts assisting
in the search. He suggested that the Japanese search the Gilbert Islands
which was in the direction of their mandate.8
Putnam seemed unaware that the Gilberts really belonged to the British,
and that the Japanese controlled the Marshall Islands, north of the
Gilbert chain. |
1824 |
At dawn local
time, the Colorado launched the three planes again for another
look for Winslow Reef. The planes returned at 2206, again without
seeing anything, despite perfect visibility. The pilots reported they
could see at least 35 miles to the ship without any problem. |
2100 |
The
CNO requested that the Commander in Chief, US Forces, provide information
regarding the miles steamed, barrels of fuel oil consumed, and avgas
used.9 This message was apparently
in response to criticism in the newspapers and letters to the CNO
and the Secretary of the Navy about wasteful expenditures of supplies
while searching for civilian airplanes lost in stunting incidents.
At the same time, Colorado told the Swan to go to 2°S,
172°W and continue searching along that path.10
|
2320 |
Meanwhile,
the Colorado launched its planes for the third time, again
without results, and the planes returned at 0300 July 9th. Later
reconstruction of the flights indicate that the planes did pass
over Winslow Reef, but presumably due to tides and sea state were
unable to visually pick out the shoal water.11
Two contemporaneous documents describe this search: a report from
Lt. John Lambrecht, senior aviator aboard the Colorado, and
a letter from Lt. John Short to his father, written during the cruise
and mailed following its completion. Lambrecht describes the Winslow
searches:
...
the planes were catapulted with orders to search to the southward
a distance of eighty to ninety miles to locate and inspect a spot
marked on the chart as 'Reef & Sandbank'. This, according to the
Sailing Directions, was quite possibly Winslow Reef, shown on the
chart as being forty-five miles further south. These reefs are close
to Howland and Baker Islands and there was a chance that Miss Earhart,
finding herself short of fuel, might have chosen a forced landing
there. The exact locations of these reefs are not known and, indeed,
there seems to be some doubt as to their existence. Several ships
have, at various times, reported passing over the Latitude and Longitude
of Winslow Reef without encountering any 'Rocks and Shoals', and
without even seeing any signs of anything but plain ocean. And that
is exactly what the planes found, both on this flight and that of
the following morning ... The following morning (Thursday) as the ship
steamed south ... the
planes searched an areaÉin a second attempt to locate these reefs.
This area included by a wide margin their charted and/or reported
positions. Search was conducted such that at least one of the planes
would certainly have passed any point in the area at a distance
of not more than a mile and a half. And in light of the subsequent
finding of Carondelet Reef there is no doubt in the minds of the
pilots and their observers that had a reef been there it certainly
would have been sighted ... Anyhow the Senior Aviator wants to go
on record as saying that the mariners (?) who saw and reported these
reefs are probably the same ones who are constantly reporting having
seen sea serpents!!! Suffice to say that the Colorado's
'some of the Navy's crack pilots' (we suppose the news boys will
want to take back that appellation of undoubted distinction now
that we didn't succeed in finding Amelia) did not see any reefs,
rocks, or shoals in that area, much less any signs of a Lockheed12
John Short had
this to say about the Winslow Reef searches:
We
... proceeded on southward, launched the planes about 2:30 [local
time] and went out to take a look at the northernmost reef.
(We crossed the equator on this hop. It was a good idea only we
couldn't find the damn thing. We had a moderate run out, of about
85 miles and I'm reasonably certain that our navigation was fair
enough because we hit the ship 'on the nose' on our return. In addition
the visibility was excellent with moderate sea and swells. If there
was a reef with breakers I don't see how we could have missed it.
Wednesday night we stayed in approximately the same area and this
morning we launched the planes again and went over the entire area
between the unnamed northern reef and Winslow reef with a fine tooth
comb without seeing either of them. I wasn't along on that hop but
I'm certain that there could be no question of the navigation this
time as the navigator had a good 'fix' from his morning star sights
and the planes scouted barely out of sight of the ship and would
return for a check at the end of each leg. About noon two of us
went out again (the third plane had a hole in the main float which
wasn't repaired in time) and again passed over the charted position
of Winslow reef without seeing it. We continued to search anyway,
in order to cover as much of this area as possible. A third flight
went out in the late afternoon with the same object.
In all we covered better than five thousand square miles just to-day
and when I say covered I mean within a range of visibility of not more
than two miles which is certainly enough to be sure of spotting a plane
or rubber boat13
|
July
9
|
0347 |
The Colorado,
after recovering the planes from their futile search for Winslow
Reef, proceeded southward towards the Phoenix Islands, and launched
its planes to continue the search for Earhart and to ensure that
the Colorado would not run aground on the poorly charted
reef. The planes searched on a 70 mile front, did not see anything,
and returned to the ship by 0500GMT. Lambrecht says:
This
covered a large water area where it was thought Miss Earhart might
have been forced down. Here again the condition of the weather,
the state of the sea and the extremely good visibility made it highly
probable that the missing plane would have been found had it been
in that area.14
|
1800 |
The
Colorado informed COM14 that it intended to refuel the Swan
on Saturday when it rendezvoused with the Swan near Canton
Island. At 1826GMT, the Colorado launched three planes to
search for McKean and Gardner Islands and Carondelet Reef. As the
Colorado proceeded southward, passing between McKean and
Gardner, the crew began its Equatorial Crossing Party,15
an old Naval tradition of transforming pollywogs into shellbacks.
This party was delayed for some reason, and did not occur as the
ship actually crossed the Equator, but some time later. As the Colorado
proceeded, the bridge officers apparently noticed that Gardner did
not appear to be as the charts indicated, and begin to take bearings
from the bridge of the north and southern tips of the island.
16 These bearings could be used to precisely locate
the Colorado as it passed the eastward side of Gardner during
this time. A letter from Captain Friedell to the Navy Hydrographic
Office reports that the position of McKean is well off the charted
position, that a conspicuous wreck lies to the northwestward side
of Gardner, and that the size and shape of Gardner are not correct.
At 2207GMT, the planes were retrieved aboard the Colorado.
Lambrecht reported the search results in his newsletter:
At 0700 Friday
morning the planes were catapulted to search M'Kean and Gardner
Islands, Carondelet Reef and the intervening sea area. M'Kean Island
was visited first and when first sighted was about a half point
[~5°] to port, bearing out the statement in Sailing Directions
that the island's actual position is somewhat WNW of that shown
on the chart. M'Kean did not require more than a perfunctory examination
to ascertain that the missing plane had not landed here, and one
circle of the island proved that it was uninhabited except for myriads
of birds. Signs of previous habitation remained and the walls of
several old buildings apparently of some sort of adobe construction,
were still standing. M'Kean is perfectly flat and no bigger than
one square mile. Its lagoon, like those of several of the smaller
islands of the Phoenix Group, is very shallow and almost dry. This
island had no vegetation whatsoever.
As in the case of the
subsequent search of the rest of the Phoenix Islands one circle
at fifty feet around M'Kean aroused the birds to such an extent
that further inspection had to be made from an altitudeof at
least 400 feet.
From M'Kean the planes
proceeded to Gardner Island (sighting the ship to starboard en
route) and made an aerial search of this island which proved to
be one of the biggest of the group. Gardner is a typical example
of your south sea atoll a narrow circular strip of land (about
as wide as Coronado's Silver Strand) surrounding a large lagoon.
Most of this island is covered with tropical vegetation with,
here and there, a grove of coconut palms. Here signs of recent
habitation were clearly visible but repeated circling and zooming
failed to elicit any answering wave from possible inhabitants
and it was finally taken for granted that none were there.
At the western end of
the island a tramp steamer (of about 4000 tons) bore mute evidence
of unlighted and poorly charted 'Rocks and Shoals'. She lay high
and almost dry head onto the coral beach with her back broken
in two places.
The lagoon at Gardner
looked sufficiently deep and certainly large enough so that a
seaplane or even an airboat could have landed or takenoff [sic]
in any direction with little if any difficulty. Given a chance,
it is believed that Miss Earhart could have landed her plane in
this lagoon and swum or waded ashore. In fact, on any of these
islands, it is not hard to believe that a forced landing could
have been accomplished with no more damage than a good barrier
crash or a good wetting.
From
Gardner, the planes headed southeast for Carondelet Reef, sighting
its occasional breakers a good ten miles away. No part of the reef
is above water and, although it could be plainly seen from the
air, the water over it must have been at least ten to twenty feet in depth. Finding nothing there the planes returned to the
ship.17
John Short also
described the morning’s activities:
Well, the search
continued as per schedule -- we were catapulted at 7:00 this morning,
went directly to McKean I. Thence to Gardner Is., on down to Carondelet
Reef and back aboard about 10:45. We found nothing, but this was
none the less a very encouraging flight for we at least had the
satisfaction of making our landfalls as expected. The navigation
checked astonishingly well, infact [sic], and did much to
restore our self-confidence. McKean is a barren coral reef about
a miles square with absolutely no vegetation except some patches
short sparse grass. There were some ruins of old houses and evidences
of old guano workings -- millions of birds but no other sign of
life. Gardner was very different -- a ring of land surrounding the
lagoon about 2 1/2 miles long by about a mile wide. Almost completely
covered by short bushy trees including two small groves of coconut
palms. There was the wreck of a fairly large steamer -- of about
five thousand tons hard up on the beach -- her back broken in two
places and covered with red rust, but otherwise fairly intact. Apparently
it had been there less than ten years. Carondelet Reef was completely
submerged with only occasional breakers -- we estimated the least
depth at 15 or 20 feet. We felt right good about finding it at all
under these conditions after a run of about 80 miles from Gardner
Is. And this confirmed our conviction that Winslow
and that other reef either don't exist or are a hell of a long way
from their charted position.18
In the official
report filed by Capt. Friedell to the Earhart Search Report, he submitted
this second hand description:
McKean Island
showed unmistakable signs of having at one time been inhabited.
On the northwest side of the Island there appeared buildings of
the adobe type. No one was seen on either Gardner Island or McKean
Island.
McKean Island was such
that a plane could have made a safe crash landing either on the
beach or in the center of the Island. No dwellings appeared on
Gardner or any other sings of inhabitation. A long shallow lagoon
extends the entire length of the Island and through most of the
width.
A seaplane could land
in the lagoon and it is believed that a land plane could make
a forced landing there, and the occupants walk ashore. Coral reefs
extended out from the shore line for about 150 yards. At Gardner
Island a four thousand ton tramp steamer has piled up head on
and remains there with her back broken. Groves of Cocoanut [sic]
palms grow on the western end and the entire island is covered
with tropical vegetation. Myriads of birds cover both islands.
Carondelet Reef was under
water but plainly could be seen from the planes at a distance
of 10 miles.
This
was of interest in regards to the possibility of Winslow Reef
existing and the Reef and Sand Bank to the Northwestward of Winslow
Reef. If the two existed, it is apparent from the way in which
Carondelet Reef was seen, that they are many miles from their
charted position.19
Friedell’s report,
for the most part, is consistent with the flyer’s
contemporaneous accounts. The one notable exception is that Friedell
indicates that Gardner shows no signs of inhabitation, whereas Lambrecht
states that it does.
It should be
noted that a picture of Gardner Island was taken by one of the pilots
or observers on the way back to the Colorado at fairly high
altitude, but is mismarked as to direction. A copy of this photo
was obtained from the New Zealand National Archives, as the original
print has not been located. TIGHAR researchers believe that this
single photo of the Phoenix Islands taken by the Colorado
crew was taken as documentation that the charted layout of the island
bore no resemblance to the real island.
|
2021 |
The
CNO reminded COM14 that the schedule of the Colorado must comply
with laws which forbade reserve officers being held longer than six
weeks from embarkation, and wished to know how this would affect the
Colorado search.20 |
2207 |
The
Colorado directed Swan to proceed to Canton Island.21 |
July
10
|
0024 |
The
Colorado launched its search planes to survey Hull Island.22 At 0423, the planes were
recovered and Lambrecht reported the following incident:
At 1430 that afternoon
planes were again catapulted and headed some seventy miles to the
eastward to search Hull Island. In appearance, Hull is much the
same as Gardner, somewhat smaller perhaps, nevertheless, similar
in shape and formation, the same lagoon, with the same vegetation
and identical groves of coconut palms. The one difference Hull was
inhabited.
As the planes approached
the island towards its southern end natives could be seen clustered
around a large shack erected on high stilts and otherwise fabricated
in what appeared to be conventional native fashion. (Page W. Somerset
Maugham for further details of construction). When the planes
zoomed the beach the the [sic] natives, dressed in their
traditional loin clothes, turned out en masse to wave and yell
(anyhow they looked as if they were yelling) and to wonder at
such strange birds. After a circle of the island, during which
other (and smaller) native shacks were noted, the 'village' was
again zoomed. This time as many of the natives as possible were
on the roof of their 'civic center' and all of them entirely naked
waving their loin cloths! It is not known whether this is their
especial form of welcome for oceanic flyers, but it was later
learned that none of them had ever seen an airplane.
Although the lagoon was
spotted with coral reefs that looked from the air to be near or
on the surface, an examination disclosed a safe landing area at
the southern end closest to the village. The Senior Aviator [Lambrecht]
then decided upon landing his plane for the express purpose of
making inquiries, and after a preliminary 'dragging', the plane
sat down on the calm waters of the lagoon. (This lagoon was subsequently
re-named after the Senior Aviator by members of the Second WardÉhydrographers
please note). Almost immediately after the landing an outrigger
canoe pushed off from the beach with what later proved to be three
native boys and the white resident manager.
Writers of south sea
island legends to the contrary, it took those natives exactly
forty-five minutes to paddle three-quarters of a mile! But the
wait supplied the Senior Aviator and his Cadet observer with sufficient
time to take stock of their surroundings.
It was noted that the
reefs which from the air appeared to be close to the surface were,
in reality, at least four to six feet or more deep. A little sailing
afforded a chance to pass over several of these and it was finally
decided to turn and taxi down wind, closer into the beach, and
to the approaching canoe. This we did and when settled down to
wait, meantime limbering up the only 'shooting iron' (a Very pistol)
which the plane boastedÉjust in case. (The Senior Aviator has
probably been reading too many stories of the aforementioned W.
Somerset Maugham).
As the canoe came nearer,
the reason for its breathtaking speed was readily apparentÉthe
natives were using small round poles as paddles! When within hailing
distance we received a hearty wave and a cordial 'Cheerio' from
the resident manager (Mr. Jones). He was a man of about medium
height, deeply tanned, and dressed as may have been expected,
in white duck trousers, white shirt and a straw hat, which he
removed to wave at us. His appearance let one to believe that
his nationality was German, due, no doubt, to his closely cropped
hair and rotund face, but his accent proclaimed him British.
We told him we were searching
for a plane which we believed may have been forced down somewhere
in the Phoenix Islands, that the plane had left Lae, New Guinea
for Howland Island a week past and had not heard of since, and
we wondered whether he'd seen or heard of it. He replied that
he hadn't and added that he possessed a radio receiver but had
heard nothing on it. He was ignorant of the flight but evinced
quisical [sic] surprise when told it was being made by
Amelia Earhart. He then asked where we had come from and was considerably
startled when we told him 'Honolulu'. We hastily explained, however,
that our ship was some fifty or sixty miles to the westward, awaiting
our return.
After
informing him that we expected to search the rest of the islands,
we took off, rendezvoused with the other planes, and returned to
the ship.23
John Short’s description
of Hull was:
We
catapulted again at 2:00 this afternoon and went out some 90 miles
to Hull I. This is very similar to Gardner only it is slightly larger
and is inhabited. The population consists of one white man and some
30 or 40 natives who tend the coconut groves -- the principal export
being copra. Johnny Lambrecht (our Senior Aviator) landed in the
lagoon and talked with the white overseer in hopes that he might
have heard or seen the plane in passing. He had not even heard about
the flight in the first place -- lucky fellow! We got back to the
ship about 5:00 and called it a day.24
According
to British Colonial Service Officer Eric R. Bevington, who visited
Hull in October of 1937, John William Jones’ need for a replacement
transmitter was due to an incident which occurred during the solar
eclipse of June 8, 1937. Jones, faced with a work stoppage by his
Tokelau laborers working for Burns Philp Co, had told them that he
would “black out the sun” by way of punishment. When the eclipse
began as threatened, “They watched in utter disbelief: then one panicked,
then all panicked. They rushed to the shack where [Jones] was
reporting the eclipse on his radio, all tried to get in at once to
beg him to restore the sun, and in the melee, vital radio equipment
was smashed, and the radio station put out of action.”25
Lt.
John Lambrecht did not know it at the time, but he had apparently
made a diplomatic faux pas, in direct violation of the Navy Regulations.
The following day at 0158 GMT July 12th, the Colorado informed
COM14 that in accordance with Navy Regulations 1920, Article 352,
Paragraph E, notification should be made that Lt. Lambrecht landed
at Hull Island to contact the resident, but did not leave the plane.
26 The Navy Regulation in question
states:
Diplomatic
and consular officers in charge of legations or consulates shall
be notified of the arrival of the ship in port.27
Similarly,
the Colorado reported to the Commander in Chief, US Forces,
that Lambrecht had flown over the Phoenix Islands, had landed at Hull,
and that Fleet Regulations 1119 needed to be invoked.28
Lambrecht’s landing was turned over to the State Department, where
it was determined that since the US did not recognize the sovereignty
of the British over the Phoenix Islands, the US did not have to notify
the British. A citation of the eclipse party on Canton in March was
used as precedence.29 |
0218 |
The
Colorado ordered the Swan to a rendezvous near Canton
Island and told it to omit a search of the island. |
0608 |
The
Ontario returned to Pago Pago without being enlisted in the
search.30 |
1000 |
COMDESRON2
sent out three messages at ten minute intervals, in an attempt to
separate fact from fiction. The first, directed to Naval Radio Station
Tutuila, asked to determine exactly what was delivered to Fred Noonan
in terms of weather, and to verify this information with Lae, New
Guinea.31 It would take a couple
of days to determine this information, due to the vagaries of radio
schedules with Lae. The next message was directed to COM14 to find
out from the Department of Commerce a descriptive list, including
the number, of Earhart’s plane.32
The final message was addressed as well to COM14 to determine whether
Earhart’s plane was to the west or east when it passed and if the
bearings changed clockwise or counterclockwise.33 |
1824 |
The
Colorado launched its planes to search Sidney, Phoenix, Enderbury,
and Birnie Islands, and recovered the planes at 2147GMT. Lambrecht
reports:
On the following
morning (Saturday) the unit was ordered to search four of the five
remaining islands. Heading southeast from the ship, we soon picked
up Sydney but upon dropping down for an inspection of that island
could discover nothing which indicated that the missing flyers had
landed there. The lagoon was sufficiently large to warrant a safe
landing but several circles of the island disclosed no signs of
life and a landing would have been useless. There were signs of
recent habitation and small shacks could be seen among the groves
of coconut palms, but repeated zooms failed to arouse any answering
wave and the planes headed northeast for Phoenix Island ... .
Phoenix proved to be
nothing but a blemish on an otherwise blue ocean. It was absolutely
flat, bare and colorless and a disappointment in that it did not
harbor the missing flyers. Its lagoon was nothing more than a
shallow stagnant pool of rusty water and the only indication that
the island had ever been visited by man was the stone cairn on
the east beach. It was not deemed necessary to spend any more
time in that vicinity and we departed for Enderbury.
Enderbury, although a
bit larger, was much the same as Phoenix. Here and there were
what appeared to be oases with a few surrounding palm tree. No
signs of habitation were evident and an inspection did not disclose
the object of our search.
Likewise,
it required merely a cursory examination of Birnie Island (the
smallest of the group) to prove that Miss Earhart had not landed
here. Birnie, except for its size, might just as well have been
another M'Kean and after two or three turns about the island the
planes headed west for the ship.34
Short’s description
of these activities was more to the point:
Saturday
morning we were launched at 7:00 and inspected Sydney, Phoenix,
Enderbury and Birnie islands in that order. Sydney was quite similar
to Hull Island though somewhat smaller. There was a large coconut
grove and some old houses but if there were any inhabitants they
kept pretty well hidden [the Tokelou natives, working for Jones,
worked both Sydney and Hull, but at this time were entirely on Hull,
accounting for the "houses" on Sydney but no inhabitants]. Phoenix
Enderbury and Birnie are almost completely barren and inhabited
only by a million or two birds. My interest in ornithology was pretty
well obscured by my anxiety to avoid too intimate contact with one
of our feathered friends as one of those big frigate birds or any
of the larger variety of sea gulls can be bad news to a propeller.
We consider ourselves very lucky that none of us hit any -- apparently
the sentiment was mutual, and they proved very adept at dodging
us -- considering what little practice they've had.35
One of the most
unusual reports made by the press aboard the Colorado was sent
on 0825GMT July 11th, well after the search of these four islands.
John Terry of the Associated Press sent in this report:
Fliers
confessed hope lost Earhart as Friedell ended Colorado plane
search sevening [Sunday evening - this was Terry's shorthand
way of stating the date] unless possible final flight Monday.
Phoenix astern steaming howlandward where refuel destroyers Monday.
Letters scooped in Sidney Beach spelling dozens Polynesian works
including KELE FASSAU MOLEI seen from air but pilot said life unsighted
discounting possibility were messages relating lost plane.36
These words are
indeed native words, but do not make sense together. Correspondence
with Dr. Niko Besnier, a Pacific language expert at Yale University,
informed to TIGHAR that “kele” is a root word in several Central
Pacific languages and means earth or soil. “Fassau” is unknown,
and that the double “S” is very unusual. “Molei” appears
to be similar to a Tokelau word “mole” meaning nothing left. The
words could have been a hoax perpetrated by the Colorado pilots
upon the newsmen, but then someone must have known a native language.
On the other hand, these words could have been seen by the pilots, but
no mention is made of them by either Short or Lambrecht. |
2040 |
COMDESRON2
sent a message to COM14 that it would be extremely advantageous for
the Colorado to cover the Phoenix Islands completely so that
those islands could be removed from the Lexington plans for
search areas.37 |
2215 |
COM14
asked the Commandant 11th Naval District in Los Angeles to ask Lockheed
about established facts about Earhart’s plane: maximum distance in
still air with 1100 gallons of fuel, maximum distance with 53 miles/gallon
consumption, air speed at full load and running economical speed,
and total fuel capacity.38 |
2235 |
COM14
asked CNO to initiate a request for permission to search the Gilbert
Islands, if that proved necessary, from British authorities.39
|
2320 |
The
Swan and Colorado rendezvoused for fueling the Swan
just offshore of Canton Island.40
Refueling was completed at 0147GMT on July 11th. |
July
11
|
0200 |
Japan
notified the American Embassy in Tokyo that the Koshu was now
in the Marshall Islands, and was helping in the search for Earhart.41
|
0214 |
After
refueling the Swan, the Colorado launched its planes
to search Canton Island, the final island in the Phoenix Island
group. The planes were recovered at 0350GMT, and the Colorado
began to head towards Howland to rendezvous with the Lexington
destroyers for refueling.42
Lambrecht finished his report about the Canton search:
Canton Island,
the northernmost of the Phoenix Group, was searched that afternoon.
It held the Colorado's only remaining hopes of finding Miss
Earhart and her missing navigator. Search here, however, proved
as fruitless as that of the other islands and hopes of locating
the unfortunate flyers were virtually abandoned ...
Canton
proved to be the biggest of the Phoenix group, but showed little
difference in appearance from the others. It took approximately
fifteen minutes for the planes to make one circle, and although
one end was covered by a heavy rain squall, a careful search was
made of the island and its lagoon. Vegetation is sparse and not
more than half a dozen palm trees exist on the entire island.
At the Western end there still remained the shacks and various
constructions of the eclipse expedition. The broad blue expanse
of the lagoon was broken at regular intervals by transverse coral
reefs and, except for these, the water appeared to be fathoms
deep. At either end (eastern and western) an area of open water
could be found sufficiently large for operations of any size seaplane
or air boat. No signs of contemporary habitation were visible.43
Short describes
the Canton Island search:
Saturday
afternoon we had completed refueling the Swan and made a
short flight to look over Canton Island. It is by far the largest
of the group but the strip of land surrounding the lagoon is extremely
narrow and barren. This was the island used by the recent eclipse
expedition -- their shacks and concrete bases for their telescopes
were still there, completely deserted, of course, and lending a
still more desolate atmosphere to the place.44
While
the planes were airborne searching Canton, COMDESRON2 sent a message
to Colorado stating that it recommended a rendezvous at 5°50′N,
173°15′W at 1830GMT on July 12th for refueling the destroyers.
45 |
0330 |
After
receiving a confirmation from the Colorado, COMDESRON2, physically
located aboard the Lexington, directed the destroyers to go
to that coordinate, and after refueling, prepare to execute search
plan number 2 (62 planes) by 1730GMT July 13th.46
|
0535 |
The
Colorado updated COMDESRON2 about previous searches by Itasca,
Swan, and itself, and suggested to them including the Swan
and Itasca in its search plans.47
|
0700 |
COMDESRON2 informed COM14 of its plans, and added that it would search
to the west of Howland after its first search with 42 planes.48
|
1453 |
The
Commandant of the 12th Naval District informed COM14 that Earhart’s
plane was numbered X16020 [sic], a standard Lockheed Electra
with two motors and colored dural with orange trim.49
Once again, misinformation is transmitted to the parties concerned,
as Earhart's plane is really NR16020. |
1705 |
Information
came from the 11th Naval District from Lockheed stating that maximum
distance with 1100 gallons is 3600 [statute miles], nominal
speed at economical cruising is 150 mph, maximum distance at 53 gallons
per hour is 3100 miles, total fuel load possible is 1141 gallons.
50 |
1820 |
Paul
Mantz sent a telegram to the Commander, Fleet Air Base, Pearl Harbor,
stating that the plane is all metal Lockheed twin motor NC16020 [sic]
with the leading edge of the wing and stabilizer painted chrome orange,
stabilizers are large with twin rudders.51
No one seemed to know the correct aircraft designation number for
the plane. |
1818 |
The
Coast Guard in San Francisco asked Itasca what time zone the
Itasca was using when reporting Earhart's transmissions: 10.5
or 11.5?52 The answer was 10.5. |
1819 |
The CG asked Naval Radio Station Tutuila if it could verify the
departure time of Earhart from Lae.53 |
1959 |
COM14
told CNO that the Colorado had finished its search and that
after refueling the destroyers, it would be released from its duty
to search for Earhart.54 |
2015 |
COM14
transmitted orders to COMDESRON2 that it was now in charge of the
Earhart search, and to take charge of all vessels involved.55 |
2145 |
Tutuila
responded to the CG message of 1819 with a copy of the message from
Vacuum Oil sent from Lae, stating a 0000GMT departure time, and asked
who would pay for the charges to conduct further verification of departure
times.56 |
2240 |
COMDESRON2
ordered Swan and Itasca to continue on their searches
as previously assigned until further notice.57
|
2315 |
The
CG replied to the Tutuila message of 2145 that it would check via
commercial circuits.58
|
|
|