Guam - Disappearance of Pan Am Hawaii Clipper Flight 229, enroute Guam to Manila, 28 July 1938
- Thread starter Richard
- Start date
I don't know exactly what method the ship used to check the oil sample obtained from the slick on the ocean, but they determined that it was NOT high octane gasoline known as Av Gas. It was a combination of lubricating oil and fuel oil of the type used in ship (or submarine) engines.
[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_130_Clipper_(4589907311).jpg']
[/URL]
Pan Am Hawaii Clipper made by Martin
LINKS:
ROMANTICALLY FLYING THE OCEANS IN THE LATE 1930s
Vanished!: What Happened to the Hawaii Clipper?
Hawaii Clipper Disappearance of 1938 - Historic Mysteries
Hawaii Clipper - Wikipedia
[/URL]Pan Am Hawaii Clipper made by Martin
LINKS:
ROMANTICALLY FLYING THE OCEANS IN THE LATE 1930s
Vanished!: What Happened to the Hawaii Clipper?
Hawaii Clipper Disappearance of 1938 - Historic Mysteries
Hawaii Clipper - Wikipedia
Passengers on the Hawaii Clipper, missing since 28 July 1938.
This year will mark 85 years missing.
Dr. Earl B. McKinley – Washington DC
Dr. Fred C. Meier – Washington DC
Edward E. Wyman – Bronxville, NY
Kenneth A Kennedy – Palo Alto CA
Howard C. French – Portland OR
This year will mark 85 years missing.
Dr. Earl B. McKinley – Washington DC
Dr. Fred C. Meier – Washington DC
Edward E. Wyman – Bronxville, NY
Kenneth A Kennedy – Palo Alto CA
Howard C. French – Portland OR
Choy Wah Sun aka “Watson” Choy – Jersey City, NJ Passenger on flight
Missing Crew Members aboard the Hawaii Clipper:
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
This July 28 will mark the 85 year anniversary of the disappearance of the Hawaii Clipper.
Could US gold certificate currency on board the aircraft have been a reason for the plane being hijacked by Japanese agents?
1935 US Gold Certificate Fifty Dollar Bill
Could US gold certificate currency on board the aircraft have been a reason for the plane being hijacked by Japanese agents?
1935 US Gold Certificate Fifty Dollar Bill
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LINK:
The curious tale of a flying boat named “Hawaii Clipper”
wingsoffreedommuseum.org
Local group of adventurers hopes to solve aviation mystery
In October 2021, a meeting was held in a private dining room at the Clyde’s Willow Creek Farm restaurant in Ashburn. The men who gathered are part of a team that has been slowly and
www.theburn.com
Vanished!: What Happened to the Hawaii Clipper?
In the 75 years since the Hawaii Clipper disappeared, no one has figured out what happened to the flying boat and its crew. A few minutes before 6 a.m. on
www.historynet.com
...
One particular incident from Pan American's history almost eighty years ago has considerable resonance with the disappearance of Flight 370. On July 29th, 1938, on a regular flight between Guam and Manila, the Hawaii Clipper, a Pan American Airways Martin M-130 flying boat, piloted by Captain Leo Terletzky, simply vanished. One minute - it was 12:11 pm - the clipper was in radio contact with Pan Am's base at Panay in the Philippines, about 500 miles to the west. The plane's Flight Radio Officer, William McCarty tapped out a message: "Standby one minute, having trouble with rain static". One minute later, when queried by the airline's radio operator on the ground, there was no answer from the clipper. There never would be. The plane had vanished.
A massive search ensued. An oil slick was found (very much like during the search for Flight 370). That proved a false clue, as analysis of the oil proved that it was "bunker oil" from a steamship. What was left was conjecture. No wreckage, no "mayday", nothing tangible.
The first reaction - one that abides today - was that the Hawaii Clipper was the victim of foul play. Ronald Jackson's well-researched 1980 book China Clipper (Everest House, New York) posits that Japanese agents slipped aboard the plane at Guam and hijacked it to a Japanese base, to head off the delivery of millions of dollars destined for the Nationalist Chinese government. Others believe that the plane was the victim of a cataclysmic weather event that destroyed it in an instant. It's all just conjecture...
LINK:
Mystery Still With Us
Mystery Still With Us, incident from Pan American's history almost eighty years ago, the disappearance of Martin M-130 Hawaii Clipper on July 29th, 1938, between Guam and Manila
Last edited:
Was this 1942 Superman cartoon based on the disappearance of the Hawaii Clipper?
Story line:
American industry builds a gigantic new bomber and Lois Lane stows away on the test flight; little does she suspect, Japanese spies are aboard to hijack the giant. Superman to the rescue...
This was the first cartoon in which Superman could fly. In previous episodes, he could only jump high.
I post it here only for entertainment. Total fiction, but how close it might actually have been to a theory that the Hawaii Clipper was hijacked in mid air by Japanese agents...
Story line:
American industry builds a gigantic new bomber and Lois Lane stows away on the test flight; little does she suspect, Japanese spies are aboard to hijack the giant. Superman to the rescue...
This was the first cartoon in which Superman could fly. In previous episodes, he could only jump high.
I post it here only for entertainment. Total fiction, but how close it might actually have been to a theory that the Hawaii Clipper was hijacked in mid air by Japanese agents...
Last edited:
Next Month will mark the 85 year anniversary of the disappearance of the Pan Am Hawaii Clipper. Its crew and passengers are all still missing.
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July 1938: Were any of these passengers targets for assassination?
"Dr. Earl B. McKinley, a noted bacteriologist and the Dean of George Washington University’s Medical School, was carrying two new serums to test at the Culion Leprosy Colony in the Philippines.
Fred C. Meier was the principal plant pathologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He too was on his way to the Philippines, where he planned to study disease transmission in the upper atmosphere.
Kenneth A. Kennedy, Pan Am’s Pacific Division traffic manager, was making the flight to check out the company’s overseas operations, which had recently been disrupted by the Japanese invasion of China.
Major Howard C. French, commander of the 321st Observation Squadron, was on his way to monitor the Japanese bombing of Canton.
The year was 1938. A World War was brewing. These important professionals were all passengers on the same flight. The passenger list continues:
Also aboard was 45-year old Edward E. Wyman, vice president of export sales for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Wyman’s company wanted to sell fighter aircraft to the Kuomintang, something the Japanese would not have been pleased about.
Perhaps the most unusual passenger was 38-year-old Wah-Sun Choy. An American of Chinese descent who called himself “Watson,” Choy was the wealthy owner of a small New Jersey–based restaurant company. He was so enamored with Pan Am’s flying boats that he’d named two of his cafes after the China Clipper. Choy was on his way to Hong Kong to visit his mother and sister, and also hoped to see his brother Frank, an air force pilot with the Nationalists. He was carrying $3 million in gold certificates (approximately $50 million today), which, as head of the Chinese War Relief Committee, he intended to donate to Chiang Kai-shek."
Pan American World Airways Martin M130 "Hawaii Clipper" departed Guam en route to Manila on July 28, 1938, never to be heard of again. No evidence of the aircraft, or its passengers, ever found.
http://www.historynet.com/vanished-happened-hawaii...
LINKS:
www.panam.org
www.historicmysteries.com
www.snopes.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
July 1938: Were any of these passengers targets for assassination?
"Dr. Earl B. McKinley, a noted bacteriologist and the Dean of George Washington University’s Medical School, was carrying two new serums to test at the Culion Leprosy Colony in the Philippines.
Fred C. Meier was the principal plant pathologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He too was on his way to the Philippines, where he planned to study disease transmission in the upper atmosphere.
Kenneth A. Kennedy, Pan Am’s Pacific Division traffic manager, was making the flight to check out the company’s overseas operations, which had recently been disrupted by the Japanese invasion of China.
Major Howard C. French, commander of the 321st Observation Squadron, was on his way to monitor the Japanese bombing of Canton.
The year was 1938. A World War was brewing. These important professionals were all passengers on the same flight. The passenger list continues:
Also aboard was 45-year old Edward E. Wyman, vice president of export sales for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Wyman’s company wanted to sell fighter aircraft to the Kuomintang, something the Japanese would not have been pleased about.
Perhaps the most unusual passenger was 38-year-old Wah-Sun Choy. An American of Chinese descent who called himself “Watson,” Choy was the wealthy owner of a small New Jersey–based restaurant company. He was so enamored with Pan Am’s flying boats that he’d named two of his cafes after the China Clipper. Choy was on his way to Hong Kong to visit his mother and sister, and also hoped to see his brother Frank, an air force pilot with the Nationalists. He was carrying $3 million in gold certificates (approximately $50 million today), which, as head of the Chinese War Relief Committee, he intended to donate to Chiang Kai-shek."
Pan American World Airways Martin M130 "Hawaii Clipper" departed Guam en route to Manila on July 28, 1938, never to be heard of again. No evidence of the aircraft, or its passengers, ever found.
http://www.historynet.com/vanished-happened-hawaii...
LINKS:
Mystery Still With Us
Mystery Still With Us, incident from Pan American's history almost eighty years ago, the disappearance of Martin M-130 Hawaii Clipper on July 29th, 1938, between Guam and Manila
Hawaii Clipper Disappearance of 1938 - Historic Mysteries
On 28 July 1938 the Hawaii Clipper disappeared over the Pacific. Experts have been unable to determine what happened to the plane.
www.historicmysteries.com
Was Pan Am Clipper Taken by Japan at Truk Lagoon Before WWII?
Snopes spoke with an aviation history expert to get to the heart of conspiracy theories.
www.snopes.com
The Mystery of the Hawaii Clipper
Pan American Airways was founded in 1927 to offer air mail services as a response to German-owned Colombian carrier SCADTA who was moving north from Colombia and lobbying hard for landing rights in…
fearoflanding.com
Leo Terletzky Photo, Pilot's License 1930.
LINKS:
"A Grown-Up Job"
Flying the Pacific, "A Grown-Up Job" vs. Flying in Latin America. The story of pilot Leo Terletzky and Pan American Airways, from S-38s to Martin M-130s and the loss of the Hawaii Clipper.
As a side note, Pan Am Clipper pilots and other officers were considered to be the absolute best of the best in regards to long range flying over water.
Even with trained pilots, flyiong to islands over open water was very difficult. There were no second chances regarding navigational errors.
During WWII, there was a "secret" VIP transport squadron used to fly senior commanders and officials around the Pacific.
The squadron itself was not secret, but the fact that it was staffed entirely by Clipper officers whose presence in the military was token, at best was not talked about.
In the end, regular military pilots were not considered good enough for VIP transport and the VIPS were hesitant to let the public know that some people warranted the best of the best and others not so much.
Even with trained pilots, flyiong to islands over open water was very difficult. There were no second chances regarding navigational errors.
During WWII, there was a "secret" VIP transport squadron used to fly senior commanders and officials around the Pacific.
The squadron itself was not secret, but the fact that it was staffed entirely by Clipper officers whose presence in the military was token, at best was not talked about.
In the end, regular military pilots were not considered good enough for VIP transport and the VIPS were hesitant to let the public know that some people warranted the best of the best and others not so much.
Here is a link to a site about a new book concerning Pan Am in World War II:
www.panam.org
Pan Am at War
"Pan Am at War: How the Airline Secretly Helped America Fight World War II" by Mark Cotta Vaz & John H. Hill chronicles the airline’s historic role in advancing aviation and serving the national interest of the United States before and during World War II. From its inception, Pan American...
Pan Am's Hawaii Clipper
The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 captured the attention of people around the globe. The aircraft's disappearance presented an eerie echo of an event in Pan American's history... Understandably, the first reaction of most people is disbelief at the seeming impossible. Modern commercial aircraft operate in an environment that provides many levels of redundant communication links, even down to the level of component equipment. This technology has evolved over decades of increasingly sophisticated and effective systems, developed by manufacturers, airlines, and government regulatory agencies.That a Boeing 777 - a modern well-equipped aircraft, flown by an experienced crew, flying a well-traveled route - can simply vanish, leaving only faint electronic whispers, beggars modern understanding.
One particular incident from Pan American's history almost eighty years ago has considerable resonance with the disappearance of Flight 370. On July 29th, 1938, on a regular flight between Guam and Manila, the Hawaii Clipper, a Pan American Airways Martin M-130 flying boat, piloted by Captain Leo Terletzky, simply vanished. One minute - it was 12:11 pm - the clipper was in radio contact with Pan Am's base at Panay in the Philippines, about 500 miles to the west. The plane's Flight Radio Officer, William McCarty tapped out a message: "Standby one minute, having trouble with rain static". One minute later, when queried by the airline's radio operator on the ground, there was no answer from the clipper. There never would be. The plane had vanished.
A massive search ensued. An oil slick was found (very much like during the search for Flight 370). That proved a false clue, as analysis of the oil proved that it was "bunker oil" from a steamship. What was left was conjecture. No wreckage, no "mayday", nothing tangible.
The first reaction - one that abides today - was that the Hawaii Clipper was the victim of foul play. Ronald Jackson's well-researched 1980 book China Clipper (Everest House, New York) posits that Japanese agents slipped aboard the plane at Guam and hijacked it to a Japanese base, to head off the delivery of millions of dollars destined for the Nationalist Chinese government. Others believe that the plane was the victim of a cataclysmic weather event that destroyed it in an instant. It's all just conjecture...
LINKS:
Mystery Still With Us
Mystery Still With Us, incident from Pan American's history almost eighty years ago, the disappearance of Martin M-130 Hawaii Clipper on July 29th, 1938, between Guam and Manila
The Hawaii Clipper at Alameda in June 1938, part of a film by Richard Rhode:
Was Pan Am Clipper Taken by Japan at Truk Lagoon Before WWII?
LINK:
Was Pan Am Clipper Taken by Japan at Truk Lagoon Before WWII?
Snopes spoke with an aviation history expert to get to the heart of conspiracy theories.
www.snopes.com
1938 Press Photo Map of the Route of Lost Pan American Airways Hawaii Clipper | #4568889170
1938 Vintage Press Photo by INTERNATIONAL NEWS. Map shows route of Clipper from San Francisco, and Zone where missing Pan American Airways Giant Hawaii Clipper is being sought. Cross indicates where P
www.worthpoint.com
Missing Crew Members aboard the Hawaii Clipper:
Captain Leo Terletzky:
First Officer Mark A. Walker:
1938 Press Photo M.A. Walker missing aboard Hawaii Clipper flight from Guam. | #1851791521
Note: Please study the images carefully to determine the condition of this vintage photograph, as it may not be in perfect condition. It may contain wrinkles, cracks, and possibly even tears due to it
www.worthpoint.com
Second Officer George Merrill "Chick" Davis:
George Merrill “Chick” Davis (1908-1938) - Find a...
Son of Henry L. and Delia (Basinait) Davis of Lee, Massachusetts. Husband of Elsie A Bakewell. He was the second officer on the Pan Am Airways China Clipper which went missing in the Pacific on 29 July 1938 en route from Hawaii to the Philippines.
www.findagrave.com
Third Officer Jose M. Sauceda
Fourth Officer John W. Jewett:
John Wilson Jewett (1911-1938) - Find a Grave...
Of Oakland, California. Fourth officer. The Pan American Airlines Martin M-130, Hawaii Clipper (NC14714) departed Guam on flight #229 en route to Manila on July 28, 1938, with six passengers and a crew of nine. At last radio contact 565 miles off the coast of the Phillipines, the plane was...
www.findagrave.com
Engineer Officer Howard l. Cox
Assistant Engineer Officer T.B. Tatum:
T. B. Tatum (unknown-1938) - Find a Grave...
Of Honolulu, Hawaii. Assistant Engineer Officer. The Pan American Airlines Martin M-130, Hawaii Clipper (NC14714) departed Guam on flight #229 en route to Manila on July 28, 1938, with six passengers and a crew of nine. At last radio contact 565 miles off the coast of the Phillipines, the plane...
www.findagrave.com
Radio Officer William McGarty
Flight Steward Ivan Parker
Some photos of Kempeitai personnel, military police force of the Imperial Japanese Army. Did they hijack the Pan Am Hawaii Clipper?
LINK:
en.wikipedia.org
LINK:
Kempeitai - Wikipedia
The Japanese military saw Pan AM clipper planes and their new bases at Wake, Guam, and Panay (Philippines) as a threat to their sovereignty and plans for Pacific dominance in the 1930's.
The theory which suggests Japanese agents hijacked the Hawaii Clipper is a sound one when previouse attempts by the Japanese to Sabotage Pan Am flights are considered.
The fact that "Watson" Choy was on board with 3 million US dollars to support China in its ongoing war with Japan could have been a major factor in the Imperial Japanese Army wanting to prevent the Hawaii Clipper from arriving at Panay.
The suddenness with which radio communications ended, and the fact that no wreckage or debris was found by US Navy ships sent to search, indicates that the plane may have been hijacked and flown to a Japanese held island such as Koror in the Palaus, or another location where the Japanese also had "flying boats".
The theory which suggests Japanese agents hijacked the Hawaii Clipper is a sound one when previouse attempts by the Japanese to Sabotage Pan Am flights are considered.
The fact that "Watson" Choy was on board with 3 million US dollars to support China in its ongoing war with Japan could have been a major factor in the Imperial Japanese Army wanting to prevent the Hawaii Clipper from arriving at Panay.
The suddenness with which radio communications ended, and the fact that no wreckage or debris was found by US Navy ships sent to search, indicates that the plane may have been hijacked and flown to a Japanese held island such as Koror in the Palaus, or another location where the Japanese also had "flying boats".
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