Pacific Ocean

The seaplane departed its base at 1619LT on a maritime patrol flight over the Pacific Ocean. While cruising some 80 km north of Oahu Island, the seaplane crashed into the sea in unknown circumstances. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was ever found.
Crew:
Lt(jg) William L. Johnson, pilot,
Ap1c Michael Robards,
Ap2c Russsell B. Riggs,
Aom2c Harry V. Knight,
Amm3c Ellis P. Bruce,
Amm3c Marion L. Hofheins,
Amm3c Wilbur Eugene Soltau,
Rm3c Samuel E. Ottenbacher,
Rm3c George Tepus.

The airplane departed Hickam Field AFB, Hawaii, on a special mission to Australia, with a intermediate stop in Topham, Canton Island. On board were eight crew members, among them Edward V. 'Eddie' Rickenbacker, WWI flyer ace, who was sent on a tour of the Pacific theater to review conditions, operations, and to personally deliver a secret message from President Roosevelt to General MacArthur. After takeoff from Hawaii, the airplane went off course due to a navigation error caused by an out-of-adjustment celestial navigation instrument, a bubble octant that gave a systematic bias to all of its readings. That octant reportedly had suffered a severe shock in a pre-takeoff mishap during the first attempt to takeoff in a different bomber, but the landing gear's brakes seized mid-takeoff. The navigator kept the same damaged bubble octant which caused the navigational failure. The plane's aircraft commander was forced to ditch close to Japanese-held islands but the Americans were never spotted by Japanese patrol planes. The USAAF and USN searched for more than two weeks, but failed to find anything. Rickenbacker's wife convinced them to extend the search another week. The press reported that Rickenbacker had died. The seven crew used two life rafts. Rickenbacker still suffered from the airplane crash, his friend sustained serious injuries in the water landing, and others in the crew were hurt to varying degrees. The crew's food supply ran out after three days. They drifted at sea without food or water aside from an occasional fish and rain. On the eighth day a seagull landed on Rickenbacker's head, he caught it and the men meticulously divided it equally and used some for fishing bait. On the thirteenth day, one of the crew died and was buried at sea, leaving only six survivors. Rickenbacker assumed a role of leadership, encouragement, and browbeating to help the others survive, and encouraged them to turn to the Lord for solace. According to Rickenbacker, each person on the rafts converted to Christianity after the experience. Three of the survivors decided to separate and departed together. They found a small island, close to another, inhabited one. The natives of the second one were hosting an allied radio station. They were taken to an English missionary on the island, until rescued by a US Navy tender. On the seventeenth day, the other survivors saw an aircraft, but it failed to spot them. More planes were spotted on the eighteenth and nineteenth days, but they failed to spot them. US Navy pilots located the surviving crew members off the coast of Island X near Samoa. A Navy patrol plane spotted the captain on the evening of the twenty-first day, 12NOV42 and a PT Boat rescued him. Twenty-two days after the crash, 13NOV42 an OS2U Kingfisher crew spotted the raft with Rickenbacker and two other crew members off the coast of Nukufetau in Tuvalu and landed. Already dark, the Kingfisher loaded one inside the cockpit. Rickenbacker and the other crew member were strapped to the wing. The Kingfisher taxied on the surface for more than thirty minutes to a nearby PT Boat, where they were transferred. Rickenbacker completed his assignment and delivered MacArthur's secret message.
Source: Joe Baugher.
Crew:
Cpt William Cherry Jr., pilot,
2nd Lt James C. Whittaker, copilot,
Lt John J. DeAngelis, navigator,
Sgt Alexander T. Kaczmarczyk, navigator, †
Sgt James W. Reynolds, radio operator,
Pvt John F. Bartek, flight engineer.
Passengers:
Col Hans C. Adamson,
Cpt Edward V. 'Eddie'Rickenbacker.

The airplane departed NAS Kodiak on a transport flight to Seattle with an intermediate stop in Whitehorse, Yukon. This plane was the lead transport in a formation of three. Aboard were 10 passengers and four crew members from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. During the first leg of the flight the weather was terrible with storm like conditions and the three transports became separated and cut radio communications with ice forming on the wings of each plane. This plane was last seen during a break in the weather over the southern tip of the Yakutat mountains of Alaska. When this plane failed to arrive it was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA). The other two transports landed at Whitehorse Airfield and Watson Lake safely.
Crew:
L/Cdr Jerome H. Sparboe, pilot,
Ens Charles L. Mixon, copilot,
ACRM Charles E. Barber, radio operator,
Cpt Arthur Burton Barrows.

The airplane departed Fort Glenn AFB, Umnak Island, Alaska, to attack Japanese positions on Kiska Island. The airplane failed to return to base and is believed to have crashed somewhere into the north Pacific Ocean. Lost without trace.
Crew:
1st Lt Scott H. Neal +9.

The seaplane departed Sand Point NAS on a maritime patrol flight over the North Pacific Ocean. It failed to return to base and is believed to have crashed somewhere into the ocean. Lost without trace.
Crew:
Ens George Anthone Mullersman, pilot,
Ens Lester H. Ludlow,
Ens Howard E. Coker,
Rm2c Jesse H. Robinson,
Rm2c Howard C. Cupps,
Amm2c Rou D. Fowler,
Amm3c Harold W. Dominy,
Sea2c Willis E. Campell,
Sea2c Earle G. Earling.

The airplane was missing on a flight from the Palmyra Atoll to Hickam AFB, Hawaii. Lost without trace. The number of missing airmen remains unknown.

The airplane departed Hickam Field AFB on a maritime patrol flight over the Pacific Ocean, carrying a crew of nine. In flight, the crew encountered technical problems and equipment failures affected communication and navigation. In such conditions, the captain decided to return to base. Doing so, he reported that he was low on fuel and did not know his position with a 300 feet cloud ceiling in storm. A fuel exhaustion caused the engine n°2 to stop. When the engine n°3 was about to stop, the pilot feathered its propeller but this caused a loss of instruments so was restarted. The pilot held the plane off the water until the airspeed decayed and ditched the airplane about 233 km off Oahu. After ditching, one life raft was released and the top escape hatch failed to open. Two crew members were missing and seven others were rescued.
Crew:
1st Lt William S. Raper, pilot,
2nd Lt Edwin L. Sterling, pilot,
2nd Lt Frank E. Ross Jr., navigator,
Sgt Alva E. Dye, flight engineer,
Cpl Jessie R. Downard, assistant engineer,
Sgt Walter Dombrowski, radio operator, †
Pvt Robert J. McKeage, assistant radio,
2nd Lt Foster G. Daniels, bombardier,
Pvt Walter J. Dutkiewicz, air gunner. †

The crew was taking part to the Battle of Midway and was dispatched to attack Japanese ships cruising some 180 miles away. Over the target area, the twin engine airplane was shot down by enemy fire and crashed into the ocean. The aircraft and all crewmen were lost.
Crew:
1st Lt Herbert C. Mayes, pilot,
2nd Lt Garrett M. McAllister, copilot,
2nd Lt William D. Hargis,
2nd Lt Gerald J. Barnicle, bomber,
S/Sgt Salvadore Battaglia, air gunner,
Pvt Benjamin F. Huffsticker,
Pvt Roy W. Walters.

Sank into the Pacific Ocean after landing in heavy seas. All crew members rescued.

The floatplane failed to arrive at destination while on a flight from Topham (Canton Island) to Pearl Harbor with 11 crew members on board. Lost without trace. SAR operations stopped on 10 February 1942.