PEARL HARBOR
AND THE SAGA OF THE PAN AM CLIPPER by Daniel A, Martinez, National Park Service Historian
Photos Courtesy Pan Am Historical Foundation
C
aptain Bob Ford arrived early to work on December 1, 1941. He was an employee at the Pan Am base located on Treasure Island, San Francisco. Ford was a veteran pilot and was considered one of the company’s best aviators. Within a week his skills would truly be tested. Like most Americans he and his crew were aware of the deterioration of relations with Japan. It was in the newspapers and on the radio. The Pan Am Clipper had recently carried Special Envoy Saburo Kurusu from Japan to San Francisco in early November of 1941. From there he flew on to Washington DC via American Airlines to assist in negotiations with the United States. The aircraft that Pan Am flew in 1941 was an incredible aeronautical achievement. The California Clipper was a 100 ft long and with a wingspan of over 150 ft, the Boeing 314 was one of the largest seaplanes ever
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to fly. It carried up to 74 passengers and was sustained by a crew of 11. The aircraft had enough range to fly all of the long legs required to island hop from San Francisco to Auckland New Zealand or the Orient. The Clipper piloted by Ford was airborne and headed for Los Angeles on its first leg of its journey to Auckland. Pan American had built a huge network across the Pacific of refueling stations and bases located on islands and atolls. The California Clipper Pan Am flight 18602 on December 2, 1941 took to the sky that afternoon and headed towards Pearl Harbor. At that same time, the Japanese carrier force known as “Kido Butai” was refueling at sea and now less than 900 miles away and turning toward Hawaii. The California Clipper arrived and landed on the morning of December 3 near the Pearl City peninsula at Pearl Harbor. It had completed the longest leg of its outbound across the Pacific.
It was said that Oahu was a popular stopover spot with the Clipper crew and passengers. The island was alive with a variety of activities and relaxation. The afternoon of December 4, those going across the Pacific boarded the plane that would take them to New Zealand. It was now December 7, the California Clipper left Pearl Harbor three days before. The plane was now on the final leg of its journey to Auckland, having stopped off as planned at Canton Island, Fiji, and New Caledonia. Radioman Leach was listening for local signals coming out of Auckland when he’d picked up the news. His reaction was explosive “The Japs have attacked Pearl Harbor!” an expression of dismay swept across his face. In the attempt to confirm it a new message was received…
