Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-05-09
48-PLANE ARMADA
HOPSFROM HAWAII.
ON 1,323-M|LE TRIP
Wartime Secrecy Shrouding
Flight to Midway
Island.
JOURNEY EXPECTED
TO REQUIRE 10 HOURS
2ls Hours Necessary to Get All
Ships in Air to Join Naval
Maneuvers.
BY the Associated Press.

HONOLULU, May 9-The greatest
mass ocean flight ever attempted be-
gan today when the first of 48 naval
patrol planes roared off from Pearl
Harbor for Midway Island at 7:18 am.
(2:08 pm. Eastern standard time)
1t was expected to take two hours
for the entire flying armada to get
into the air for the 1,323-mlle flight
over an unchartered route.
A cloak of wartime secrecy was
thrown about the movement OF the
planes as they slid down the ramp
at Pearl Harbor for sensational
entrance into the greatest maneuvers
the United States Navy has ever
staged in the Pacific.
Secrecy Surrounds Hop.
So great was the secrecy surround
ing the unprecedented flight of the
squadron. observers expected no fur
Their word of its movements after the
take-off until the arrival at Midway
Island-relatively a mere pinpoint in
the sea.
In the maneuvers the armada from
Americas mid-Pacific naval base at
Pearl Harbor, II miles from Honolulu,
will join 1873 warships and the great
est aircraft force ever sent to sea in
mimic warfare over a vast area of
the North Pacific.
Exactly what part the planes will
play in the maneuvers, or where they
will go from Midway Island was
clouded in the same cloak Of silence
that has covered every move the fleet
has made since it put to sea last week.
There was sparkling weather, but
practically no wind to help lift the
heavy loads of gasoline for the flight
as the first ship left the water.
Circle Canefields.
Planes of VP-10 Squadron, which
flew here last year, skinned at inter-
walls of about three minutes across the
CLASSY waters of Pearl Harbor and be-
gan circling the surrounding cane
fields to gain altitude while awaiting
other planes in the air.
There was no delay in the take-off
The entire operations were secret and
the time for departure never was an
nounced, although it was learned it
would be around daybreak. Naval
officers were communicative and de-
clined to discuss the flight or even to
admit it would be made.
Newspaper men who applied for
admission at the gates of the Pearl
Harbor Navy Yard were turned away,
and cameramen likewise failed to
gain entrance. Nobody was permitted
inside with a camera.
The planes, it was learned, are ex-
pected to reach Midway Island by
z o'clock tonight Q2:30 am. Friday,
Eastern standard time).
Ten-Hour Flight.
This would mean about 10-hour
flight, since considerable time was
required for the start. Allowing three
minutes between take-offs, it would
require approximately two and one
half hours for all planes to get into
the air.
Pearl Earbor guards halted every
prospective entrant at the gates for
close questioning, while Navy Off
cial explained that Hawaii, a strate-
gic point il the Pacific naval maneu-
vers. must observe secrecy as much
as the sea forces.
The official said secrecy was as
important for the success of the ma
neuvers as any moves which would
be undertaken in war time.
Long Flight Seen.
Preparations for the fight were be-
gun suddenly yesterday as it was
unofficially learned the big squadron,
comprising about 200 men, would be
absent for about a month. Observ-
ers took this to mean some of the
planes might fly northward from Mid
way to the Aleutian Islands, 1,700
miles away, and the northern boun-
Diary of 5000, 000-square-mil area
in which the fleet is maneuvering.
High naval officials in Washington
insisted The fight would not proceed
farther west than Midway Island.
japanese officialdom in Toxic,
meanwhile, maintained tight-Epped
silence on news of the scheduled flight.
Reports in Washington that some
japanese disquiet existed over the
flight, which would follow leg of
the proposed trans Pacific commercial
air service. vert denied in official
Capital quarters.
Storm on Ships Course.
A storm center was reported gath
ering about $500 miles northwest of
Midway Island, which may turn south
rapidly enough to precipitate rough
weather in the path of the airmen.
officials of the United States
Weather Bureau here, however, con-
sidered 1t likely that ill., planes would
outrun this threat and that ION the
whole weather conditions will be good
the next "A hours" with light vari-
able winds and fair visibility.
It seemed likely that naval surface
craft would be stationed along the
route of the flight to lend any assist
ance needed.
Midway Island is a way station in
the proposed trans-Pacific commercial
airline which Pan-American Anyways
hopes to inaugurate this Summer.