SS Flying Lark SS " Flying Lark was a cargo ship that traded from 1915 until 1958 . Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted of Fredrikstad , Norway built her as the banana boat SS " Honduras . Her career lasted 43 years , in which time she had 10 successive owners , eight successive names and a succession of different managers . In 1957 her final owners renamed her " Flying Lark " . In 1958 she was trading in Indonesia when the CIA attacked and sank her , killing at least nine of her crew . " Honduras " was a conventional small cargo steamship of her era , equipped with two fire tube boiler s supplying one 3 - cylinder triple - expansion steam engine . There is some discrepancy over her nominal horsepower : one source states that her engine produced 258 NHP but another states that it was only 188 NHP . Changes of owner , registry and name . " Honduras " was built for Peder Johannesen ' s " Dampskibsselskab Globe " ( " Globe Steamship Co " ) of Tønsberg , which registered her in Kristiania , Norway . In 1918 P . Johannesen sold " Honduras " to C . H . F . Jensen and in 1920 her management was transferred to S . Dreyer . Both Jensen and Dreyer were based in Kristiania , which from 1925 was renamed Oslo . In 1934 " Honduras " was sold to Weinberger Banana Co who renamed her Tuxpam and registered her in Bluefields , Nicaragua . In 1938 she was transferred to Weinberger Steam Ship Co and in 1939 she was renamed Denny . In the same year she was sold to " Akc . Bve . Leituvos Baltijos Lloydas " ( " Lithuanian Baltic Lloyd " ) of Šventoji , Lithuania , who renamed her Trakai . In June 1942 the United States Maritime Commission took her over , registered her in Panama City and placed her in the management of Agwilines Inc . of Panama . Management was transferred to the United Fruit Company in September 1943 , then to Lykes Brothers Steamship Company in October 1944 and back to United Fruit Co in July 1945 . In October 1945 " Trakai " was laid up . In 1946 " Trakai " was sold to Hadjilias Interests ' " Compañía de Navegación Insular S . A . " of Panama who registered her in Greece and renamed her Phoenix . In 1948 she was sold to " Société Maritime Auxiliare de Transports " of Basle , Switzerland , who renamed her Ville de Genève and registered her in Rouen , France . In 1955 she was sold to D . S . Zabasas and others of Beirut , Lebanon who registered her in Greece and renamed her Ionion . In 1957 she was sold to Chiap Huah Shipping Co of Panama ( the shipping subsidiary of Chiap Huah Manufactory of Hong Kong ) who renamed her Flying Lark and registered her in Panama . By now the ship was trading as a general cargo ship rather than a banana boat . Bombed and sunk by the CIA . At the end of April 1958 " Flying Lark " was in Amboina Harbour in Indonesia loading a cargo of copra . On 28 April a Douglas B - 26 Invader bomber aircraft , operated by the CIA and painted black and with no markings , bombed and damaged her . The attack killed nine of the crew and another six were reported missing . The damaged " Flying Lark " stayed afloat for at least two days , but sank on or after 30 April . In the same attack , the same aircraft hit and sank the merchant ships and . One source asserts that all three ships were off the port of Donggala near Palu in Central Sulawesi ( at least west of Ambon ) when they were hit . This now appears doubtful , as " Aquila " s wreck seems to have been identified in Ambon Bay . Another source states that " Flying Lark " was attacked on 1 or 2 May . This may result partly from confusion between the date she was bombed and the date she sank . The attack was part of a CIA covert operation to support right - wing Permesta rebels in North Sulawesi to destabilise President Sukarno ' s government of Indonesia . The CIA pilots had orders to target foreign merchant ships in order to drive foreign trade away from Indonesian waters , thereby weakening the Indonesian economy in the belief that this would undermine Sukarno . The pilot was the CIA and former USAF pilot Allen Pope . On 18 May the Indonesian Navy and Air Force shot down Pope ' s aircraft and captured him , after which the USA rapidly aborted the CIA mission and reversed its policy towards Indonesia .