Nauticos has surveyed 1860nm2 across 3 expeditions in 2002, 2006, and 2017. Combined with the Waitt Institute’s search in 2009, 3610nm2 have previously been surveyed without locating the aircraft. This is an area close to the size of Connecticut.

The sonar target DSV has detected, appears to be consistent with the sonar signature of an airplane, however, long range sonar images have historically proven to be deceiving, especially in areas with geological formations.

Yes, the sonar target appears to have a fuselage, wings, and a tail, but…it appears to have swept wings, the relative dimensions do not match the Electra, and there is a lack of engine nacelles. Those characteristics are not consistent with a Lockheed Electra 10E.

All airplane “like” targets in the vicinity of Howland Island have the potential to be Amelia’s Electra and should be positively identified.

All credible fuel endurance studies indicate she ran out of fuel around the time of her last transmission at 08:43. One hour after she reportedly radioed “½ hour fuel remaining.”

Nauticos historic radio testing and analysis has determined that she was just outside visual range of the Coast Guard cutter Itasca positioned at Howland Island at 08:00.

From the published materials, it appears that the target DSV located is in an area referred to as the “Dateline Theory.” That area is significantly west of Howland Island, 46-86 nm

Nauticos historic radio testing and analysis has determined that there is little chance that Amelia ditched her aircraft in that area. It would be difficult for her to be significantly west of her 8:00 location when she stated that she was flying north and south (157°/337°) in her 8:43 transmission.

Nauticos believes that if DSV’s target is in fact Amelia’s Lockheed Electra, then the aircraft ended up on the bottom at that location because it floated for an extended period after ditching into the ocean which is unlikely.

DSV’s release of this information will not impact Nauticos / SeaWord plans to launch an expedition to survey newly defined high probability search areas in the near future. Tax deductible donations to support future operations can be made to the SeaWord Foundation www.seaword.org.

SS-168—USS Nautilus—was the pre-war flagship of Submarine Division 12 and operated out of Pearl Harbor throughout World War II. She was commissioned July 1, 1930, before international naval treaties limited future submarine size, and thus was among the largest submarines in the U.S. fleet. Over a football field in length and displacing 4,000 tons submerged, the boat was able to carry a large crew, ample cargo, two dozen torpedoes, cruiser-sized six-inch caliber guns, and cruise as far as 25,000 miles. She could dive to three hundred feet—though her crew was known to take her deeper. Throughout 1942-45 Nautilus engaged the enemy in fourteen war patrols, from the Battle of Midway to the liberation of the Philippines, earning fourteen battle stars and the U.S. Presidential Unit Citation. Her skipper, William H. Brockman, Jr., received not one but three Navy Crosses for heroism, the first for fighting through 42 depth charges at Midway. Nautilus did everything a submarine can do and was involved in most of the major actions of the Pacific theater. In Last Man Down, historical events documented in deck logs and patrol reports are told through the voices of the men who lived them.

Introduction

USS Nautilus (SS-168) was commissioned July 1, 1930, before international naval treaties limited future submarine size, and thus was among the largest submarines in the U.S. fleet. Over a football field in length and displacing 4,000 tons submerged, the boat was able to carry a large crew, ample cargo, two dozen torpedoes, cruiser-sized six-inch caliber guns, and cruise as far as 25,000 miles. She could dive to three hundred feet – though her crew was known to take her deeper.

SS-168 was the flagship of Submarine Division 12 operating out of Pearl Harbor, then a U.S. Territory. On May 24, 1942, Nautilus and her untested 93-man crew got underway for her first war patrol to Midway Island to help repel the expected Japanese attack. She returned to Midway on June 7, after shooting five torpedoes and having survived forty-two depth charges. As told in The Search for the Japanese Fleet, the dramatic tale of Nautilus and her actions during an eight-hour period early in that first patrol would rank among the most important contributions of a submarine to the most decisive engagement in U.S. Navy history.

Last Man Down continues the saga of the venerable warship and her service to our nation. Over her fourteen patrols through almost war’s end she sunk Japanese ships off Tokyo Bay; rescued civilians in the dead of night from enemy occupied islands; conducted reconnaissance ahead of the invasion of Tarawa; deployed commandoes to retake Attu in the Aleutians; and delivered vital supplies to resistance fighters in the Philippines. In short, Nautilus did everything a submarine can do and was involved in most of the major actions of the Pacific theater. Over the course of the war Nautilus traveled nearly 125,000 nautical miles, two-thirds of the way to the moon, which amounts to over 40,000 leagues under the sea.

In Last Man Down, historical events documented in deck logs and patrol reports are told through the voices of the men who lived them. Drawing on interviews with surviving crewmen (all since passed), contemporary writings, and consultation with family members, the story brings to life the drama of a torpedo attack, the fear of depth charging, the distress of evacuating wounded Marines, and the liveliness of R&R ashore in Australia. Major characters include a young sonar man who sat in the conning tower manning his gear during depth charge attacks, the gunnery officer whose periscope photos were featured in Life Magazine, a chief electrician who was on board for thirteen patrols, and the submarine’s most famous wartime skipper who earned the Navy Cross for heroism – three times.