The Navigator Isles

CLXXX

Pago Pago Harbor around 1900

Pago Pago Harbor in the 1980s

If the trip was going to get better, it wasn’t going to happen in Pago Pago Harbor. That was for sure. Ed Musick’s invective-strewn soliloquy after seeing the harbor was dramatic enough to earn a place in Vic Wright’s memoirs written years later after a long and successful career as a Pan Am pilot.

Though still little-known to mainlanders, American Samoa is a land of breathtaking vistas

The two Samoas were once called “The Navigator Islands” for the sailing skill of their Polynesian natives

Sunset at Pago Pago

“I’m going to have to land this ship in a goddamned teacup,” Ed muttered darkly, scanning the surrounding hills, the coral-fringed harbor full of boats, and the boomerang-shape of his landing field. He had to be thinking of the Puerto Rican Clipper lost due to a collision with a boat. The thought of his first sight of Wake lagoon with its coral heads had to have flashed through his mind. The unpleasant reality of smacking into one of the hills that ringed the harbor was always a consideration. And there was no space to work in. 

Two views of the Pan American Clipper II moored in the harbor at Pago Pago in March 1937

 

The old radio tower (which appears in both photographs) was originally constructed by the German Navy during the 1889 undeclared war

Ed flew around the harbor several times trying to get the lay of the land, but also to alert people he’d be landing. He could see people waving up at the plane. The usual crowds that the Clippers drew. The usual excitement. In a few minutes, Ed knew, he’d be glad-handing the Governor of American Samoa, but first he’d have to land the ship.

Government House, the residence and offices of the Governor of American Samoa

Ed thought he saw a way. He came in tight, following the downward slope of the 1,500 foot harbor hills, extended his flaps, and went into a full flare, essentially landing the ship on its belly, like a duck. He just hoped there were no underwater obstructions to impale the Clipper. Belly-flopping a 40,000 pound flying boat in what was for all intents and purposes a pond was no easy thing anyway; the ships’ duralumin hulls were known to split open like overripe mangoes when overstressed.

The landing flare is a standard maneuver for all planes. Here, a Catalina flying boat flares as it touches down. Ed Musick flared the Pan American Clipper II far more steeply in the limited space of Pago Pago Harbor

American Samoa is (aside from uninhabited Jarvis Island) the only territory of the United States lying south of the Equator, and is the southernmost of all American territories. Today, there are about 70,000 ethnic Samoans living there as well as a small population of mainlanders. Even today, the territory, made up of volcanic islands and coral atolls, is considered remote. When the Pan American Clipper II touched down in Pago Pago Harbor in 1937, the crew might as well have been visiting the dark side of the moon.  

One of many varieties of Bougainvillea a tropical plant named after a French seafarer in the tropics

American Samoa was first reached by a French whaling ship captained by a man named Bougainville, in 1768. In 1830, the British sent missionaries to Samoa but they were battled by natives. This gave the Samoans an undeservedly savage reputation in the West.  Contact between Samoans and Europeans remained intermittent until 1889, when the United States and Germany fought a short undeclared war in the islands. Both countries wanted a ship coaling station in the far South Pacific. The war ended when Germany and the United States decided to partition the islands (the Samoans were not consulted). When Germany lost its colonies following World War I, New Zealand assumed control of German Samoa, which they renamed Western Samoa. Western Samoa retained this name after independence in 1962, but ultimately became “Samoa” in 1997.

Samoans fishing in the 1880s

Pan Am had the same effect on American Samoa as it did on Guam: It opened the territory up to tourism and to the larger world. Although FAM 14 was originally a mail-only route the introduction of the Boeing B-314 allowed passengers to reach Pago Pago

No sooner had Pan Am opened up Pago Pago than Hollywood began churning out adventure films “under the tropic moon” in the newest romantic locale

The United States has held American Samoa for over a century. In 1918, the islands were quarantined, making them the only place on earth not reached by the Spanish Flu pandemic. Neighboring Western Samoa, on the other hand, had an infection rate of over 80%, the highest in the world, and a death rate of 40% of those infected, again the highest in the world. The U.S. Naval Governor of the era, John Poyer, is considered an American Samoa national hero for working to spare the country the ravages of the deadly influenza.

U.S. Military Governor John Poyer

The Pan American Clipper II’s arrival in Pago Pago (pronounced “Pango Pango”) in March of 1937 was a seminal event in American Samoa’s history, brief as her stay was. The isolated American territory was finally linked to the United States by air. Over time, Pan Am’s selection of Pago Pago as a port of call led to the development of a tourism industry. Due to the islands’ remoteness, however, tourism still places second to tuna fishery and canning as the backbone of local industry.

The Pan American Clipper II being serviced in Pago Pago in March 1937. The fault in the fuel-dumping system on the S-42B lay not in the valves but in the aerodynamics of the craft during flight which caused dumped fuel to stream over the wings and near the hot engine exhausts. This design flaw meant that it was only a matter of time when --- never if --- an S-42B was doomed to be lost in an accident

American Samoa is a major cruise ship destination today

Despite the long relationship between the United States and American Samoa, natives of American Samoa are U.S. Nationals, not Citizens, Ironically enough, the U.S. military recruitment offices in Pago Pago are the busiest in the entire United States. Proportionally, more Samoans die in service to the flag than any other Americans --- and they are not citizens.

The flag of American Samoa

The modern airport at Pago Pago would probably have Ed Musick cussing even today; additionally, it is bound to be an early victim of climate change

The Pan American Clipper II departing Pago Pago for Auckland