Rodgers Rescued

BULLETIN

At 7 o’clock Admiral S. S. Robison, commanding the fleet, announced on his flagship the California, that the PN-9 No. 1 was being towed into Nawiliwili Harbor, Kauai, by submarine and that Commander Rodgers and all members of his crew were safe.

The admiral also announced that he had ordered in all the vessels of the fleet which have been out searching for the derelict.
Rodgers and the crew of the PN-9 No. 1 were rescued from the plane which was afloat 15 miles off Nawiliwili this afternoon by the Navy sub.

The men are safe and are being rushed to Pearl Harbor aboard the sub. which has the plane.

RODGERS, ALL HIS COMPANIONS ALIVE

Commander John Rodgers’ Seaplane, the PN-9, Number 1, was found fifteen miles east of Kauai; near Nawiliwili, shortly after 4 o’clock this afternoon. Lieut. Osborne, commander of the Submarine R-4 sighted the floating plane and rescued the five occupants who were well despite their ten days drifting in the seas.

The Submarine commander’s message gave no details when he first notified naval authorities other than that he was taking the plane in tow and probably would arrive at Pearl Harbor tonight. Pearl Harbor immediately dispatched seaplanes and fast destroyers to the scene.

Commander Rodgers, given up for lost nearly a week ago, started from San Francisco in the Trans-Pacific flight on August 31, at 2:50 o’clock in the afternoon.

The last message from the plane was picked up at 4 o’clock, Pacific coast time, when Rodgers flashed ‘We will sink if we have to land in this rough seas.’ From that minute on until four o’clock this afternoon not a single trace was found of the plane. Meanwhile, more than 9,000 square miles of the Pacific ocean was combed by seaplanes, submarines, and every conceivable form of surface craft.

Colossal credit for the finding of Rodgers belongs solely to the navy, who despite searching in vain for over a week and despite pessimistic reports from all quarters kept diligently carrying on their sweeping of the seas never faltering for an instant.

We’ll find Rodgers if we have to sieve every drop of water around these islands, was the statement of officers carrying on the search.