Five Seaplanes Force Land
USS Louiville USS Astoria lost five floatplanes and their crews. The pilots were: Ens William J. McGovern, Lt. J. M. Brandt, Ens Layland M. Wilder, John H. Graves and Joseph B. Young. With radio operators: Operators: Miller, Clyde Henry Horn, Lucks, Hugard and Owen.
The US Navy asked the RAAF to search for their missing planes. On March 18, 1942, after a week of searching, a PBY Catalina A24-2 piloted by Chapman located the five planes on the beach at Rossel Island and landed on the lagoon to asses them, near the Osborne family house, that was vacated since January 1942. The Navy men wanted to burn their aircraft and go to Tulagi because they had run out of cigarettes, but the RAAF convinced them to wait for repair party from Port Moresby which arrived in another PBY Catalina. The radio operators were taken to Gavutu on March 27th, the floatplanes flew off on 28th to USS Curtiss which was a PBY servicing ship. One hit the ship and was abandoned overboard.
Henry Sakaida adds:
"I turned up nothing for 28 March 1942. I checked OS2N and OS2U Kingfishers...nothing.
The USS Astoria lost 4 floatplanes (SON and SOC-3 Seagull) on 9 August 1942 at Savo Island, but no pilot casualties. There were Kingfisher losses on March 5,11,14, and 22nd...but none recorded for the 27,28, 29, etc. Nothing from the Astoria on these losses."
W. Ashley Horn (son of Clyde Henry Horn) adds:
"My sister and I were never able to get him to talk about this incident much but I did read about it in Stanley Johnson's book Queen of the Flatops. I also have a newspaper article with an interview of my father."
