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The 69 foot (21 m) wooden ship was built in 1931 as a luxury yacht by the Wilmington Boat Works in Los Angeles, California for movie tycoon Roland West .
In 1941, she was commandeered by the United States Navy and taken to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to be outfitted as a patrol boat. She was used by the Navy in the South Pacific campaign during World War II.
Dr. Katharine Luomala of the University of Hawaii bought the ship in 1952 and chartered the boat to her friend, Captain T. H. "Dusty" Miller, a BritishGreat Britain (often abbreviated as Britain is an island lying off the western coast of Europe, comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom. Great Britain is also used as a political term describing the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales, born sailor living in SamoaThe Independent State of Samoa (conventional long form) or Samoa (conventional short form) is a country comprising a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Previous names are Western Samoa from 1914 to 1997 and German Samoa from 1900 to 1914. Malo S. Miller used the ship as a trading and fishing charter boat.
About 5:00 AM on October 3October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in Leap years). There are 89 days remaining in the year. Events 2333 BC Legendary date of the establishment of the Kingdom of Chosun ( Korea) 42 BC First Battle of Philippi: The Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octav, 1955, the Joyita left SamoaThe Independent State of Samoa (conventional long form) or Samoa (conventional short form) is a country comprising a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Previous names are Western Samoa from 1914 to 1997 and German Samoa from 1900 to 1914. Malo S's Apia harbor bound for the TokelauThis article is about the New Zealandian territory in Oceania . For other meanings, see Tokelau (disambiguation Tokelau ( ISO 3166-1: TK) is a group of three tropical coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, a territory of New Zealand. Tokelau No coat of Islands, about 270 miles (430 km) away. The boat was scheduled to leave on the noon tide the previous day, but her departure was delayed for an unknown reason. She was carrying 16 crew members and 9 passengers including two children.
The Joyita was scheduled to arrive in the Tokelau Islands on October 5October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). There are 87 days remaining. It is also the most populous birthday of the year in the US statistically. Events 1582 Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist i. On October 6October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in Leap years). There are 86 days remaining. Events 105 BC Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict a major defeat on the Roman army of Mallius Maximus 891 Formosus becomes Pope 1600 Jacopo Peri's Euridice the ea, a message from Fakaofo Port reported that the ship was overdue.
A search and rescue mission was launched and from October 6 - 12 the Royal New Zealand Air ForceThe Royal New Zealand Air Force or RNZAF is the air operations arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. History of the RNZAF New Zealand's military aviation began in 1913 when the New Zealand Army was presented with a Bleriot monoplane by the United Kingdom. covered nearly 100,000 square miles (260,000 km²) of ocean during its search, but no sign of the Joyita or any of her passengers or crew were found.
Five weeks later, on November 10, Gerald Douglas, captain of the merchant ship Tuvalu, enroute from Suva to Funafuti sighted the Joyita more than 600 miles (1,000 km) from its scheduled route. Their ship was partially submerged and there was no trace of any of the passengers or crew; four tons of cargo were also missing.
A subsequent inquiry found that the vessel was in a poor state of repair, but determined that the fate of the passengers and crew was "inexplicable on the evidence submitted at the inquiry". The Fiji Times and Herald quoted at the time from an "impeccable source" to the effect that the Joyita had passed through a fleet of Japanese fishing boats during its trip and "had observed something the Japanese did not want them to see".
The Joyita is sometimes referred to as the " Mary Celeste of the South Pacific" and has been the subject of several books and documentaries.