China Clipper flight departure site when Sikorsky S-42 "Samoan Clipper" exploded over Samoa in January, 1938. "Hawaii Clipper" disappeared westbound from Guam to Manila in July, 1938. There were unsubstantiated rumors of Japanese involvement, similar to those arising from the disappearance of Amelia Earhart a year earlier. Earhart's navigator, Fred Noonan, had been navigator aboard "China Clipper" during the initial airmail flight. Boeing 314 flying boats "Honolulu Clipper" (NC18601) and "California Clipper" (NC18602) joined the surviving Martin M-130s in 1939, and "Pacific Clipper" (NC18609) and "Anzac Clipper" (NC18611) extended service to New Zealand and Australia in 1941. "Philippine Clipper" returned to Wake when it received
Western New Guinea landed, naming the island Nueva Guinea. In 1606 Spanish navigator Luís Vaz de Torres sailed along the southwestern part of the island in present-day Papua, and also claimed the territory for the King of Spain. Near the end of the sixteenth century, Sultanate of Ternate under Sultan Baabullah (1570–1583), had influence over parts of Papua. In 1660, the Dutch recognised the Sultan of Tidore's sovereignty over New Guinea. New Guinea thus became notionally Dutch as the Dutch held power over Tidore. In 1793, Britain established a settlement near Manokwari. However, it failed. By 1824 Britain and the Netherlands agreed that