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
Amelia Earhart the flight was arranged around Earhart's intention to circumnavigate the globe along with gathering raw material and public attention for her next book. Earhart chose Captain Harry Manning as her navigator; he had been the captain of the , the ship that had brought Earhart back from Europe in 1928. Manning was not only a navigator, but he was also a skilled radio operator who knew Morse code. Through contacts in the Los Angeles aviation community, Fred Noonan was subsequently chosen as a second navigator because there were significant additional factors that had to be dealt with while using celestial