The U.S. Navy Report of the Search for Amelia Earhart (1937) documents that the search operation began after Earhart’s last transmission and spanned 16 days from July 2, 1937 to July 18, 1937.
July 18, 1937
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Duration of the official U.S. Navy search operation as recorded in the 1937 Navy report.
Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished on July 2, 1937 after departing Lae, Papua New Guinea on a roughly 2,500-mile flight to refuel on Howland Island and did not reach their destination.
July 02, 1937
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The disappearance occurred during an around-the-world flight leg between Lae and Howland Island.
The prevailing historical belief is that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan ran out of fuel and ditched their twin-engine Lockheed Electra in the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island in 1937.
July 02, 1937
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This is the dominant hypothesis among historians and aviation experts about their disappearance.
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca was the last ship to have radio contact with Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan before their disappearance; the last recorded communication from their plane was at about 8:43 a.m. on July 2, 1937 and read in part, "We are on the line 157 337 wl rept msg we wl rept…"
July 02, 1937
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Radio logs from the Itasca show it was the final vessel to report contact with Earhart's aircraft prior to the disappearance.
A 1937 U.S. Navy report recorded Amelia Earhart's last confirmed radio transmission at 19:12 GMT on July 2, 1937, near 157° east longitude and 337° south latitude.
July 02, 1937
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Finding reported in the U.S. Navy search report concerning Earhart's disappearance.
Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932.
January 01, 1932
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Earhart gained international fame for this 1932 solo transatlantic flight.