September 1935

"Guam: Pan Am's Penultimate Link"

Sumay Cove, c. 1930, Aerial view of the U.S. Naval Station Sumay, Guam, before the Second World War (Wikimedia).

W.S. (Bill) Grooch was a seasoned Pan Am employee who penned a book about his experiences leading the Pacific base teams in "Skyway to Asia," and Bill Taylor, a young engineer at the start of his career, wrote a memoir about his time working on Pan Am transpacific crews.

 Photos: Bill Grooch, left ("Skyway to Asia" back cover), and Bill Taylor at Wake Island, 1935 (PAHF Collection and Pelican Films).

BACKGROUND ON GUAM

In many ways, Pan Am's route across the Pacific reflected the routes of the steamship lines already crossing between the west coast of the US and the Philippines. Guam, an American controlled island in the chain of Pan Am’s Pacific stops, developed into an important ”stepping stone" for transpacific flying boats that would begin flying to Manila from San Francisco in November 1935, with the start of mail service. The layovers on bases built for Pan Am at Midway, Wake and Guam  required safeand  reliable refueling, maintenance, crew rest, and later, passenger accommodations. 

Illustration of the Island of Guam by Carol Ny, in "Timmy Rides the China Clipper" (1939), p. 71. 

The Guam base would the easiest to prepare for the fourth and last of the Pan Am survey flights. The base already contained flying boat infrastructure with deep water access at Apra Harbor and facilities at Sumay Cove from the US Marine and Navy seaplane operation that had closed down in 1931. Pan Am’s project director, William Grooch, was on board the supply ship SS North Haven in early June when it landed at Guam, leading his team to survey and revamp existing hangars, install the radio infrastructure, repair docks, and improve the slipway in the cove.  

Compared to the crews on Midway and Wake, the  Pan Am crew on Guam was small. With help from the US Navy and the local Guamanians, they were able to repurpose the existing buildings and infrastructure in time for Pan Am's upcoming flights. Grooch determined that the existing marine aviation slip was too narrow for Pan Am’s large flying boats, and he directed modifications that were made to accommodate the Sikorsky S-42  and later Martin M-130s that would land there.

 EXCERPTS

Bill Taylor had been hired by Pan Am, along with a young John Borger, to work on construction of all of the Pacific bases. In March 1935 Taylor sailed on the SS North Haven to Honolulu where he worked on installing a radio station, before heading west to survey Midway and Wake. In June 1935 he was part of the small group that sailed on to Guam where he remained until the fourth survey arrived in October, and the China Clipper arrived in November.

Bill's personal description of life on Guam is a fresh look at the experience from the perspective of a young man on a transpacific adventure. The following are excerpts from a short memoir that Taylor shared when he was interviewed for a documentary in the 1990s. Also included are excerpts from Bill Grooch's official reports to Pan Am.

TAYLOR:

“We arrived at Guam on 4 June. Grooch reported to the Governor, Navy Captain Alexander, and arranged to inspect possible sites for the PAA base. It was quickly decided that the base would be at the town of Sumay, where the Navy had built a slipway for small seaplanes. It had not been used for several years. There was a concrete storage building and a warehouse which we were allowed to modify as necessary for our use. The Commercial Pacific Cable Company was also located there which was very fortunate, because they had plenty of extra space in their employee quarters which they invited us to use. Four of us were to stay at Guam: I. P. Gregory, Station Manager; Jack Brooks, Chief Mechanic; Harry Cranston and I [Bill Taylor]."    

-Bill Taylor's Transpacific Memoir.

GROOCH:

Guam Base, refurbished building that became the Pan Am Office, (National Park Service) https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/view.htm?id=61655490-B2C0-4BB0-9DA5-3D621D7A687D

"…building 321 was right on the waterfront and could be made into an attractive operations and traffic office. The Governor approved of this change and we radioed Alameda and received their authorization to make the change."

Sumay Stockroom courtesy of  Stan Cohen, used with permission.

"Building 205 was in fair shape and could be made to serve nicely as a shop and stockroom. The hangar was available for gas and oil storage, lumber, etc. Immediately after landing the radio crew started installing a temporary radio set and soon had established communication with Alameda."

-- Grooch, Pan Am Report 1935.

TAYLOR: 

"Before the North Haven left for Manila, Grooch, Russell and I agreed on the locations of the three radio installations: the Transmitter, the Receiver and the DF. "

Adcock Direction Finder Installation at Guam, 1935 (Bill Taylor/Pelican Films).

 "... a worker is using a pnuematic drill to dig a hole in the concrete for mounting the slipway guide rails." -- Taylor Transpacific Memoir p.38.

"Grooch also decided that we could use the slipway for the Clippers, by installing a system of guide rails on each of the concrete walls of the slipway. They would buy all the necessary materials in Manila and bring them back on the return trip of the North Haven. They left for Manila on 10 June, and Harry and I started work on modifications to our two buildings and on preparation of the three radio sites. The Navy station gave us excellent cooperation; they helped us hire workers, allowed us to rent the use of all types of tools and equipment, including the services of a survey group. All this activity required that I establish an office for keeping records, paying employees, opening a bank account, etc. So one of the first things I did was to hire a clerk; his name was Jesus Rivera, and he worked in the PAA office for many years after I completed my Guam assignment.

On 13 June we heard that the S-42 had landed at Midway, on its second survey trip. It stayed a couple of days and then returned to Honolulu and San Francisco. I was glad to hear that the navigation bearings given by the Midway DF were accurate.

The North Haven arrived back from Manila on 25 June with all the materials, so Harry and I had all we needed to get the job done. The work went very well… "

"…we are raising one of the radio antenna poles; Harry is the one wearing the sun helmet with his back to the camera.  (Bill Taylor/Pelican Films).

  Guam Transportation, from Grooch's "Skyway to Asia" pp. 134-135 .

"The capital of Guam was at Agana, about ten miles from Sumay. It was the center of activity: Navy headquarters, the Bank, Officer's Club, etc. Everything of importance took place there, so I spent lots of time driving back and forth… When I was in the bank opening our bank account, I was surprised to see a Marine Corps Captain… in a very jovial mood, singing a new song I had not yet heard: "When I Grow Too Old to Dream". I assumed it was an indication of the informality with which business was conducted on Guam.

There was quite a bit of social activity, as would be expected in a small American colony so far from home. The way the relationship of our PAA group developed within this social structure was interesting. Brooks and Cranston were older men and had never cared much for social activity… As I learned later, Gregory [the Pan Am Station Manager] had been manager at several PAA stations in the Caribbean where hurricanes were prevalent; since Guam was in a typhoon area… this made Gregory a logical choice… [But] his business contacts in Agana were only those he absolutely had to make.

I was a new PAA employee, in Guam for the base construction period only, yet I gradually came to be the PAA contact for many activities… Soon after I arrived I attended a dance at the Officer’s Club and met Ginny Clifford, the daughter of Navy Captain Clifford, the head doctor at the Guam hospital. Ginny had no regular escort since there were practically no single Navy or Marine officers on the island, so she and I started going together to many functions."

Bill Taylor in 1935 Water Buffalo Parade, Agana, Guam(Bill Taylor/Pelican Films).

"There was a civic or luncheon club called the
"Roosters'’ which I was invited to join. Part of the initiation was to ride a water buffalo in a parade through Agana; behind me in the picture is one
 of the other initiates, a newly arrived naval officer. Sometime during August we heard that the S-42 had reached Wake on its third survey, and was now on its way back to Alameda. We would be the
 next step, in a couple of months."

-- Bill Taylor's Transpacific Memoir.

GROOCH:

S-42 Pan American Clipper, Oct. 1935, being winched backwards into the slip (Bill Taylor/Pelican Films).

"The station waterfront consisted of a narrow slipway with key walls on each side; the width of the slipway being 180 feet. It was immediately apparent that this slipway was the only location where it would be possible to put in our standard beach installation of servicing the plane from a float or platform connected with the shore.

We had with us material to construct a service float, if we had to service the plane out in the harbor, but this was intended as a last resort…[We] studied the situation and decided that with proper care and proper facilities it would be entirely practical to bring the plane into the slip and service it from a platform on the ramp at the head of the slip.

The slip vas very well protected and it would be a much better place for the plane to lay overnight than to tie it up to a buoy out in the harbor. Alameda accepted our judgment in the matter and agreed to furnish the material to construct the facilities we specified."

-- Grooch Pan Am Report, 1935.

TAYLOR:

Photo of Sumay Cove slip and Pan Am refurbished buildings on arrival Oct. 13, 1935 (R.O.D Sullivan/PAHF Collection).

"When the guide rail installation was finished, we decided we should practice the procedure for moving the Clippers into the slipway. We used a
barge to simulate the aircraft. It was towed out to the buoy in the harbor to which the aircraft would be tied when it arrived. I stood on the barge to direct the operation, and we took it in and out several times until it worked smoothly. We concentrated particularly on training the men who handled the trolleys on the guide rails to be sure they would
 keep the Clippers in the center of the slipway."

-- Bill Taylor's Transpacific Memoir.

The stage was set for the first Pan Am Clipper arrival on Guam in October 1935, with R.O.D. Sullivan in command.

"...me taking calibration sights on the S-42 as it flew around the island after it arrived in October. (Guam was too large and mountainous for taking sights on a ship.) " (Bill Taylor/Pelican Films).

Guam  sign, photo courtesy of Stan Cohen, used with permission.

Sources:

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