"Across the Pacific"

To the U. S. belongs the honor of the first Pacific crossing by air. Bad weather had long delayed the three world cruisers at Attu in the Aleutian Islands. When they finally left the last point on American territory for Paramushir in the Kurile Islands of Japan, they were forced off their course, landed at Komandorski Island under stress of a severe snow storm, reaching this desolate spot after five and a half hours in the air. Three and a half hours more next day brought them to Paramushir. "Flight over fog 25% of distance, snow 10%, and excellent weather rest" was part of a laconic report which scarcely describes the extreme peril of the trip. They actually reached their first stopping place in Japan in the face of a severe storm. Sailors on board the American destroyer James D. Ford, with two Japanese destroyers joining in, gave the fliers a deafening reception with sirens and cheers.