In October 1942, Eddie Rickenbacker was on a wartime mission when his B-17 bomber missed a tiny island stop and ran out of fuel over the Pacific Ocean. He and seven other men spent weeks adrift in life rafts with almost no food or water. Most of them lived to tell the story.
Edward “Eddie” Rickenbacker had already lived several lives before that ordeal. He was a celebrated American fighter ace of World War I. By World War II, he was a civilian aviation adviser who undertook special missions for U.S. military leaders rather than returning to combat as a pilot [5].
In October 1942, Secretary of War Henry Stimson sent Rickenbacker on a mission to inspect air bases in the Pacific and deliver a secret message to General Douglas MacArthur [3][7]. On October 21, a B-17 carrying Rickenbacker and seven others left Hawaii for Canton Island, a small atoll used as a refuelling stop [1][10]. The aircraft failed to find the island. Its navigation equipment was faulty, and the plane went far off course [3][7]. Low on fuel, the crew had to ditch in the ocean [1][5].
Eight men escaped into life rafts. Their food supply ran out after three days [7][10]. For a while, all they had to eat were four oranges that one crew member had brought aboard [9][15]. They caught rainwater however they could. Exposure, dehydration and starvation steadily weakened the group [5].
Not everyone survived. Sergeant Alexander Kaczmarczyk died during the drift and was buried at sea [1][3]. The men eventually became separated among different rafts and a small island. On November 13, U.S. Navy airmen located the survivors near the Ellice Islands, now Tuvalu, and recovered them shortly after [1][7]. Rickenbacker had lost about 40 pounds [3][5].
One remarkable detail from the ordeal was a seagull. On the eighth day, a gull landed on Rickenbacker’s head. He caught it, and the men divided its meat equally and used the guts as fishing bait [4][7][10]. Rickenbacker later said the bird appeared just as the men were at their lowest point [2].
After recuperating, Rickenbacker did something that makes the episode even harder to believe: he continued his mission. The Smithsonian notes that he resumed his South Pacific inspection tour only days after his rescue [5]. His survival story became part of U.S. wartime culture. It also had a practical legacy: after nearly perishing at sea, Rickenbacker urged the military to include fishing kits with life rafts so airmen might not starve as he nearly did [1].
A note on the exact duration
You may see different numbers for how long the men were adrift. The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum gives 24 days [1][5]. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force gives 21 days. Rickenbacker himself said “twenty-three tortuous days” when he told his story in December 1942 [2][8]. A 1942 New York Times editorial said the men had been “tossing about for twenty-four days.”
This article uses the cautious wording “weeks” in the title because the sources genuinely disagree. What is not in dispute is that the ordeal lasted more than three weeks and that the survivors were in poor condition when found.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes and is based on credible published sources available at the time of writing. Readers are encouraged to independently fact-check the information and report any errors. For corrections or modifications, please contact us so substantiated updates can be reviewed and incorporated.
References
- [1] Flier Spy Craft; Captain and Two Others Discovered 600 Miles From Samoa, The New York Times (1942)
https://www.nytimes.com/1942/11/15/archives/fliers-spy-craft-captain-and-two-others-discovered-600-miles-from.html - [2] Rickenbacker Tells Story Of His 23 Days on Raft, The New York Times (1942)
https://www.nytimes.com/1942/12/20/archives/rickenbacker-tells-story-of-his-23-days-on-raft-ordeal-described-by.html - [3] Seven Came Through: Rickenbacker’s Full Story, Google Books
https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=IYo1AQAAIAAJ - [4] Ronnie McBrayer: If you count your blessings, thank you will follow, The Detroit News
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/religion/2018/10/21/ronnie-mcbrayer-keeping-faith-if-you-count-your-blessings-thank-you-follow/1696186002/ - [5] Edward V. “Eddie” Rickenbacker South Pacific Negatives, Smithsonian Institution
https://www.si.edu/object/archives/sova-nasm-xxxx-0755 - [6] Crash of a Boeing B-17D Flying Fortress in the Pacific Ocean, Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives
https://www.baaa-acro.com/index.php/crash/crash-boeing-b-17d-flying-fortress-pacific-ocean-1-killed - [7] Eddie Rickenbacker (archived Wikipedia entry), Archive-It
http://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080625230454/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Rickenbacker - [8] Captain Eddie Rickenbacker’s ordeal and rescue as broadcast, December 20, 1942, OCLC
https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/666003870 - [9] Eight Men and Four Oranges, The New York Times (1943)
https://www.nytimes.com/1943/03/21/archives/eight-men-and-four-oranges-seven-came-through-rickenbackers-full.html - [10] Crash of a Boeing B-17D Flying Fortress in the Pacific Ocean (alternate entry), Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives
https://www.baaa-acro.com/index.php/crash/crash-boeing-b-17d-flying-fortress-pacific-ocean-1-killed - [11] Rickenbacker and Six Missing U.S. Airmen Rescued in South Pacific, Papers Past
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBHETR19421116.2.44 - [12] How World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker survived 24 days at sea, Doughboy Foundation
https://doughboy.org/how-world-war-i-ace-eddie-rickenbacker-survived-24-days-at-sea/
