A New View on the 'Joyita' Mystery

The motor vessel “Joyita”, of 70 tons, left Apia, Western Samoa, under charter to E. A. Coxon & Co. of that port on October 3, 1955. Her voyage was to be to the Tokelaus, which was usually made in about 40 hours. On board were her skipper, Captain T. H. Miller; a mate, Mr. “Chuck” Simpson, an American Indian; and a crew of 12 islanders including a Gilbertese leading hand who was deeply attached to Miller. There were 11 passengers including Mr. R. D. Pearless, a newly-appointed Government officer to the Tokelaus; Dr. A. D. Parsons and Mr. H. T. Hodgkinson and other NZ civil servants seconded to the Western Samoan Government, who were to make routine inspections in the Tokelaus.

The vessel did not reach her destination and an air search was instituted on October 6 and called off as unsuccessful in the middle of the month. The “Joyita” was not heard of again until November 10 when she was discovered by the G&EIC vessel “Tuvalu” abandoned, waterlogged and partly submerged 90 miles north of the Fiji Group. She was towed to Fiji by the Government ship "Degei” under the command of the then Assistant Harbour Master, Suva, Captain E. L. James.

No sign of the 25 people who had been on her was found and a Commission of Inquiry was set up and held in Apia in February, 1956. The Commission consisted of Judge C. C. Marsack, of Western Samoa; Capt. A. H. Prosser, formerly master of the “Tofua”; Mr. C. G. R. McKay, NZ Commissioner on the South Pacific Commission. The Commission was assisted by two legal men.

Although the sequence of events that led to the disaster could be fixed with reasonable accuracy, the Commission, naturally enough, could not find what happened to the people on her at the time. In evidence it was shown that Miller could not legally sub-charter the vessel and that she had had no licence to carry passengers. Nonetheless, it was held that Government officials did not have the power to inspect this foreign registered vessel— even though government servants on government business were carried on her and she was known to be in a poor state of main tenance.

Because of the total disappearance of the people on the vessel, who alone could have told what really happened, there has con tinued to be wild speculation about the “ Joyita”—the most recent of it by Viscount Maugham, present owner of the vessel, in a fanciful piece, syndicated to world newspapers, on how he solved the “Joyita” mystery (see PIM, May, p. 24).

In this PIM report a man who was closely connected with the tragedy, Mr. Peter Plowman, an Apia businessman, sheds new light on the tnystery. At the time of the disaster Mr. Plowman was a member of the West Samoan Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Plowman grew up in Hobart, Tasmania, among small-ships and yachts. His brother, the late Sir Claude Plowman, was one of the originators of the famous Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, and Peter Plowman sailed with him in it for a number of years in Sir Claude’s yacht “Morna ”. In this and other yachts he gained a great deal of experience and he was one of the leading yachtsmen of Perth, Western Australia, at the beginning of World War 11, when he joined the Royal Australian Navy. He is a former Lieut.- Commander of the RANVR.