Wreckage of ‘Pluto’ never found

B-17F nicknamed “Pluto” left 7 Mile Drome at 0915 on 26 March 1943 on a reconnaissance and administrative flight to Merauke and Horn Island and then was scheduled to return to 7 Mile Drone.

“Twenty minutes after take off, the radio operator ‘checked in’ with the ground station. Afterwards, there was no further communication with the aircraft. Afterwards, this B-17 was declared Missing In Action (MIA).

“Lt Nathan J. ‘Joe’ Hirsh (43rd BG, former navigator of ‘Pluto’) recalls:
‘[On March 27, 1943] I participated in several of the subsequent search mission [aboard B-17F ‘The Mustang’ 41-24554 that took off at 0645] and at the time we all suspected that they had been shot down by Japanese float planes that routinely patrolled that area. The search for ‘Pluto’ was due west [from Port Moresby] and returned due east. I sat in the co-pilot seat and we flew at 100-200', the water and sky were clear. I used Pan American maps at the time. Around the latitude of the Admiralty Islands due west, we saw a school of white sharks on the surface and a pool of oil. The second day visibility was 60% clouds, and we could not see the oil slick nearly as well as the first day."

“In the days following the crash, several search missions were flown, but found no definitive evidence of wreckage or any survivors were found.”

https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-17/41-24384.html?fbclid=IwAR3omI2fk3CfctS8ZS-s0vOluE3FPnw0X4cpA_bKGS2-nFPaxmyN_2kqyk0

Twelve men were aboard the B-17.