to the ship depended upon the cooperation of the chiefs and their
power over the islanders. Some persons in the outlying islands in
the Carolines, especially women, refused to be examined. Widely
separated villages on certain atolls made it difficult to reach all the
inhabitants. There was also the problem of getting the native people
out to the ship which at most atolls and islands had tolte off the reef.
The WHIDBEYcarried only two boats and at times when thev were
insufficient or unable to cope with the heavy seas, native canoes and
the ship’s rubber boats made hazardoustrips between shore andship.
The original itinerary provided that the Marshallese be examined
first but when the generator and x-ray machine broke it was necessary
to go to Guamfor repairs before completing the survey ofthat district.
From Guam the ship went to Rota and Tinian, thence to the Western
Carolines, Saipan, the Eastern Marshalls, Truk and Ponape.
Inter-
spersed throughout the survey were periods spent at Guam and Pearl
Harbor for upkeep and overhaul. The time spent at Guam was
always longer than planned because of material failures and personnel
changes and, in one instance, because of a typhoon.
The itinerary, with approximate dates, follows:
July 22, 1948: WHIDBEYdeparts Pearl Harbor
August 1t-December 1948: Marshalls
Late December 1948~January 1949: Guam
January-February 1949: Rota, Tinian
February 1949: Guam
February 21-August 1949: Western Carolines
August 5~September 20, 1949: Guam
September 20-November 8, 1949: Saipan
November8, 1949—January 9, 1950: Guam
January 24—April 15, 1950: Pearl Harbor
April r5-June rg, 1950: Marshalls
June 27—July 31, 1950: Pearl Harbor
August 12-December 16, 1950: Truk
December 18, 1950-February 5, 1951: Guam
February-March 20, 1951: Truk
March 24-May 1951: Ponape
May 1951: departs Ponape for Western Pacific.
A total of 33,820 persons or 60.7 percent of the inhabitants of the
Trust Territory were seen during the almost three year tour of the
WHIDBEY. Breakdowns of persons examinedtn each district were:
916