25 People Got Lost At Sea; The Ship Was Found, But The People Weren’t
MV Joyita was in bad conditions, but for an unknown reason, Captain Miller still went ahead and set sail in the Pacific Ocean.
In 1931, Hollywood director Roland West had a ship built for his wife, actress Jewel Carmenille. He named the ship Joyita, which in Spanish means little jewel.
A decade later, after their divorce, Joyita was acquired by the US Navy and taken to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ship was used as a Yard Patrol boat for Big Island until WWII ended.
In 1948 Joyita was bought by the firm of Louis Brothers and two years later was sold to William Tavares.
Finally, in 1952, a University of Hawaii professor, Dr. Katharine Luomala bought the merchant vessel and chartered it to Captain Thomas H. “Dusty” Miller. Although Miller was originally from Britain, he was living in Samoa and used the boat for fishing and trading. He had a Chief mate, Chuck Simpson.
