A historic ship carrying six scientists from the Bishop Museum set sail more than 100 years ago on an ambitious voyage from San Francisco to Tahiti.
Called the Kaimiloa, the ship was the first to send a clear radio signal across an ocean, and one of the first “hybrid” ships that used sails and a diesel engine.
This voyage has long fascinated historian Cesar Becerra as a bridge between two eras.
The Conversation first spoke with him in 2024 about “The Kaimiloa Project,” part of a planned three-volume book about the voyage.
Becerra has traveled to Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand and Australia to track the route of the historic voyage.
He is now perusing through files in the Hawaiʻi State Archives to learn more about one leg of the journey.
In the first volume of Becerra’s book, the story dramatically concludes after the scientists get kicked off the Kaimiloa in Tahiti.
“Nine years after the voyage, those scientists under Kenneth Emery would write a report about their journey,” Becerra said. “And so, in terms of the linear moment, nothing surfaces about the full understanding of that trip until about nine years later.”
Becerra’s research led him to other discoveries, including why the scientists took additional expeditions in the South Pacific, how a rock caused damage to the ship, and to cassette tapes from Emery.
He told HPR that the history surrounding this voyage represents the last great expedition of its kind.
“All these firsts lead me to believe this is kind of the middle zone between what we think we take for granted, ‘Oh, you know, expedition ship has all these technological advances,’ but before this, they didn't,” he said.
“Before this, scientists were relegated to a naval cutter, maybe a closet, or something," Becerra said. "They'd have to wait to get back and study all their notes or develop their film. So the Kaimiloa is kind of like in that midway point between the old days and the new days.”
This story aired on The Conversation on May 14, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
