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On July 22, 1932, Gronau took off with co-pilot
Ghert von Roth, radio operator Fritz Albrecht, and flight mechanic Franz Hack in the Dornier Wal
D-2053, which he had already used the previous year on his flight over Greenland and Hudson Bay to Chicago. This "Greenland Wal," a unique aircraft with the designation Do-Jllb
Bos, had the more powerful BMW Vila engine (2 x 750 hp), an increased takeoff weight of 9.21 kg, and was already equipped with an artificial Sperry horizon, as well as a powerful FT radio system for medium and shortwave, a direction-finding receiver, and an emergency transmitter with a collapsible antenna mast, which would play a special role during the flight.
Besides the difficult organizational preparations, the real problem of the round-the-world flight lay in crossing the North American continent with a flying boat from the east to the west coast. Any emergency landing "on land" would have meant the end of the journey. Ten hours after takeoff from List, the flying boat touched down in Iceland's Seydis Fjord. The second leg led to the southern tip of Greenland. Cartwright on Labrador and another ten hours-later Montreal were the next stations.
On the onward journey to Chicago, the Whale had to make an emergency landing on Lake Michigan due to a burst water pipe and three piston seizures. A cable was immediately sent to Germany for spare parts, which were to be transported ahead to the West Coast by the express steamer "Bremen" and by air freight. The necessary repairs had to be carried out using onboard equipment, with the spare pistons being installed. Afterwards, the aircraft went to Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minnesota, where the German airmen received effusive welcomes everywhere. To stay as close to water as possible, the route now led northwest over Canada, as the lakes there, strung together like pearls on a necklace, offered good landing opportunities for most of the route. Thus, the D-2053 approached the most difficult part, the crossing of the Rocky Mountains. Mountains. Favored by good weather, this stretch was covered in just under eight hours,
without any incidents. The engines ran like clockwork. Thus they reached Prince Rupert, on the west coast of Canada. Since the whale only had a range of 2200 km, Gronau could not reach Japan directly across the Pacific Ocean, but had to take the route via Alaska and the island groups of the Aleutian and Kuril Islands. A major disadvantage here was the very unpredictable weather. The warm, moist air of the Pacific Ocean, with the prevailing westerly winds, crashes against the rocky coast, is forced upwards, and condenses as it cools, forming haze, fog, or rain. It's even worse in the Aleutian Islands. There, the warm water of the Pacific Ocean meets the cold water of the Bering Sea, and the inhabitants can expect only two days a month when the sun is visible.
On August 22, the "Greenland Whale" took off from Prince Rupert for its flight north along the coast. Mostly flying blind and only after a stopover, forced by a radiator failure, was Cordova, the launch base in Alaska, reached. On August 25, the Wal then left the American continent to "island-hop" to Japan and landed in the Aleutian Islands after a ten-hour blind flight. On September 2, the northernmost Kuril Islands were reached, and on September 4, the Wal splashed down near Tokyo. Here, at the high point of the round-the-world flight, the flying boat was overhauled with the help of Kawasaki, the licensee of Dornier and BMW, and equipped with additional cooling for the tropics. On September 17th, the onward flight could be undertaken. It led via Shanghai and Hong Kong, then – with a detour via the Philippines, Borneo, Java, and Sumatra – to Southeast Asia. During the leg from Mergui to Rangoon, the most serious incident of the flight occurred: Over the Gulf of Martaban, the forward engine began to overheat because the cooling water pump had broken. The Wal had to make an emergency landing and ride out a typhoon. In this critical situation, thanks to the excellent radio equipment, it was possible to summon the English steamer "Caragola," which towed the Wal to Rangoon. There, a new pump impeller had to be cast.

Then it continued along the Indian coast via Ceylon to Bombay and Karachi. Over the Persian Gulf, radio contact with home was established for the first time.
From Baghdad, the flight continued for over 700 km along the water-scarce Euphrates and then another 200 km over the Syrian desert before the Mediterranean Sea finally appeared. From Cyprus, via Athens and Rome, they then reached Genoa. Here, the weather was so bad that flying over the Alps was out of the question. Only two days later did the Alpine peaks become clear, so they immediately decided to take off. Then they received a radio message informing them that the official reception was scheduled for the following day. So, they landed quietly and secretly on the afternoon of November 9th in Altenrhein on Lake Constance and flew the following day to Friedrichshafen, where they received an enthusiastic welcome With the return of the "Greenland Whale" to its birthplace, the Dornier works, the sensational world flight came to an end.
44,000 km had been covered in 112 days in 50 stages. In those days of severe economic hardship and domestic political conflict, a German aircraft had shown its colors worldwide and proven that global air travel was within reach.

Jürgen Lange