Brian,
Lt George Polk flew alone. Took off late afternoon to look for a downed pilot. Polk got lost and was recovered after six days.
Problem was that Lt Polk was not qualified to fly a SOC. His story was that he had encountered two Japanese floatplanes, but no contacts were reported that day between USN and IJN.
More on
http://hnn.us/roundup/archives/11/2007/2/ in contribution by Richard B. Frank.
It contains some more info about Det. Ringbolt.
Regards,
Leendert