Personally, I don't think Noonan ever navigated to Gardner Island. I think he was always looking for Howland and stumbled upon Gardner by accident. If it were otherwise he should have known it was Gardner when he saw it but the content of the post-loss radio messages strongly suggests that Earhart did not know the name of the island she was on.
After reading several pages of the chapter in "Beyond the Harbour Lights" by Chris Mills... I'm convinced that Gardner Island (Nikumaurro) is in itself its own anomaly. This is something you might find in a motion picture such as "King Kong"or "The Mummy" ...You won't know its there until the sun hits it just right or the clouds and fog dissipates at a certain time.
Quote:
"After passing north-west of the Fiji Islands, the ship encountered cyclonic disturbances that lasted for several days. Strong gales, rough seas and heavy rain hurled the ship around and set her badly off course. Overcast skies made celestial observations impossible and, with no land in sight, there was no way of establishing the vessel's (Norwich City) position. By Friday, 29th November Captain Hamer was navigating by dead reckoning which at best could be described as educated guess work. He called Chief Officer Thomas and Second Mate Henry Lott to the chartroom and jointly they concluded that the ship was far from any land. The closest land to them was the low-lying Phoenix Islands, but the three experienced navigators were confident that the Norwich City was well clear of that island group.
That evening Henry Lott was drowsing on the settee in his cabin and at midnight he was due to take over as officer of the watch from Third Mate Caldcleugh. The monotonous thumping of the engine and the ceaseless motion of the ship made sleep difficult, but he needed to rest. Suddenly, he stiffened involuntarily as he felt, rather than heard, an almighty crash. The ship quiivered, the engine-room telegraph jangled and the Norwich City shuddered to a dead stop. Lott looked at his watch, it was 11:05PM. He grabbed his jacket and made his way up to the bridge. The wind was howling and a white foam smothered the forepart of the ship. Neither Captain Hamer nor anybody else had any idea where they were but the ship had obviously driven hard onto a reef. All Hands were told to put their life jackets on and Chief Officer Thomas and the carpenter spent a precarious half-an-hour sounding the bilges to confirm the damage. Meanwhile, Captain Hamer mustered the crew outside the galley where they were best sheltered from the blasting wind and the drenching spray. Apart from the cacophony of the sea, the relentless echoing from the empty holds as the keel grated on the reef was the most ominous sound. It was after midnight and Henry Lott Knew that the seas were too rough to launch a lifeboat. Whatever happened they would have to stay put until the morning. The captain deduced that they were probably on uninhabitted Gardner Island, one of the far-flung Phoenix Group, 1800 miles south-west of the Hawaiian Islands and 600 miles north of Samoa. Wireless Operator Clark, ensconced in his small radio shack behind the wheelhouse, began to transmit a distress call giving their position, and this was eventually picked up and acknowledged by Apia Radio Station in Samoa."