Moving on from the identification of 2-2-V-1 as the window patch, to the investigation of its failure patterns lead to a discussion about the potential forces and their sources that acted on the Electra from the time of the landing to when the remains finally came to rest on the reef slope below.
For me, this time period has always been somewhat overlooked in these forums. We know that the crew were able to transmit messages from the aircraft for up to seven days: the last credible record in Bob Brandenburg’s catalog is #175 at 2018 Gardner time on July 7th. Yet during the late morning of the 9th , around 36 hours later, Lambrecht was unable to identify the aircraft in the surf.
I think it is safe to assume that as long as the transmissions were being made, the airframe remained substantially intact, with most systems still functioning. But during the same period, the plane was subject to rising and falling tides twice daily.
This leads me to the conclusion that the airframe was clearly able to withstand the forces relating to the tides.
For the same reason, it is unlikely that the Electra was still on the reef but hidden by the surf when Lambrecht passed overhead. Waves breaking over the fuselage twice daily would have quickly wreaked havoc with the electrics on board, if not destroyed the structure outright. Waves several feet high that are able to cover a plane of that size with spray, can and do destroy heavily built boats on reefs, let alone much lighter built aircraft, in a matter of days.
This means that on the 9th the plane was no longer on the reef, so sometime before then, a distinct, discrete event must have taken place to remove the aircraft from its landing spot.
A strong possibility would seem to be that the landing gear that held the aircraft in place against the continuous back and forth movement caused by wave action, eventually succumbed to fatigue, letting the plane drift away and sink down the slope, substantially intact. The landing gear itself, anchored in a crack in the reef, would then later become the Bevington object.
Another source of forces is the weather. A squall or any high winds could well subject the Electra to sudden catastrophic forces, either destroying it or causing it to break free from the reef and sink. However, from the logs of the USS Colorado available on line, it would appear that the weather in that vicinity remained relatively stable during the timeframe under consideration (perhaps more investigation is needed to identify the actual weather patterns at Gardner).
For me, all the above makes me think that the aircraft was not destroyed on the reef, but rather sank in just about one piece after being dislodged from its resting spot.
Which of course gives us no clue whatsoever as to how 2-2-V-1 failed in the way it eventually did…