1938 Aerial Photos

[Greg Daspit]

I had thought the Leander may be on the south end of the island in the second picture posted. (38NW) The dark profile at the top of the picture very close to the shore,left side of photo. It's probably just a mark if it does not show up in the other pictures.

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

The possible Supermarine Walrus from which the 1938 photos were taken?

Z2-K5783 as seen aboard HMS Leander 1938

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Supermarine_Walrus_SLV_AllanGreen.jpg

[Steve Lyle Gunderson]

Ric, how close to Gardner Island did HMS Leander get? If they were snapping photos of their plane/ship and were in close proximity to the island who knows what might be lurking in the background?

Leander doesn't appear in any of the aerial photos taken by her airplane so she may have stood well off.  I know the captain of USS Colorado didn't want to get anywhere near those coral atolls.  He didn't trust the charts.  Leander was a cruiser, not a battle wagon, but she was still a lot of boat.

I couldn't help but notice there is a ship, aft and above the Norwich City, in the second photo of the original post. It doesn't look to be the Leander ( ie: not a Cruiser hull) so there must have been at least one other ship in this survey party.

Ted, well done!!

Ric, Jeff,
have a safe trip.

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

Yes Steve it's the New Zealand survey ship

[Greg Daspit]

I circled where I think the Leander may be. Possibly using the calmer waters of the lee side of the island to launch and recover the walrus. I think it's the port side profile with the taller superstructure forward

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

Good find Greg, you could be spot on with that observation. It certainly does look like a ships profile and if so it's a lot closer to Gardner than I thought it would be. Wrong side for our purposes though but, you never know.

[Ric Gillespie]

Yes Steve it's the New Zealand survey ship

Yep. MV Yanawai.

[Ric Gillespie]

Good find Greg, you could be spot on with that observation. It certainly does look like a ships profile and if so it's a lot closer to Gardner than I thought it would be. Wrong side for our purposes though but, you never know.

I think you found her (Leander that is, not Amelia). I don't know what else that would be. I saw a really big whale shark out there one time (you can actually see it at around 17:44 in the Aerial Tour video) but it wasn't THAT big.

[Brad Beeching]

I suppose this has been pointed out before, but just about 100 yrds or so below the Norwich there appears to be something in the surfline. Its very dark and is tall enough to cast a long, strait, narrow shadow that is nearly perpendicular to the surfline.

B

[Glenn McInnes]

I noticed that too,circled in red.





Glenn

[Ric Gillespie]

I noticed that too,circled in red.

Jeff and I have been back and forth about that many times but the resolution in the print we've been working from just isn't good enough to tell whether it's anything to get excited about.  Now, with access to the original large-format negative, we should be able to see it much more clearly.  Ditto for the "trails" at the Seven Site. 

It's hard to overstate the possible importance of this discovery and the way it came about is straight out of an Indiana Jones movie - the forgotten unlabeled tin box lost in an archive.  Life imitating art. Anybody know where I can get a bullwhip?

[Ric Gillespie]

They sell ones that play the 'Indiana Jones Tune' when you use them  ;)

Good Lord.

[Joe Cerniglia]

I noticed that too,circled in red.

Jeff and I have been back and forth about that many times but the resolution in the print we've been working from just isn't good enough to tell whether it's anything to get excited about. 

The photo with the red circled object showed up in a 2010 TIGHAR Tracks.  Has there been any discussion of its relationship distance-wise to the Bevington photo object believed to be Lockheed Electra part number 40650?

Joe Cerniglia
TIGHAR #3078ECR

[Ric Gillespie]

The photo with the red circled object showed up in a 2010 TIGHAR Tracks.  Has there been any discussion of its relationship distance-wise to the Bevington photo object believed to be Lockheed Electra part number 40650?

No precise measurement but it's a long way from Nessie.

[Glenn McInnes]

I wonder if it has anything to do with the anomoly that Richie found.I think Richie's anomoly is closer to the Bevington object though.






Glenn