location of tbf #125 and CHILe & jack
STANDARD AIRCRAFT APPROACH TO henderson field & GUADALCANAL
Chile's DFC Citation states he had no radio or controls. His CO's letter states he had no landing gear. Chile knew he had to ditch & would have used the standard approach bearing of 122, hoping to be perceived as "friendly" & knowing the outer screen of anti-submarine vessels patrolling at 6 to 8,000-yds from shore could affect a rescue. He likely spotted Skylark's wake & flew towards her. This chart shows the standard approach from the northwest & Bougainville to be 122. If Chile had no compass, he would use the south coast of familiar Savo Island (a frequent rendezvous location for Henderson Field) & Lunga Point (where VT-21 was camped) as landmarks. It was a clear quarter-moon night with calm seas & 40% cloud cover. Chile had flown missions from Henderson Field to Bougainville & back many times. Bearing 122 would take him about 1.8-nm (3,646-yds) due north of Lunga Point & about 3.8-nm (7,696-yds) from Beacon 'G' at the rescue bearing of 195/15 & also place the crash within the usual Skylark outer screen patrol distance of 6 to 8,000-yds.
CRASH location OF TBF #125 & proposed sonar search box
This map shows probable locations for Chile & Jack's crash site, which also defines the proposed search box. The crash locations are based on the intersection of 4 tracks or bearings: (1). Skylark's usual Lunga Point patrol distance of 6,000 to 8,000-yds from Beacons 'E' & 'F'; (2). Skylark's turn to 200-T for about 0.8-nm directly to the crash site; (3). Skylark's 195-T bearing from Beacon 'G' at the crash site; & (4). the 122 approach bearing that Chile likely flew. Crash locations were calculated at 6, 7, & 8,000-yds from Beacons 'E' & 'F'. A crash site at 6,000-yds from Beacon 'E' is shown as a dashed line & is not inside the search box. It's thought this crash location would have been observed by nearby anchored & screening vessels, including the USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570), USS Ellet (DD-398), LSTs 343 & 354 & USS Starling (AM-64). It also seems likely that Skylark would have made a much quicker trip from this crash site to her usual Berth 16, located at 249-T from Beacon 'F'.
vessels anchored or screening off lunga point at the time of the crash
Logs, diaries & documents for 11 vessels anchored or screening off Lunga Point on 7 July at 11:10pm were reviewed for records of an airplane crash or surface fire - none were found. This suggests the crash occurred farther from shore, which agrees with the 80-min time span between the 11:20pm rescue of Dole & the 12:40am deck log entry that Skylark was anchored at Lunga Beach. If we estimate it took Skylark 20-min to anchor, that leaves a 60-min zigzag time from the crash site to a position inside the Lunga anti-sub screen where she would reduce speed, cease zigzagging & move slowly to Berth 16 in a busy harbor at night. There, it took another 20-min to drop 2 anchors, measure fathoms & chains & take 3 bearings. These are not unreasonable time assumptions if Skylark was patrolling at distances of 6,000 (3-nm) to 8,000-yds (4-nm) off Beacon 'F' or 7,000 (3.5-nm) to 8,000-yds off Beacon 'E'. It's also possible that Skylark was anchored earlier than 12:40am & the log entry was delayed.
finding the 1943 location of beacon 'G' today
The Google Earth screenshot depicts where shore Beacon 'G' would be located today based on WW-II era maps & documents from Guadalcanal. Beacon 'G' in 1943 was located at what is today, the beachfront of the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) campus in Guadalcanal's capital city of Honiara at coordinate -9 25' 42.927" 160 00' 0.086". Please see the document titled "Beacon G 2023 Proofing" on the RESEARCH DOWNLOADS page for more information.
