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Topic: The real Todd City |
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29navy
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Dec 1, 2020 - 4:28pm
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I know. The only Destroyer I found that sunk in that area was the USS Gwin (DD-433) but that was on the rother side of Munda and Kolumbangara. So I don't know what this it.
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Shaneo2
Advanced Member
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Posted on: Dec 1, 2020 - 6:37pm
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Charlie,
Also to note: is the Kula Gulf loss of the USS Strong DD-467- interesting to read about the torpedo run that hit it.
Sometimes the stories get a bit mixed up in details...there was the grounding of PT's across the channel on New Georgia side and then from that actual time of the mud map was the "USS Zane" which briefly stuck and sat on reef/shoals-- again over/across on the New Georgia side of the channel.
The US did run some large vessels into RH apparently. I cannot recall the name as I found it by chance, but a seaplane tender was in there for awhile. The LCI's and LST's made easy work of the harbor transits it seemed.
The biggest harbor passage appears to be at the south (SW Passage) and by 1944 there were ATON's all the way down there that the US put in. The reasoning to have a DD go inside the harbor in July of 1943 escapes me due to lack of facilities/maneuver room/proper charting etc., however I was not there..
Any DD sinking would be well documented also. Just another mystery I reckon.
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Shaneo2
Advanced Member
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Posted on: Dec 31, 2020 - 10:18pm
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Quoting from my post on page #2:
"From the copy of the British chart c1893 of Rendova Harbor this is where the OBS spot was noted, same with the US chart from WW-II. The British chart gives some soundings across the reef in 1893, the US chart just shows "foul ground" and a solid reef- between Lumbari island and OBS Motu there.
So again I suspect in daylight one could actually run a PT boat across this area of "foul ground". This would be much more convenient in a quick exit and to get to Kiru Kiru where I believe they kept fuel (?), from other readings.
In the past I noted LCVP craft bringing what appeared to be sand/coral fill when constructing the new PT base from photo's. I suspect (thinking out loud) that they simply went over to the area between Bau and Pau island and dredged in the inlet there. There is a large square cement block over there the locals showed me- that may be a mooring?
That being said maybe they dredged the foul ground between Lumbari and OBS Motu also."
-end
I took a screen shot from GE and looked at my charts and the 1893 British chart mentions of sounding ~ 1.5 fathoms-- the US wartime chart shows reef and foul ground. I think the PT boats could have transited this channel also.
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Shaneo2
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Posted on: Jan 16, 2021 - 5:48pm
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One thing I forgot to mention in the previous posts here in regards to the scuba dives.
I had not been scuba diving for some time so I was up ~ 40-60' feet level, but some of the locals with me were in better shape and had better air consumption, so they were near the seabed.
There was one object that I did not investigate on the seabed that they saw & that was partially embedded in the sand. It was a long object at least 3(x) length of the locals height right next to it -and maybe ~ 2-3' feet wide...??
From my vantage above them I would liken it to a I-beam they use in construction (to gauge in ones mind length and width from my detail above), but it was not an I beam.
I did not drop down to look closer, however in hindsight I should have. If, in the "highly unlikely" event I ever get back out there- I would go look for this object again because I was heading and close to those PT pods in the photos.
On another dive I found long bits of SS wire that was coral encrusted and maybe the circumference of ones index finger lets say. I think the metal was exposed and the coral knocked off because of tidal/storm damage, otherwise it would not be noticed. This was on the inside harbor reef wall to the north of Lumbaria island.
Off fLumbaria we also found brown beer bottles in the sand. It was a beer name that started with an "S" (name escapes me right now), and from somewhere back east USA. I did look it up years ago, but forgot he details as I write this. Have to look around again. These were WW-II era bottles
I hope they can dive survey Rendova Harbor oneday before it is ruined by tourism- it would be amazing what would turn up. Other locals told me that some years back that a plane was found with two skeletons in it on the harbor bottom somewhere in the harbor.
This has still not been noted by other divers to my knowledge. I did pass that tidbit to JPAC (then called) some years ago, but one cannot act on a rumors of a plane. I would bet it is probably Japanese.
For the interest of some I posted a photo of two soda bottles I found near Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in 1981. There was Yank war stuff everywhere then. The Coke bottle has: "PORTLAND ORE." on the bottom, the other is a Pepsi bottle from 1945 I believe.
I was told with bottles to check the mold seams of the glass ones from that era as the seams are usually imperfect compared to today's bottles.
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Shaneo2
Advanced Member
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Posted on: Jul 23, 2022 - 6:51pm
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Looking at this site just surfing online:
https://evanskaren.wordpress.com/2015/11/11/a-fathers-service-pt-161/
Going down the list one can see his (the writers) photo of Lt. Kennedy with Lt. McElroy
- the caption mentions the 161 is in the background-
I believe the little island there is the same motu I pointed out in this post showing PTs in Rendova Harbor & the higher island behind it is Roviana Island across the straight/channel on the New Georgia side.
If Lt Kennedy is on the PT-161 for the photo with Lt McElroy. That may be where the 161 was moored that day right next to the little motu.
Also, looking at some photos from Dive Munda I saw a photo from their Facebook just a couple years ago with the dorade vent that I identified on a scuba dive after being spotted in the sand by Brian Daga (between Lumbari and the little motu to the north). It now appears to be located in the dive shop. So some history is preserved and (hopefully) not MIA.
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Shaneo2
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Posted on: Jul 23, 2022 - 6:54pm
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The vent in the Dive Munda shop apparently in the last couple years... From the Dive Munda Facebook page.
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Jeff D
Moderator
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 Posted on: Jul 24, 2022 - 12:41pm
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Cool Shaneo, I'm glad to see that the Elco cowl you found is still around. I think they are the most graceful looking on the water. Unfortunately model kits usually have the "bowl on a stick" look to them...
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TED WALTHER |
TOP BOSS
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Posted on: Jul 26, 2022 - 7:45am
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Shaneo;
Was it Schaffer Beer?
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TED WALTHER |
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Posted on: Jul 26, 2022 - 7:47am
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Shaneo;
Was it Schaefer Beer?
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Shaneo2
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Posted on: Jul 26, 2022 - 11:44am
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Hi Ted,
After a decade(+) my memory is bit. What I do recall is that they were in good condition like much I recovered from the Lumbari area, this is probably due to the "shifting sands" preventing growth.
- The bottles were of the stubby shape short and rotund -sort of like me-...lol.
- The name of the beer brand was written on the glass and where from...
- Where from? Somehow Pennsylvania keeps coming up in my mind?
- WWII era--- yes, like almost everything you would find in that area of the harbor, bottle seams/mold were imperfect of that era
- The color of the bottle(s) was brown
- if there was a second letter after the first being "S" maybe a "T"? The lettering on the bottle was very good, however my exact memory is not. Maybe I wrote it down, but don't recall seeing it
- It was not: local beer, nor Aussie/Kiwi. It was from America
As there was still plenty of items to find in 2008/2009 diviing there, these just got a passing glance. I do remember thinking that someone must have enjoyed a few beers many, many, years ago, and I hoped they made it back home to have a few more.
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