Survey Ship Komet, 12 dgs 5 min South, 78 dgs 17 min East, Sunday, 18 July 1948
Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock ordered the quartermaster to alter the ship’s course to the northwest, towards the small plume of smoke that could be seen on the horizon. He had little idea of what to expect, and as they closed it appeared that the smoke they had seen emanated from a small island, or islet. Willenbrock ordered the Komet to slow to five knots and the echo-sounder to search for any reefs, pinnacles of rock, or other hazards of which the ship might run afoul.
“So Herr Kapitän, we have arrived at our destination?” It was the chief scientist on this cruise, Günter Dietrich, who stepped onto the bridge unbidden.
“Yes Herr Professor,” Willenbrock replied with good grace. “Though what we are supposed to find here eludes me.” All through the voyage Dietrich had given the suggestion that he know what they might find.
“If my research is correct,” Dietrich declaimed snobbishly, “we should find the island of great apes investigated by Professor Farnsworth of the American Museum of Natural History.”
Willenbrock recalled seeing the story of the great ape, “King Kong”, in a cinema many years before. He considered it more an example of the feverish imagination of an American hack writer. “Surely you are joking,” he retorted.
“Farnsworth led a scientific expedition to the ‘island of the great apes’ in 1933, and recovered a number of specimens for study. Unfortunately his surviving notes failed to properly document the island’s location, but by all accounts it was in this area. The island was described as having a volcano, which the island ahead, clearly has.” Willenbrock took up his binoculars and scanned the horizon. “Herr Professor,” he asked, “how many islands did Farnsworth’s report speak of?”
“Only one of course,” Dietrich countered. “Why?” Now it was Willenbrock’s turn to demonstrate superior knowledge. “From here I can see at least three islands or islets, widely separated.”
It was true. There was one larger mass that dominated the eastern side, and a smaller yet substantial mass on the western side, with a small islet in the centre of what ought to be a channel into a lagoon. The reports from the echo-locator more than enough water under the Komet’s keel to permit her approach to the island, and Willenbrock carefully conned the ship through the narrow entrance.
Once inside they found the Komet was in the midst of a nearly circular lagoon, with nearly sheer cliffs on the islands forming it. In the centre two small islets poked above the sea. The smell of sulphur pervaded the lagoon, and on the larger land mass – which encircled the eastern half of the lagoon – fumaroles seemed to emit a continuous stream of volcanic steam, dust, and ash.
Willenbrock ordered the Komet to anchor, preparatory to carrying out further investigations.