File talk:HMS Ark Royal USS Nimitz Norfolk2 1978.jpeg
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Comments on provenance of this image
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Note: See related image File:HMS Ark Royal USS Nimitz Norfolk1 1978.jpeg
This image was originally obtained from a U.S. military archive, where its photography date was given as "June 26, 1987" and the ship on the left was identified as the HMS Hermes (R12). As this was years before the development of practical digital photography, the photo would have to have been made with a film camera, and thus no time stamp or other data would normally have been recorded on the image frame. The digital image in the archive, therefore, must be a scan from a slide or a print, with file metadata comment added (incorrectly) by the person(s) performing the physical-to-digital transfer. There is physical evidence, however, in the form of a "Commissioning Book" that documents the last commission of HMS Ark Royal (R09) from 1976-1978, before she was struck from the registry late in 1978 and subsequently scrapped. The book puts her in port Norfolk, Virginia from 14-21 August 1978. Although it is likely that the aerial photos were taken by a U.S. Navy photographer, since it is in the airspace above a U.S. Naval facility, that cannot be established with 100% certainty due to the obviously faulty documentation process demonstrated here.
Actual scans (in Adobe PDF form) of the physical book in its entirety can be viewed at the following URL: http://www.axfordsabode.org.uk/comishbk1.htm#Ark%20Royal%2076.
The book is broken into sections. To see just the section about the visit to Norfolk, go to http://www.axfordsabode.org.uk/pdf-docs/arkroy26.pdf.
Additionally, a site dedicated to the HMS Ark Royal's last commission, with additional photos, can be found at http://www.sjgl.co.uk/ark-royal/page32.htm. It uses some of the images found in the Commissioning Book, as well as other color images, including both DN-SC-87-08414.JPEG and DN-SC-87-08415.JPEG from the U.S. archive. Of particular interest is the black-and-white photo of parked cars with the two ships in the background. The ships appear to be the same as the ones in the color aerial photos, and none of the cars appear to be newer than late-1970s models. That strongly supports the premise that the pictures were not taken in 1987, as the U.S. captions claim. Finally, the HMS Ark Royal (R09) was struck from the registry in December 1978 and subsequently scrapped, so she couldn't have been at Norfolk in the summer of 1987.
Additionally, the HMS Hermes (R12) was constructed as a conventional flattop carrier, but converted into a V/STOL carrier with a ramp at the bow prior to 1981. No such ramp is visible in DN-SC-87-08414.JPEG and DN-SC-87-08415.JPEG. She also lacked the external aircraft elevator at the port stern area, which is clearly visible in the color images. Finally, she was struck from the registry in 1985, refitted in April 1986 and sold to India, where she was recommissioned INS Viraat in 1989. From the the time she was struck and recommissioned, she was obviously not operating in the Atlantic, and could, therefore, not have been docked at Norfolk in August 1987.
Conclusions:
- The images DN-SC-87-08414.JPEG and DN-SC-87-08415.JPEG were photographed sometime between 14 August and 21 August 1978, not 26 June 1987.
- The ships depicted are USS Nimitz (CVN68) and HMS Ark Royal (R09), not the HMS Hermes (R12).
