<P> Nikumaroro was known by sundry names during the early 19th century: Kemins' Island, Kemis Island, Motu Oonga, Motu Oona, and Mary Letitia's Island . The first record of a European sighting was made by Capt. C. Kemiss (or Kemin, Kemish) from the British whaling ship Eliza Ann in 1824 . On 19 August 1840, the USS Vincennes of the U.S. Exploring Expedition confirmed its position and recorded the atoll's name as Gardner Island, originally given in 1825 by Joshua Coffin of the Nantucket whaler Ganges . Some sources say the island was named after U.S. Congressman Gideon Gardner, who owned the Ganges . </P> <P> In 1856, Nikumaroro was claimed as "Kemins Island" by CA Williams & Co. of New London, Connecticut, under the American Guano Islands Act . No record exists of guano deposits ever being exploited, however . On 28 May 1892, the island was claimed by the United Kingdom during a call by HMS Curacoa . Almost immediately, a license was granted to Pacific entrepreneur John T. Arundel for planting coconuts . Twenty - nine islanders were settled there and some structures with corrugated iron roofs were constructed, but a severe drought resulted in the failure of this project within a year . In 1916, it was leased to a Captain E.F.H. Allen of the Samoa Shipping Trading Co Ltd, but remained uninhabited until 1938 . </P> <P> During a storm on 29 November 1929, the SS Norwich City, a large unladen British freighter with a crew of 35 men, ran aground on the reef at the island's northwest corner . A fire broke out in the engine room and all hands abandoned ship in darkness through storm waves across the dangerous coral reef . There were 11 fatalities . The survivors camped near collapsed structures from the abortive Arundel coconut plantation and were rescued after several days on the island . The devastated wreck of the Norwich City was a prominent landmark on the reef for 70 years, although by 2007, only the ship's keel, engine, and two large tanks remained . A Digital Globe satellite image taken November 15, 2016, shows one of the two tanks pushed inland by wave action, and the engine is now gone . </P> <P> Amelia Earhart attempted her world flight in 1937, but she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared after the plane left Lae, New Guinea, and headed for Howland Island . Nikumaroro Island (then called Gardner Island) is about 400 mi (640 km) southeast Howland Island . During the subsequent search for them and their plane, the Navy checked several nearby islands, including Gardner Island . A few months after their disappearance, a boat also visited Gardner Island, but found nothing . In 1938, recent skeletal remains were found on the island, but they were not linked to Earhart's flight . </P>

Gardner island now nikumaroro in the republic of kiribati