Schjetman Reef is a supposed phantom island in the North Pacific west of Hawaii, reported discovered by the Norway, Norwegian captain Ole Andreas Schjetnan in 1868. He reported its coordinates to be . The island was reported to be long (north-to-south) and wide (east-to-west). Due to a similar latitude (less than half a degree) to Johnston Atoll, it is possible that it was simply a misreading of longitude. Regardless, there is no evidence of any islands in the remote vicinity of Schjetnan's reported location, with the closest prominence of any size being a small, unnamed seamount roughly 100 miles to the east.
Since Schjetnan's discovery, various expeditions have set out to attempt to find the island. The USS Alert (AS-4), USS ''Alert'' in 1880, the USS Milwaukee (CL-5), USS ''Milwaukee'' in 1923, and the USS Whippoorwill (AM-35), USS ''Whippoorwill'' and USS Tanager (AM-5), ''Tanager'' in 1924 all searched for the island without finding it. A sighting was reported in 1990, however, by a sailor from Hawaii.
The two Norwegians Bård Sæther and Arild Solheim undertook an expedition in the S/Y Havaiki, S/Y ''Havaiki'' in January 2006 to find the island.
The reef continued to appear on maps as late as 1934.
See also
* :File:Sovereignty and Mandate Boundary Lines in 1921 of the Islands of the Pacific.jpg, 1921 National Geographic map showing Schjetman Reef between Wake Island and Johnston Island
* :File:LA2-Blitz-0298.jpg, 1932 German map showing Schjetman Reef in same location
References
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External links
Site of the Havaiki expedition, with info on the island
Phantom islands
Reefs of the Pacific Ocean