culebracut

My father was stationed on the USS New Mexico from 1933 to 1939. Not a lot of information about the ship during that period. His service records reference mostly training exercises and tactical maneuvers with the Asiatic Fleet. Also believe he went through the canal as the BB40 was in Guantanamo Bay Cuba in Feb 1939.

This is also in the Panama Canal, early 1930s. The floatplane at left appears to be mounted on a trolley for catapult use. The catapult was removed in 1934. The crane at right was for recovering floatplanes from the water. The guns of No. 1 8" mount are just visible at the right. There are civilians with an officer at left, so this may be a demonstration for local officials. A sailor appears to be handling either fuel or fire hoses at right.

That's "Cucaracha." From the wikipedia article about the Gaillard (Culebra) Cut: "The first and largest major slide occurred in 1907 at Cucaracha. The initial crack was first noted on October 4, 1907, followed by the mass wasting of about 382,000 m³ (500,000 cubic yards) of clay. This slide caused many people to suggest the construction of the Panama Canal would be impossible; Gaillard described the slides as tropical glaciers, made of mud instead of ice. The clay was too soft to be excavated by the steam shovels, and it was therefore largely removed by sluicing it with water from a high level."

We'll fix the typo in the title. Thanks!