Hello, all:

I'm hoping some experienced aviators might be able to assist with this. I have a Report of Aircraft Accident on a B-17 from 1943. In that report, reference is made to a plot of an aircraft at "52' - 30"W - 49' - 40"N" (which may or may not be the missing aircraft). The aircraft took off from Gander, Newfoundland and the minutes/seconds in the report are very near the airport. The thing that causes me to question the location is that the area is also within 52ºW and 49ºN. I can't seem to rationalize replacing degrees with the minutes symbol (apostrophe), and on the other hand, it seems like an awful big coincidence that the actual plot would be 52º52'30"W x 49º49'40N.

Does anyone have any insight into how radar plots might be documented?

Thanks in advance,
Rich