The charts used in WW2, especially in the Pacific were notoriously bad.
In the Solomons especially, the U.S. Navy relied on British Admiralty post WW1 maps which were themselves almost entirely based on maps by a 18th century french explorer.
For example, it turns out Bougainville's position was 8 miles off. On the day of the invasion of the island, I read an anecdote that the admiral in charge, exasperated that they were running late and that he still could not see the island asked the navigator what their position was, to which the navigator replied: "Sir, we are three miles inland."
