Ocean Harbour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ocean Harbour () is a deeply indented bay on the north coast of South Georgia which is entered 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west-northwest of Tijuca point. It was an active whaling station between 1909–1920. At one point, South Georgia was the whaling capital of the world.
The names New Fortune Bay and Neufortuna Bay, probably for the Fortuna, Norwegian-Argentine whaling vessel which participated in establishing the first permanent whaling station at Grytviken, South Georgia in 1904-05, were used for this feature in 1922 by Filchner, following the German Antarctic Expedition, 1911-12. Following a survey of the island in 1951-52, the South Georgia Survey reported that the feature is known to whalers and sealers as Ocean Harbour, a name derived from the Ocean Whaling Co. which at one time had a station there. The name Ocean Harbour is approved for this feature on the basis of local usage, and also to avoid confusion of the name New Fortuna Bay with Fortuna Bay, only 22 miles (35 km) to the northwest.
History
Old sealing trypots can still be seen here, and there is also the wreck of the Bayard here, a 1300 tonne, 67m long, iron hulled boat, built in 1864. It was moored at the cooling station at 1911, when a gale blew her loose across the bay.
Ocean Harbour has the oldest known grave of the island - that of Frank Cabrail (1820) of the sealer Francis Allen. The marker has gone.
References
- Query form for Antarctica. Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. (public domain source for article).
 |
This South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
