{"id":9458,"date":"2022-05-07T04:00:42","date_gmt":"2022-05-07T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=9458"},"modified":"2022-05-07T07:49:57","modified_gmt":"2022-05-07T14:49:57","slug":"south-georgia-and-the-south-sandwich-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/south-georgia-and-the-south-sandwich-islands\/","title":{"rendered":"South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands\u00a0(SGSSI) is a\u00a0British Overseas Territory<\/a>\u00a0in the southern\u00a0Atlantic Ocean<\/a>. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of\u00a0South Georgia<\/a>\u00a0and a chain of smaller islands known as the\u00a0South Sandwich Islands<\/a>. South Georgia is 165 kilometers (103 mi) long and 35 kilometers (22 mi) wide and is by far the largest island in the territory. The South Sandwich Islands lie about 700 kilometers (430 mi) southeast of South Georgia. The territory’s total land area is 3,903 km2<\/sup>\u00a0(1,507\u00a0sq\u00a0mi).[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0Falkland Islands<\/a> are about 1,300 kilometers (810\u00a0mi) west from its nearest point.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands on the Globe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited, and a very small non-permanent population resides on South Georgia.<\/sup>\u00a0There are no scheduled passenger flights or ferries to or from the territory, although visits by cruise liners to South Georgia are increasingly popular, with several thousand visitors each summer.<\/p>\n

The United Kingdom claimed\u00a0sovereignty<\/a>\u00a0over South Georgia in 1775 and the South Sandwich Islands in 1908. The territory of “South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands” was formed in 1985;<\/sup>\u00a0previously, it had been governed as part of the\u00a0Falkland Islands Dependencies<\/a>.\u00a0Argentina<\/a>\u00a0claimed South Georgia in 1927 and claimed the South Sandwich Islands in 1938.<\/p>\n

Argentina maintained a naval station,\u00a0Corbeta Uruguay<\/a>, on\u00a0Thule Island<\/a>\u00a0in the South Sandwich Islands from 1976 until 1982 when it was closed by the\u00a0Royal Navy<\/a>. The Argentine claim over South Georgia contributed to the 1982\u00a0Falklands War<\/a>, during which Argentine forces briefly occupied the island. Argentina\u00a0continues to claim sovereignty<\/a>\u00a0over South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.<\/p>\n

Toothfish<\/a>\u00a0are vital to the islands’ economy; as a result,\u00a0Toothfish Day<\/a>\u00a0is celebrated on 4 September as a\u00a0bank holiday<\/a>\u00a0in the territory.<\/p>\n

History:<\/h2>\n

South Georgia:<\/span><\/h3>\n

17th to 19th centuries:<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Richard William Seale’s map of 1744, showing Roche Island and noting its discovery in 1675<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The island of South Georgia was first sighted in 1675 by\u00a0Anthony de la Roch\u00e9<\/a>, a London merchant and (despite his French name) an Englishman.<\/sup>\u00a0The island appeared as\u00a0Roche Island<\/i>\u00a0on early maps.<\/sup>\u00a0The commercial Spanish ship\u00a0Le\u00f3n<\/i>, operating out of\u00a0Saint-Malo<\/a> sighted it on 28 June or 29 June 1756.<\/p>\n

James Cook<\/a>\u00a0circumnavigated the island<\/a>\u00a0in 1775 and made the first landing. He claimed the territory for the\u00a0Kingdom of Great Britain<\/a>, naming it the “Isle of Georgia” in honor of King George III of the United Kingdom<\/a>. British arrangements for the government of South Georgia were established under 1843 British\u00a0letters patent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 1882\u20131883 a\u00a0German<\/a>\u00a0expedition for the first\u00a0International Polar Year<\/a>\u00a0set up its base at\u00a0Royal Bay<\/a>\u00a0on the southeast side of the island. The scientists of this group observed the\u00a0transit of Venus<\/a>\u00a0and recorded waves produced by the\u00a01883 eruption of Krakatoa<\/a>.\u00a0Seal hunting<\/a>\u00a0at South Georgia began in 1786 and continued throughout the 19th century. The waters proved treacherous and a number of vessels were wrecked there, such as\u00a0Earl Spencer<\/i><\/a>, in late-1801.<\/p>\n

20th and 21st centuries:<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Norwegian Lutheran Church at Grytviken<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

South Georgia became a base for\u00a0whaling<\/a>\u00a0beginning in the 20th century. A Norwegian,\u00a0Carl Anton Larsen<\/a>, established the first land-based whaling station and first permanent habitation at\u00a0Grytviken<\/a>\u00a0in 1904. It operated through his\u00a0Argentine Fishing Company<\/a>, which settled in Grytviken.<\/sup><\/sup>\u00a0The station operated until 1965. Whaling stations operated under leases granted by the Governor of the\u00a0Falkland Islands<\/a>. The seven stations, all on the north coast with its sheltered harbors, were, from the west to east:<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. Prince Olav Harbour<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Leith Harbour<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Stromness<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Husvik<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Grytviken<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Godthul<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. Ocean Harbour<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    The whaling stations’\u00a0tryworks<\/a>\u00a0were unpleasant and dangerous places to work. One was called “a\u00a0charnel house<\/a>\u00a0boiling wholesale in Vaseline” by an early 20th-century visitor.\u00a0Tim Flannery<\/a> wrote that its “putrid vapors [resembled] the pong of bad fish, manure, and a tanning works mixed together”, and noted one bizarre peril: “A rotting whale could fill with gas to bursting, ejecting a fetus the size of a motor vehicle with sufficient force to kill a man.”<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    South Georgia, photographed by Frank Hurley during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    With the end of the whaling industry, the stations were abandoned. Apart from a few preserved buildings such as the\u00a0South Georgia Museum<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Norwegian Lutheran Church at Grytviken<\/a>, only their decaying remains survive. From 1905, the Argentine Meteorological Office cooperated in maintaining a meteorological observatory at Grytviken under the British lease requirements of the whaling station until these changed in 1949.<\/p>\n

    In 1908, the United Kingdom issued further\u00a0letters patent<\/a>\u00a0that established constitutional arrangements for its possessions in the South Atlantic. The letters covered South Georgia, the\u00a0South Orkneys<\/a>, the\u00a0South Shetlands<\/a>, the South Sandwich Islands, and\u00a0Graham Land<\/a>. The claim was extended in 1917 to include a sector of Antarctica reaching to the\u00a0South Pole<\/a>. In 1909, an administrative center and residence were established at King Edward Point on South Georgia, near the whaling station of Grytviken. A permanent local British administration and resident magistrate exercised effective possession<\/a>, enforcement of\u00a0British law<\/a>, and regulation of all economic, scientific, and other activities in the territory, which was then governed as the\u00a0Falkland Islands Dependencies<\/a>. In about 1912, what is according to some accounts the largest whale ever caught, a\u00a0blue whale<\/a> of 110 feet (34\u00a0m), was landed at Grytviken.<\/sup><\/p>\n

    In April 1916,\u00a0Ernest Shackleton<\/a>‘s\u00a0Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition<\/a>\u00a0became stranded on\u00a0Elephant Island<\/a>, some 800 miles (1,300\u00a0km) southwest of South Georgia. Shackleton and five companions set out in a small boat to summon help, and on 10 May, after an epic voyage, they landed at\u00a0King Haakon Bay<\/a>\u00a0on South Georgia’s south coast. While three stayed at the coast, Shackleton and the two others,\u00a0Tom Crean<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Frank Worsley<\/a>, went on to cover 22 miles (35\u00a0km) over the spine of the mountainous island to reach help at\u00a0Stromness<\/a>\u00a0whaling station. The remaining 22 members of the expedition, who had stayed on Elephant Island, were subsequently rescued. In January 1922, during a\u00a0later expedition<\/a>, Shackleton died on board ship while moored in King Edward Cove, South Georgia. He is buried at Grytviken. The ashes of another noted Antarctic explorer,\u00a0Frank Wild<\/a>, who had been Shackleton’s second-in-command on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, were interred next to Shackleton in 2011.<\/p>\n

    Argentina claimed South Georgia in 1927.<\/sup>\u00a0The basis of this claim and of a later claim in 1938 to the South Sandwich Islands has been questioned.<\/sup>\u00a0During the\u00a0Second World War<\/a>, the Royal Navy deployed an armed merchant vessel to patrol South Georgian and Antarctic waters against German raiders, along with two four-inch shore guns (still present) protecting Cumberland Bay and Stromness Bay, which were operated by volunteers from among the Norwegian whalers. The base at King Edward Point was expanded as a research facility in 1949\/1950 by the\u00a0British Antarctic Survey<\/a>, which until 1962 was called the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey.<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    Historical and modern settlements of South Georgia Island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    The\u00a0Falklands War<\/a>\u00a0was precipitated on 19 March 1982 when a group of Argentinians (most of them\u00a0Argentine Marines<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0mufti<\/i><\/a>), posing as scrap-metal merchants, occupied the abandoned whaling station at\u00a0Leith Harbour<\/a>\u00a0on South Georgia. On 3 April, Argentine troops\u00a0attacked and occupied Grytviken<\/a>. Among the commanding officers of the Argentine garrison was\u00a0Alfredo Astiz<\/a>, a captain in the\u00a0Argentine Navy<\/a>\u00a0who was convicted years later of crimes against humanity committed during the\u00a0Dirty War<\/a>\u00a0in Argentina. The island was recaptured by British forces on 25 April, in\u00a0Operation Paraquet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    In 1985, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ceased to be administered as a Falkland Islands Dependency and became a separate territory. The\u00a0King Edward Point<\/a>\u00a0base, which had become a small military garrison after the Falklands War, returned to civilian use in 2001 and is now operated by the\u00a0British Antarctic Survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    South Sandwich Islands:<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Captain\u00a0James Cook<\/a>\u00a0discovered the southern eight islands of the Sandwich Islands Group in 1775, although he lumped the southernmost three together, and their status as separate islands was not established until 1820 by\u00a0Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen<\/a>.<\/sup> The northern three islands were discovered by Bellingshausen in 1819. The islands were tentatively named “Sandwich Land” by Cook, although he also commented that they might be a group of islands rather than a single body of land. The name was chosen in honor of\u00a0John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich<\/a>, First Lord of the Admiralty. The word “South” was later added to distinguish them from the “Sandwich Islands”, now known as the\u00a0Hawaiian Islands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Argentina claimed the South Sandwich Islands in 1938, and challenged British sovereignty in the Islands on several occasions. From 25 January 1955 to mid-1956, Argentina maintained the summer station Teniente Esquivel at\u00a0Ferguson Bay<\/a>\u00a0on the southeastern coast of\u00a0Thule Island<\/a>. Argentina maintained a naval base (Corbeta Uruguay<\/a>) from 1976 to 1982, in the lee (southern east coast) of the same island. Although the British discovered the presence of the Argentine base in 1976,<\/sup>\u00a0protested and tried to resolve the issue by diplomatic means, no effort was made to remove them by force until after the\u00a0Falklands War<\/a>. The base was removed on 20 June 1982.<\/p>\n

    Geography:<\/span><\/h2>\n
    \n
    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    Map of the islands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are a collection of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. Most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous. At higher elevations, the islands are permanently covered with ice and snow.<\/p>\n

    South Georgia Group:<\/span><\/h3>\n

    The South Georgia Group lies about 1,390 kilometers (860 mi; 750 nmi) east-southeast of the Falkland Islands, at 54\u00b0\u201355\u00b0S, 36\u00b0\u201338\u00b0W. It comprises\u00a0South Georgia Island<\/a> itself, by far the largest island in the territory, and the islands that immediately surround it and some remote and isolated islets to the west and east-southeast. It has a total land area of 3,756 square kilometers (1,450\u00a0sq\u00a0mi), including satellite islands, but excluding the South Sandwich Islands which form a separate island group.<\/p>\n

    Islands within the South Georgia Group:<\/span><\/h4>\n
    \n
    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    Grytviken<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    South Georgia Island lies at\u00a054\u00b015\u2032S<\/span>\u00a036\u00b045\u2032W<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>Coordinates<\/a>:\u00a0\"\"54\u00b015\u2032S<\/span>\u00a036\u00b045\u2032W<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span> and has an area of 3,528 square kilometers (1,362 sq mi). It is mountainous and largely barren. Eleven peaks rise to over 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) high, their slopes furrowed with deep gorges filled with glaciers; the largest is\u00a0Fortuna Glacier<\/a>. The highest peak is\u00a0Mount Paget<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Allardyce Range<\/a> at 2,934 meters (9,626\u00a0ft).<\/p>\n

    Geologically, the island consists of\u00a0gneiss<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0argillaceous schists<\/a> with occasional tuffs and other sedimentary layers from which fossils have been recovered.\u00a0The island is a fragment of some greater land-mass now vanished and was probably a former extension of the\u00a0Andean system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Smaller islands and islets off the coast of South Georgia Island include:<\/p>\n

    \n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n