The Direction Island Slipway and Tank are heritage-listed industrial remnants at
Direction Island,
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
)
, anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''"
, song_type =
, song =
, image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
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, Australia. The site was added to the
Australian Commonwealth Heritage List
The Commonwealth Heritage List is a heritage register established in 2003, which lists places under the control of the Australian government, on land or in waters directly owned by the Crown (in Australia, the Crown in right of the Commonwealth ...
on 22 June 2004.
History
By the end of 1827 there were two groups of European settlers on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and there was antagonism between the two settlement leaders,
John Clunies-Ross and
Alexander Hare. Clunies-Ross and his party first visited the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in 1825 but did not settle there until the end of 1827. A former business partner of Clunies-Ross, Alexander Hare, and his party settled on the Islands early in 1827, months before Ross' return, with a party of 40, including many women reputedly taken to the Islands against their wishes.
[
John Clunies-Ross was desirous of establishing a supply depot on the Islands for spices and coffee for shipment to Europe. He imposed an imperialist social and political regime on the Islands and managed them as a coconut plantation using non European labour which gave the ]Clunies-Ross family
The Clunies-Ross family were the original settlers of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a small archipelago in the Indian Ocean. From 1827 to 1978, the family ruled the previously uninhabited islands as a private fiefdom, initially as ''terra nullius'' ...
great power. He established a contractual arrangement between his family and the Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
and later Bantamese people, who would provide labour for the plantations and for copra production. The Clunies-Ross family provided a house and land for each family. Rates of pay were fixed at half a Java rupee for 250 husked nuts per day or reasonable services for labour. There were set rates of deduction for absences from work. The agreement bound the families and community heads to obey rules and lawful commands or quit the Islands and move elsewhere.[
Initially, there was an unsuccessful revolt against Clunies-Ross by a group of Malay people but a written agreement was in force from 22 December 1837.][
In the middle of the nineteenth century, convict labour was brought to the Islands from ]Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
but indentured labour soon replaced it entirely. A few Javanese seamen joined the community and there was intermarriage between Cocos Malay
Cocos Malay is a post-creolized variety of Malay, spoken by the Cocos Malays of Home Island, Christmas Island, and those originally from the Cocos Islands currently living in Sabah.
Cocos Malay derives from the Malay trade languages of the 19t ...
women and Clunies-Ross men. There were a number of illegitimate children born in the settlement. Sometimes the children were sent to Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
to live but more usually they were reared in the mother's house and took the name of her Malay husband.[
Home Island was the location for the Clunies-Ross family and a settlement for the Cocos Malay work force. It was the site of industry where ]coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
s were processed into copra
Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...
and coconut oil
frameless , right , alt = A cracked coconut and a bottle of coconut oil
Coconut oil (or coconut butter) is an edible oil derived from the wick, meat, and milk of the coconut palm fruit. Coconut oil is a white solid fat; in warmer climates duri ...
. The Island contained workshops for the production of material for use on the islands and the storage of imported food stuffs. Wharves, store houses, workshops and factories were part of the economy and the system of social control on the islands.[
The dried flesh of coconut, or copra was the major export of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Other products for the settlement were imported.][
The coconuts were husked, opened and the inside flesh was dried in the sun or later by artificial heat in purpose built furnaces. The oil was also exported. Home Island contains the remains of the storage sheds and furnaces required for copra production and export.][
The wharfs and workshops were first found in the Clunies-Ross area at Lot 14 on Home Island, facing south across the lagoon, however by the 1880s a new workshop area was constructed on the western shore of the island. New buildings and a jetty to load and unload ships were erected with a series of railway tracks to move produce on the Island. The precinct remains in 1997 and is in continued use as depots, stores and workshops for the Cocos Islands community.][
The Clunies-Ross family established settlements to house European and non European workers. There was strict control over movement and communications from one island to another. Official visitors were discouraged from fraternisation with the Cocos Malay people. In 1901 a telegraph station was established on Direction Island in 1901 by the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company as a link between ]Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
and stations in Rodrigues
Rodrigues (french: Île Rodrigues, link=yes ; Creole: ) is a autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius and Réunion. Rodr ...
and Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
and to Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
. The equipment was destroyed during the Battle of Cocos
The Battle of Cocos was a single-ship action that occurred on 9 November 1914, after the Australian light cruiser , under the command of John Glossop, responded to an attack on a communications station at Direction Island by the German light c ...
in World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
when in 1914 a German party from the cruiser ''Emden
Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528.
History
The exact founding date of E ...
'' landed on Direction Island during World War I. The cable staff managed to send a message reporting the cruiser and HMAS ''Sydney'' arrived and a sea battle ensued.[
During ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Islands were occupied by the armed forces and there was open scrutiny of the working and living conditions there. A unit of the Ceylon Coastal Artillery was posted to the Islands. Two six-inch guns were located on Horsburgh Island
Horsburgh Island (in Malay, Pulo Luar or Pulu Luar) is one of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Its area is . There is a small lagoon in the interior of the island to the northeast.
History
The Clunies-Ross Family kept deer on the island for hunting ...
and a company of the Ceylon Light Infantry
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
was established on Direction Island. On South Island a regiment of Kenyan soldiers was established. In March 1942, a Japanese warship shelled Home Island. Similar air raids destroyed nearly one-tenth of the village in the months that followed. Perhaps as a consequence, and because of the islands' strategic location, the military presence was gradually increased. By the end of World War I, the population of the Island reached 1800. As a consequence, 900 people were persuaded or forced to leave the Island for Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
, Singapore and Christmas Island
Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...
.[
An additional program of immigration occurred in the late 1970s at the end of the Clunies-Ross period of occupation. There was some form of agreement between the Ross family and the Islanders as late as 1978. In March 1945, units of the ]Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, the Royal Indian Air Force
The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the Indian Army, and Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire.
The Indian Air Force was offi ...
and the Fleet Air Arm arrived and constructed an airstrip on West Island
The West Island () is the unofficial name given to the cities, towns and boroughs at the western end of the Island of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada. It is generally considered to consist of the Lakeshore municipalities of Dorval, Pointe-Cla ...
clearing thousands of coconut palms. Following the end of the War in late 1945 over 3,000 troops were evacuated. In the years after the War, the government of Singapore expressed that the paternalistic attitude of the Clunies-Ross family to the Cocos Malay workforce was unacceptable. By 1951, the Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
assumed control of the Islands and in the same year, amid disputes with Clunies-Ross over the management of the Islands, the family sold to the Australian Government for the construction of an airfield. There had previously been an airstrip for light aircraft in the 1940s which was used by Qantas infrequently. It was upgraded and after 1952 Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
used the airstrip for refuelling on international flights from Australia to Europe via South Africa.[
From 1944, a government administrator occupied a house on Home Island, however, Government House was located on West Island in 1953. As a consequence of these developments, the West Island community grew with government, administrative and hospital quarters for Australian government employees.][
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands became an Australian external territory in 1955.][
By the late 1960s the system administered by the Clunies-Ross family was a cause of concern for the Australian Government and the ]United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
. There were negotiations for decolonisation and free association. After a United Nations delegation visited the islands in 1974, there were negotiations for the Australian Government to purchase the estate. By 1978 all the land, with the exception of the site of Oceania House
Oceania House is a heritage-listed house at Jalan Bunga Kangkong, Home Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.
History
Oceania House is the historic residence of ...
, was completed. The people achieved self government and in 1979 a local council (the Shire of Cocos
The Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands is a local government area which manages local affairs on the Australian external territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (; post code: 6799). The island is grouped with Western Australia but is administered ...
) was established and a cooperative formed to run the islands. By 1987 the copra industry was considered unprofitable and production ceased.[
]
Description
The Slipway and Tank are at the south-east point of Direction Island, at approximate UTMG point: 47LKG69906235.[
The slipway was submerged with iron tracks on concrete. Directly in front, on land, is believed to be the concrete bases for the winch. The nearby water tank ruins consist of a concrete slab with the remains of the steel sides. The facility is the remaining evidence of the servicing of flying boats during World War I and possibly boats during the time of the air/sea rescue station. These were important functions in the strategic role of the islands.][
In 1996 the concrete slipway was of fair condition with tracks rusted and the tank was collapsed and rusted.][
]
Heritage listing
The Slipway and Tank are significant as remaining evidence of the Islands' role in servicing flying boats during World War II and were possibly also associated with the servicing of boats during the time of the air and sea rescue station. These functions signify the important strategic location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
, and also indicate the former use and occupancy of Direction Island.[
]
References
Bibliography
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Attribution
{{AHD-CC, name=Slipway and Tank, fileNo=9/04/001/0030, id=105221, year=2019, accessdate=15 May 2019
Commonwealth Heritage List places in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Direction Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Buildings and structures in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Articles incorporating text from the Australian Heritage Database