Grand Turk Island is an island in the
Turks and Caicos Islands. It is the largest
island in the
Turks Islands
The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...
(the smaller of the two archipelagos that make up the island territory) with . Grand Turk contains the territory's capital,
Cockburn Town
Cockburn Town ( ) is the capital of the Turks and Caicos Islands, spreading across most of Grand Turk Island. It was founded in 1681 by salt collectors.
Geography
Cockburn Town is located on the largest island in the Turks Islands archipelago, ...
, and the
JAGS McCartney International Airport. The island is the administrative, historic, cultural and financial center of the territory and has the second-largest population of the islands at approximately 4,831 people in 2012.
The name comes from a species of
cactus on the island, the Turk's Cap Cactus (''
Melocactus intortus''), which has a distinctive cap, reminiscent of an
Ottoman fez
Fez most often refers to:
* Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire
* Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco
Fez or FEZ may also refer to:
Media
* ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...
.
History
The
Lucayan people were the indigenous people of the island, who called it ''Abawana,'' meaning "the First Small Land"''.'' The Spanish later called it Amuana.
Grand Turk was first colonised in 1681 by Bermudians, who set up the salt industry in the islands. In 1766 it became the capital of the country. For some time, at least until the early 19th century, Grand Turk was often referred to as Grand Cay, not to be confused with either
Grand Cay
Grand Cay is one of the districts of the Bahamas. It is geographically located in the Abaco Islands.
Grand Cay is a small island or cay situated south of Walker's Cay in the Bahamas Islands. It is a settlement of Abaco, a major island of the B ...
in the
Bahamas or
Grand Cayman.
Grand Turk Lighthouse
Grand Turk Lighthouse was erected in 1852 near northern end of the island. The lighthouse was designed by Alexander Gordon and built by Chance Brothers in England. It was shipped in pieces and assembled on Grand Turk.
Grand Turk Lighthouse.jpg, Grand Turk's lighthouse, on the northeastern tip of the island
Columbus landfall theory
Grand Turk has been put forward as the possible landfall island of
Christopher Columbus during his first voyage to the New World in 1492.
San Salvador Island or
Samana Cay in
the Bahamas is traditionally identified with
Guanahani, the site of
Columbus' first landfall, but some believe that studies of Columbus' journals show that his descriptions of
Guanahani much more closely fit Grand Turk than they do other candidates. Magnetic variations that caused misreadings in Columbus' compasses demonstrate that several of the recorded moorings using a rope-secured anchor to a clear sandy bottom would not have been possible had Columbus sailed from the islands of the Bahamas.
In addition, the latitudes recorded in Columbus' diary place the landfall island at from
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
, too close for the Bahamas, but almost exactly the distance from Grand Turk.
On the contrary, historian
Gregory McIntosh
Gregory may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Gregory (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Gregory (surname), a surname
Places Australia
*Gregory, Queensland, a town in the Shire of ...
has concluded that Grand Turk was not Guanahani but
Babueca, an island separately discovered by
Martín Alonso Pinzón in November - December 1492.
U.S. Military presence
Naval Facility Grand Turk
A U.S. Naval Facility (NAVFAC), the name given for a shore terminus of an offshore surveillance array of the
Sound Surveillance System
The Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) was a submarine detection system based on passive sonar developed by the United States Navy to track Soviet submarines. The system's true nature was classified with the name and acronym SOSUS themselves classi ...
(SOSUS), was established on Grand Turk in 1954 as one of three additional Atlantic systems installed that year during the first phase of SOSUS installation. The facility was commissioned 23 October 1954 and was active until decommissioned 31 March 1980. The actual undersea surveillance mission of the system and shore facility remained classified through decommissioning. The NAVFAC was located () near the Grand Turk Lighthouse.
Missile Impact Location System
Grand Turk, located about from
Cape Canaveral
, image = cape canaveral.jpg
, image_size = 300
, caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991
, map = Florida#USA
, map_width = 300
, type =Cape
, map_caption = Location in Florida
, location ...
, became the first down range tracking facility of the U.S. Air Force's
Eastern Range to have a
Missile Impact Location System The Missile Impact Location System or Missile Impact Locating System (MILS)Both full names are found in references. is an ocean acoustic system designed to locate the impact position of test missile nose cones at the ocean's surface and then the pos ...
(MILS) target array to detect the splash down location of test missile nose cones. The next target arrays down range were located at at
Antigua
Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...
and at at
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...
. In addition to the precise target array the facility was the terminus of one of the Broad Ocean Area (BOA) MILS that could give good location data over large ocean areas.
Other installations and events
From 1957 to 1959
USN Mobile Construction Battalion 7 constructed a
LORAN Station on the island.
In 1962,
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...
's ''
Friendship 7''
Mercury spacecraft landed in the vicinity of Grand Turk Island off the southeast shoreline. A replica of the ''Friendship 7'' is on display in Grand Turk at the entrance to the Grand Turk Island airport.
In 1966 at least five
Arcas
In Greek mythology, Arcas (; Ancient Greek: Ἀρκάς) was a hunter who became king of Arcadia. He was remembered for having taught people the arts of weaving and baking bread and for spreading agriculture to Arcadia.
Family
Arcas was the so ...
(All-Purpose Rocket for Collecting Atmospheric Soundings)
sounding rocket
A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to ...
s were launched from Grand Turk Island by the USA.
References
External links
Grand Turk - Visit Turks and Caicos IslandsGrandturk.tcGrand Turk Chamber of Commerce*
{{Authority control
Turks Islands