The Sulphur Channel is a narrow inshore passage between Green Island and the northwest tip of

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. The Sulphur Channel is mainly used by small craft and inter-island ferries passing between

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...

and the

East Lamma Channel The East Lamma Channel () is a sea channel in Hong Kong. It lies between the western shores of Hong Kong Island and Ap Lei Chau, and the east side of Lamma Island. To the north it leads into the Sulphur Channel and Victoria Harbour, to the sout ...

. The channel was named after HMS ''Sulphur'', a

bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons ( long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounte ...

commanded by

Edward Belcher Admiral Sir Edward Belcher (27 February 1799 – 18 March 1877) was a British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer. Born in Nova Scotia, he was the great-grandson of Jonathan Belcher, who served as a colonial governor of Massachuse ...

who took the first British survey to Hong Kong harbour on 25 January 1841. Captain Belcher left HMS ''Sulphur'' with a landing party on 26 January 1841, disembarked on the northern foreshore, and raised the Union Jack over Hong Kong at

Possession Point Possession Point () is a former point of land on the northwestern coast of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong, before land reclamation moved the location further inland. History The area is where Commodore Gordon Bremer, commander-in-chief of ...

(what is today

Hollywood Road Park Hollywood Road Park () is an urban public park in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. The park is built in Chinese architectural style and is surrounded by buildings nearby. History In maps of the 1980s and before, Hollywood Road Park is ...

). After raising a toast to the Queen with his companions, he officially declared the island the property of Her Majesty Queen Victoria and a Colony of the British Empire. In the 1990s, the

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...

had planned to reclaim the channel but withdrew later due to opposition from environmental concern groups.

References

Channels of Hong Kong {{HongKongIsland-geo-stub

See also

References