Yampi Sound is a part of the Indian Ocean off the coast of north-western Australia, in the Kimberley region of

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 ...

. It is located between

King Sound King Sound is a large gulf in northern Western Australia. It expands from the mouth of the Fitzroy River, one of Australia's largest watercourses, and opens to the Indian Ocean. It is about long, and averages about in width. The port town ...

and Collier Bay. It lies between the Yampi Peninsula and the islands of the

Buccaneer Archipelago The Buccaneer Archipelago is a group of islands off the coast of Western Australia near the town of Derby in the Kimberley region. The closest inhabited place is Bardi located about from the western end of the island group. , a new marine ...

, which contain important iron ore deposits.

History

The

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

of the areas around the sound are the Umiida people. The sound was visited in March 1838 by Lieutenant

John Lort Stokes Admiral John Lort Stokes, RN (1 August 1811 – 11 June 1885)Although 1812 is frequently given as Stokes's year of birth, it has been argued by author Marsden Hordern that Stokes was born in 1811, citing a letter by fellow naval officer Crawford ...

of HMS ''Beagle'', who named Yampee Point, ''Yampee'' being the local

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

's word for

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

. The sound is off the Yampi Peninsula, which is bounded by King Sound to the south, Collier Bay to the north, and the

Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges The Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges (formerly between 1879 and 2020, the King Leopold Ranges) are a range of hills in the western Kimberley region of Western Australia. There are two conservation parks within the ranges, the Wunaamin Conservation P ...

inland on the north-eastern side. 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 ...

, several raids were launched against the Japanese forces in

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 ...

and

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 ...

using

Catalina Catalina may refer to: Arts and media * ''The Catalina'', a 2012 American reality television show * ''Catalina'' (novel), a 1948 novel by W. Somerset Maugham * Catalina (''My Name Is Earl''), character from the NBC sitcom ''My Name Is Earl'' ...

flying boats by the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

from Cockatoo Island in Yampi Sound.

Description

Yampi Sound is located between King Sound and Collier Bay. It contains many islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago, the largest being

Koolan Island Koolan Island is an island off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia in the Buccaneer Archipelago. It is about north of Perth, and about north of Derby. It hosts deposits of high-grade iron ore. Description The island is approximately i ...

. Others include: Cockatoo Island, Conilurus Island, Irvine Island, Bathurst Island, Gibbings Island, Hidden Island, and the Baylis Islands. High grade iron ore has been mined from Koolan and Cockatoo Islands since 1951. A small copper mine also operated at Coppermine Creek on the mainland side of the sound, which in the period 1915–1916 produced ore containing 23.06 tons of copper, worth £1504 (A$155,000 in 2019 currency). The

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

has maintained a training facility at Yampi Sound since the 1970s.

References

{{coord, 16, 07, 38, S, 123, 33, 36, E, display=title, region:AU_type:waterbody_source:GNS-enwiki, name=Yampi Sound Kimberley coastline of Western Australia Sounds of Western Australia