History of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
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South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oc ...
is relatively recent. When European explorers discovered the islands, they were uninhabited, and their hostile climate, mountainous terrain, and remoteness made subsequent settlement difficult. Due to these conditions, human activity in the islands has largely consisted of sealing,
whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...
, and scientific surveys and research, interrupted by
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and the
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...
.


17th to 19th century

The
South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe a ...
island of South Georgia, situated south of the Antarctic Convergence, was the first
Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and othe ...
territory to be discovered.
A concise 1982 version of the book
It was first visited in 1675 by Antoine de la Roché, an English merchant born in London to a French father.L. Ivanov and N. Ivanova. Roché Island / South Georgia. In
''The World of Antarctica''.
Generis Publishing, 2022. pp. 68–70.
He left Hamburg in 1674 as a passenger on a 350-ton vessel bound for Peru. During the return journey, it was en route to
Salvador Salvador, meaning " salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...
in Brazil around Cape Horn. While trying to navigate through the
Le Maire Strait The Le Maire Strait (''Estrecho de le Maire'') (also the Straits Lemaire) is a sea passage between Isla de los Estados and the eastern extremity of the Argentine portion of Tierra del Fuego. History Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten discov ...
near
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, it was driven off course far to the east. In April 1675, the vessel found refuge in a bay of an unknown island where it anchored for 14 days. La Roché published a report of his voyage in London in 1678 in which he described the new land. That report is now lost but shortly afterwards, in 1690, Captain Francisco de Seixas y Lovera, a Spanish mariner, published an account of La Roché's discovery in his ''Descripcion geographica, y derrotero de la region austral Magallanica.''Capt. Francisco de Seixas y Lovera
''Descripcion geographica, y derrotero de la region austral Magallanica. Que se dirige al Rey nuestro señor, gran monarca de España, y sus dominios en Europa, Emperador del Nuevo Mundo Americano, y Rey de los reynos de la Filipinas y Malucas''
Madrid, Antonio de Zafra, 1690. (Narrates the discovery of South Georgia by the Englishman Anthony de la Roché in April 1675 (Capítulo IIII Título XIX page 27 or page 99 of pdf); Relevant fragment.)
After this, cartographers started to depict "Roché Island" on their maps. Roché Island is almost certainly South Georgia, despite the discrepancies in the coordinates given, which can be accounted for by the navigational difficulties experienced by all sailors at the time. Sir Edmund Halley in HMS ''Paramore'' (or ''Paramour'') made a major scientific discovery in what is now the South Georgia EEZ in January 1700, discovering and describing the Antarctic Convergence. In 1756, the island was sighted and named 'San Pedro' by the Spanish vessel ''León'' under Captain Gregorio Jerez sailing in the service of the French company Sieur Duclos of
Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the All ...
, with the merchant and mariner Nicolas Pierre Duclos-Guyot on board. These early visits resulted in no
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claims Claim may refer to: * Claim (legal) * Claim of Right Act 1689 * Claims-based identity * Claim (philosophy) * Land claim * A ''main contention'', see conclusion of law * Patent claim * The assertion of a proposition; see Douglas N. Walton * A ri ...
. In particular―unlike the case of the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
―Spain never claimed South Georgia. The latter anyway fell within the 'Portuguese' portion of the world as envisaged by the 1494 Tordesillas Treaty concluded between Spain and Portugal. The mariner Captain James Cook in accompanied by made the first landing, survey and mapping of South Georgia. As mandated by the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
, on 17 January 1775 he took possession for Britain and renamed the island 'Isle of Georgia' for
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...
. German naturalist Georg Forster, who accompanied Cook during their landings in three separate places at
Possession Bay Possession Bay is a bay wide on the north coast of South Georgia, an island in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It recedes southwest for , and is separated from Cook Bay to the north by Black Head promontory. It is connected to King Haakon Bay by ...
on that day, wrote: "Here Captain Cook displayed the
British flag The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag. The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801 which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in per ...
, and performed the ceremony of taking possession of those barren rocks, in the name of
his Britannic Majesty His Britannic Majesty, or Her Britannic Majesty (HBM), is a treaty title for the monarch of the United Kingdom, a royal style used in international law and diplomacy. It is used on the international plane in the same way that ''His Majesty'' or ...
, and his heirs forever. A volley of two or three
musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually di ...
s was fired into the air." Nowadays the date of 17 January is celebrated as ''Possession Day'', a public holiday in SGSSI.Public Holidays 2013. Public Holidays 2014.
'' South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Gazette'' No. 2, 13 June 2013. p. 3.
The group of Shag Rocks and Black Rock forming the west extremity of the
British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Br ...
of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is situated 270 km or 150 nmi west by north of the South Georgian mainland. Probably discovered in 1762 by the Spanish ship ''Aurora'', these rocks appeared on early maps as Aurora Islands, were visited and renamed by the American sealer James Sheffield in the ''Hersilia'' in 1819, and mapped by HMS ''Dartmouth'' in 1920. South Georgia's coast and waters have been surveyed by a number of expeditions since those of Cook and Bellingshausen. In particular, the extensive oceanographic investigations carried out by the Discovery Committee from 1925 to 1951 yielded an enormous amount of scientific results and data, including the discovery of the Antarctic Convergence. The first land-based scientific expedition on South Georgia was the 1882–83 German Polar Year expedition at Moltke Harbour,
Royal Bay Royal Bay is a bay, wide and indenting , entered between Cape Charlotte and Cape Harcourt along the north coast of South Georgia. Like other parts of the archipelago, many birds breed here, including king penguins, gentoo penguins, and blue ...
. During the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century, South Georgia was inhabited by English and
Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United S ...
sealers, who used to live there for considerable periods of time and sometimes overwintered. The first
fur seals Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds belonging to the subfamily Arctocephalinae in the family '' Otariidae''. They are much more closely related to sea lions than true seals, and share with them external ears (pinnae), relatively lon ...
from the island were taken in 1786 by the English sealing vessel ''Lord Hawkesbury'', while the first commercial visit to the South Sandwich Islands was made in 1816 by another English ship, the ''Ann''. The sealers pursued their trade in a most unsustainable manner, promptly reducing the fur seal population to near extermination. As a result, sealing activities on South Georgia had three marked peaks in 1786–1802, 1814–23, and 1869–1913 respectively, decreasing in between and gradually shifting to elephant seals taken for oil. More efficient regulation and management were practised in the second sealing epoch, 1909–64. During the 19th century, the effective, continuous and unchallenged British possession and government for South Georgia was provided for by the British
Letters Patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, tit ...
of 1843, revised in 1876, 1892, 1908 and 1917, with the island appearing in the Colonial Office Yearbook since 1887. From 1881 on, Britain regulated the economic activities and conservation by administrative acts such as the Sealing Ordinances of 1881 and 1899. South Georgia was governed by Britain as a Falkland Islands Dependency, a distinct entity administered through the Falkland Islands but not part of them in political or financial respect. These constitutional arrangements stayed in place throughout the second half of the 19th century and most of the 20th century, until South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands were incorporated as a distinct British overseas territory in 1985.


20th century

In the early 20th century South Georgia experienced a new rush of economic activity and settlement. Following a 1900 advertisement by the Falklands Government the entire island was leased to a Punta Arenas company, and a subsequent conflict of interests with the
Compañía Argentina de Pesca Compañía Argentina de Pesca ( en, Argentine Fishing Company) was initiated by the British-Norwegian whaler and Antarctic explorer Carl A. Larsen, and established on 29 February 1904 by three foreign residents of Buenos Aires: the Norwegian c ...
which had started whaling at
Grytviken Grytviken ( ) is a settlement on South Georgia in the South Atlantic and formerly a whaling station and the largest settlement on the island. It is located at the head of King Edward Cove within the larger Cumberland East Bay, considered the best ...
since December 1904 was settled by the British authorities with the company applying for and being granted British whaling lease. South Georgia became the world's largest
whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...
centre, with shore bases at Grytviken (operating 1904–64),
Leith Harbour Leith Harbour (), also known as Port Leith, was a whaling station on the northeast coast of South Georgia, established and operated by Christian Salvesen Ltd, Edinburgh. The station was in operation from 1909 until 1965. It was the largest o ...
(1909–65),
Ocean Harbour Ocean Harbour ( es, Puerto Nueva Fortuna) is a deeply indented bay on Barff Peninsula on the north coast of South Georgia which is entered west-northwest of Tijuca point. It was a whaling station between 1909 and 1920. At one point, South Geor ...
(1909–20),
Husvik Husvik is a former whaling station on the north-central coast of South Georgia Island. It was one of three such stations in Stromness Bay, the other two being Stromness and Leith Harbour. Husvik initially began as a floating, offshore factory si ...
(1910–60),
Stromness Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. E ...
(1912–61) and
Prince Olav Harbour Prince Olav Harbour is a small harbour in the south west portion of Cook Bay, entered between Point Abrahamsen and Sheep Point, along the north coast of South Georgia. Background Throughout the 19th century, South Georgia was a sealers' base ...
(1917–34). The companies involved included Compañía Argentina de Pesca, Christian Salvesen Ltd (UK), Albion Star (South Georgia) Ltd. (Falkland Islands), the Norwegian whaling companies Hvalfangerselskap Ocean, Tønsberg Hvalfangeri and Sandefjord Hvalfangerselskap, as well as the Southern Whaling and Sealing Company (South Africa). The Japanese companies Kokusai Gyogyo Kabushike Kaisha and
Nippon Suisan Kaisha , is a marine products company based in Japan. It had annual revenues of US$5.1 billion in 2014.Until November 30, 2022, the company name will be . The company was established in 1911, and is a commercial fishing and marine product procuremen ...
sub-leased respectively Grytviken in 1963–64 and Leith Harbour in 1963–65, the last seasons of South Georgia whaling. The spread of Norwegian whaling industry to Antarctica in the early 20th century motivated Norway, right after its independence from
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
in 1905, to pursue territorial expansion not only in the
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
claiming
Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: larger ...
and Sverdrup Islands, but also in Antarctica. Norway claimed Bouvet Island and looked further south, formally inquiring of the British Foreign Office about the international status of the area between 45° and 65° south latitude and 35° and 80° west longitude. Following a second such diplomatic démarche by the Norwegian Government dated 4 March 1907, Britain replied that the areas were British based on discoveries made in the first half of the 19th century, and issued the 1908
Letters Patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, tit ...
incorporating the British Falkland Islands Dependencies with a permanent local administration in Grytviken established in 1909. Britain's 1908 Letters Patent established constitutional arrangements for its possessions in the South Atlantic, including the formal
annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
of the South Sandwich Islands. The Letters Patent listed these possessions as "the groups of islands known as South Georgia, the South Orkneys, the South Shetlands, and the Sandwich Islands, and the territory known as Graham's Land, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean to the south of the 50th parallel of south latitude, and lying between the
20th 20 (twenty; Roman numeral XX) is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score. In mathematics *20 is a pronic number. *20 is a tetrahedral number as 1, 4, 10, 20. *20 is the ba ...
and the 80th degrees of west longitude". In 1917 the Letters Patent were modified, applying the "sector principle" used in the Arctic; the new scope of the Falkland Islands Dependencies was extended to comprise "all islands and territories whatsoever between the 20th degree of west longitude and the 50th degree of west longitude which are situated south of the 50th parallel of south latitude; and all islands and territories whatsoever between the 50th degree of west longitude and the 80th degree of west longitude which are situated south of the 58th parallel of south latitude", thus reaching the
South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
. The 1908 Letters Patent were not disputed by Argentina at the time, but in 1948 Argentina conceived an argument that they were invalid on the grounds that they allegedly encompassed parts of the South American mainland as well as the Falklands, making the latter dependencies of themselves. All whaling stations on South Georgia operated under whaling leases applied for by each company and granted by the Governor of the Falkland Islands and Dependencies. On behalf of the Compañía Argentina de Pesca, the application was filed with the British
Legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legations ...
in Buenos Aires by the company's president Pedro Christophersen and Captain Guillermo Nuñez, a technical advisor and shareholder in the company who was also Director of Armaments of the
Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with th ...
. From 1906 on the Argentine company was operating in compliance with its whaling and sealing leases granted by the Falklands Governor. That continued until Grytviken was sold to Albion Star (South Georgia) Ltd. in 1960, closed in 1964, and eventually purchased by Christian Salvesen Ltd.
Carl Anton Larsen Carl Anton Larsen (7 August 1860 – 8 December 1924) was a Norwegian-born whaler and Antarctic explorer who made important contributions to the exploration of Antarctica, the most significant being the first discovery of fossils for which ...
, the founder of Grytviken was a
naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
Briton born in
Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...
, Norway. In his application for British
citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
, filed with the British
Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
of South Georgia and granted in 1910, Captain Larsen wrote: "I have given up my Norwegian citizens rights and have resided here since I started whaling in this colony on 16 November 1904 and have no reason to be of any other citizenship than British, as I have had and intend to have my residence here still for a long time." His family in Grytviken included his wife, three daughters and two sons. As the manager of Compañía Argentina de Pesca, Larsen organised the construction of Grytviken ― a remarkable undertaking accomplished by a team of 60 Norwegians since their arrival on 16 November until the newly built
whale oil Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Whale oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' (" tear" or "drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil obtained from the head ...
factory commenced production on 24 December 1904. Larsen also established a meteorological observatory at Grytviken, which from 1905 was maintained in cooperation with the Argentine Meteorological Office under the British lease requirements of the whaling station until these changed in 1949. Larsen chose the whaling station's site during his 1902 visit while in command of the ship ''Antarctic'' of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition (1901–03) led by Otto Nordenskjöld. On that occasion, the name Grytviken ('Pot Cove') was given by the Swedish
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
and geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson who surveyed part of Thatcher Peninsula and found numerous artefacts and
features Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing characteristic of a software ite ...
from sealers' habitation and industry, including a
shallop Shallop is a name used for several types of boats and small ships (French ''chaloupe'') used for coastal navigation from the seventeenth century. Originally smaller boats based on the chalupa, the watercraft named this ranged from small boats a li ...
and several try-pots used to boil seal oil. One of those try-pots, having the inscription 'Johnson and Sons, Wapping Dock London' is preserved at the South Georgia Museum in Grytviken. Larsen was also instrumental, with his brother, in introducing Reindeer to South Georgia in 1911 as a resource for hunting for the people employed in the whaling industry. Most of the whalers were Norwegian, with an increasing proportion of Britons. During the whaling era, the population usually varied from over 1000 in the summer (over 2000 in some years) to some 200 in the winter. At the height of the whaling industry about 6000 men, mostly Norwegians and Swedes, worked at the stations and, with the men working on the whale-catchers, factory ships and supply vessels, there could be three times the population when the whaling fleets were at anchor in the harbours. The first census conducted by the British Stipendiary Magistrate James Wilson on 31 December 1909 recorded a total population of 720, including 3 females and 1 child. Of them, 579 were Norwegian, 58 Swedes, 32 Britons, 16 Danes, 15 Finns, 9 Germans, 7 Russians, 2 Dutchmen, 1 Frenchman and 1 Austrian. In subsequent available censuses the population was 1337 (24 April 1921), and 709 (26 April 1931, includes the South Shetland Islands). Managers and other senior officers of the whaling stations often lived together with their families. Among them was Fridthjof Jacobsen whose wife Klara Olette Jacobsen gave birth to two of their children in Grytviken; their daughter Solveig Gunbjörg Jacobsen was the first child ever born in Antarctica, on 8 October 1913. Several more children were born on South Georgia, even recently aboard visiting private yachts. There are some 200 graves on the island dating from 1820 onwards, including that of the famous
Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and othe ...
explorer Sir
Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age o ...
(died 1922) whose British Antarctic Expedition (1908–09) established the route to the South Pole subsequently followed by Robert Scott. In one of the most remarkable small boat journeys in maritime history (probably rivalled only by that of ''Bounty'''s Lieutenant William Bligh), in 1916 Shackleton crossed Scotia Sea in the 7 m or 23' '' James Caird'' to reach South Georgia and organise the successful rescue of his expedition team stranded on Elephant Island following the loss of their ship ''Endurance''. In the process, Shackleton accompanied by
Frank Worsley Frank Arthur Worsley (22 February 1872 – 1 February 1943) was a New Zealand sailor and explorer who served on Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916, as captain of '' Endurance''. He also served in the Roya ...
and Tom Crean trekked the island's glaciated and rugged terrain between King Haakon Bay and the
Stromness Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. E ...
whaling station. Another Antarctic explorer with a special place in South Georgia's history was Duncan Carse. His comprehensive 1951–57 South Georgia Survey resulted in the classical 1:200000
topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...
of South Georgia, occasionally updated but never superseded since its first publication by the British
Directorate of Overseas Surveys The Ordnance Survey International or Ordnance Survey Overseas Directorate its predecessors built an archive of air photography, map and survey records for the United Kingdom from 1946 to 1999. The Ordnance Survey International Collection (formerly ...
in 1958. For several months in 1961, Carse experimented on living alone at a remote location, Ducloz Head on the southwest coast of the island. Mount Carse, the island's third highest peak is named for him. A
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
conducting the local British
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
has been residing in South Georgia ever since November 1909 (except for 22 days in 1982). The 1908 British
Letters Patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, tit ...
was transmitted to the Argentine Foreign Ministry and was formally acknowledged on 18 March 1909 without objections.
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
also recognised de facto the British permanent local administration set up in 1909, with commercial and naval Argentine vessels that visited the island in the subsequent years duly complying with normal harbour, customs, immigration and other procedures. During the
Second World War 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 opposi ...
the whaling stations were closed excepting Grytviken and Leith Harbour. Most of the British and Norwegian whaling factories and catchers were destroyed by German
raiders Raider(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Paul Revere & the Raiders, an American rock band * "Raider", a track from the 1969 album ''Farewell Aldebaran'', by Judy Henske and Jerry Yester * "Raiders", a track from the 1987 album ''Young and ...
, while the rest were called up to serve under Allied command. The resident British Magistrates (W. Barlas and A.I. Fleuret) attended to the island's defence throughout the War. The
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
armed the merchant vessel ''Queen of Bermuda'' to patrol South Georgian and Antarctic waters, and deployed two four-inch (102 mm) guns at key locations protecting the approaches to
Cumberland Bay Cumberland Bay is a bay, wide at its entrance between Larsen Point and Barff Point, which separates into two extensive arms, Cumberland West Bay and Cumberland East Bay, which recede inland along the northern coast of South Georgia. It wa ...
and Stromness Bay, i.e. to Grytviken and Leith Harbour respectively. These batteries (still present) were manned by
volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
from among the Norwegian whalers who were trained for the purpose.


Sovereignty dispute, and Falklands War

According to the Papal Bull '' Inter caetera'', issued by Pope Alexander VI on 4 May 1493, the dividing line between the crowns of Spain and Portugal had found the longitude 36 º 8'O, cutting South Georgia (according to other sources in longitude 35 º W). But with the entry into force of the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, the island was in the Portuguese hemisphere. Regarding the South Sandwich Islands, both the bull and the Treaty were within the Portuguese hemisphere. The first official announcement of an Argentine claim of South Georgia was made in 1927 at the International Postal Bureau in Bern. The first definitive Argentine claim of sovereignty over the South Sandwich Islands was made in 1938, when the President of Argentina ratified the 1934 Cairo Postal Convention. Since then, Argentina has maintained her claims of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands but repeatedly (in 1947, 1951, 1953, 1954 and 1955) refused to have them resolved by the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordan ...
or by an independent
arbitral tribunal An arbitral tribunal or arbitration tribunal, also arbitration commission, arbitration committee or arbitration council is a panel of unbiased adjudicators which is convened and sits to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration. The tribunal may con ...
. The Argentine naval station Corbeta Uruguay was clandestinely built on Thule Island, in the South Sandwich Islands on 7 November 1976 and was subject to a number of official British protests, the first of them on 19 January 1977. Arrangements to legitimise the station were discussed in 1978 but failed. At an early stage of the Falklands Conflict, 32
special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equi ...
troops from Corbeta Uruguay were brought by the Argentine Navy ship ''Bahía Paraíso'' to South Georgia and landed at Leith Harbour on 25 March 1982. Joined by the corvette ARA ''Guerrico'', on 3 April the ''Bahía Paraiso'' attacked the
platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...
of 22 Royal Marines deployed at Grytviken. The two-hour battle resulted in the ''Guerrico'' being damaged and an Argentine
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...
shot down. The Argentine forces sustained three men killed and a number of wounded, with one wounded on the British side. The British commanding officer Lieutenant Keith Mills was awarded a
Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...
for the defence of South Georgia. While the British Magistrate and other civilians and military present in Grytviken were removed from South Georgia, another 15 Britons remained beyond Argentine reach. The losses suffered at Grytviken prevented Argentina from occupying the rest of the island, with Bird Island base, and field camps at
Schlieper Bay Schlieper Bay is a bay 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, entered between Romerof Head and Weddell Point along the south coast of South Georgia. It is separated from Church Bay by the Scree Gap. Schlieper Bay was named between 1905 and 1912 after th ...
, Lyell Glacier and St. Andrews Bay remaining under British control. On 25 April 1982 the Royal Navy damaged and captured the Argentine
submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
''Santa Fe'' at South Georgia. The Argentine
garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mili ...
in Grytviken under Lieut.-Commander Luis Lagos surrendered without returning fire, as did the detachment in
Leith Harbour Leith Harbour (), also known as Port Leith, was a whaling station on the northeast coast of South Georgia, established and operated by Christian Salvesen Ltd, Edinburgh. The station was in operation from 1909 until 1965. It was the largest o ...
commanded by Captain
Alfredo Astiz Alfredo Ignacio Astiz (born 8 November 1951) is an Argentine former military commander, intelligence officer, and naval commando who served in the Argentine Navy during the military dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla during the Proceso de Reorg ...
on the following day. Nowadays the date of 26 April is celebrated as ''Liberation Day'', a public holiday in SGSSI. One of the most famous and legendary signals of the entire
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...
was made by the British forces' commander after the Argentine surrender at Grytviken: "Be pleased to inform Her Majesty that the White Ensign flies alongside the Union Jack in South Georgia. God save the Queen." Finally, the Argentine personnel were removed from the South Sandwich Islands by on 20 June 1982. The recapture of South Georgia, even more remote than the Falkland Islands, and in foul weather conditions proved a major boost to British ambitions in the Falklands War, and a blow to those of Argentina. Due to evidence of an unauthorised visit to Thule Island, the closed station Corbeta Uruguay was destroyed in January 1983. Since the Falklands War, Britain maintained a small garrison of
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...
on South Georgia until March 2001, when the island reverted to civilian rule. However, Argentina continues to claim South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.


Recent history

In 1985, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ceased to be
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
dependencies and became a separate
British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Br ...
. Due to its remote location and harsh
climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...
, South Georgia had no indigenous population when first discovered. While the island has been inhabited during the last two centuries, with some settlers residing for decades there and children being born and raised, no families have become established for more than one generation so far. The present permanent centres of population include Grytviken,
King Edward Point King Edward Point (also known as KEP) is a permanent British Antarctic Survey research station on South Georgia island and is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It is situated in Cumber ...
and Bird Island. King Edward Point is the port of entry, and residence of the British Magistrate and harbour, customs, immigration,
fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...
, and postal authorities; it is commonly referred to as 'Grytviken' in association with the derelict whaling station situated just 800 m away. The government of the islands maintains field huts at Sörling Valley, Dartmouth Point, Maiviken, St. Andrews Bay, Corral Bay, Carlita Bay, Jason Harbour,
Ocean Harbour Ocean Harbour ( es, Puerto Nueva Fortuna) is a deeply indented bay on Barff Peninsula on the north coast of South Georgia which is entered west-northwest of Tijuca point. It was a whaling station between 1909 and 1920. At one point, South Geor ...
, and Lyell Glacier. Since the 1990s, the islands have become a popular tourist destination, with cruise ships visiting on a fairly regular basis. To protect the territory's unique environment, on 23 February 2012 its government created the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Marine Protection Area, one of the world's largest marine reserves, comprising .


South Sandwich Islands

The uninhabited South Sandwich Islands are even less hospitable than the main island of South Georgia, affected by volcanic activity as well. Since 1995 the South African Weather Bureau maintains two automatic weather stations on the islands of Zavodovski and Thule. The southern eight islands of the Sandwich Islands Group were discovered by James Cook in 1775; the northern three by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen in 1819.[
clarification needed Clarification, clarifications, or clarify may refer to: * Clarification (journalism) * Clarification (cooking), purification of broths * Clarification, preparation of clarified butter * Clarification and stabilization of wine * Clarification (w ...
]
Departing from South Georgia, Captain Cook sailed to the southeast to discover
Clerke Rocks The Clerke Rocks are a group of small rocky islands some southeast of South Georgia that extend from east to west. The Clerke Rocks include The Office Boys () at the northeastern end and Nobby (Spanish: ''Islote Llamativo'' or ''Roca Notable' ...
and a group of islands which he named "Sandwich Land" in honour of
Lord Sandwich Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu. ...
, then First Lord of the Admiralty. The word "South" was later added to distinguish them from the "Sandwich Islands", now known as Hawai'i. The
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arch ...
of the South Sandwich Islands comprises Candlemas, Vindication, Saunders, Montagu,
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
,
Bellingshausen Bellingshausen may refer to: * Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (1778–1852), Baltic German explorer and officer in the Russian navy, after whom are named: ** Bellingshausen Plate, a tectonic plate ** Bellingshausen Sea, off the Antarctic Penins ...
,
Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...
and Thule discovered by Cook, and the
Traversay Islands The Traversay Islands ( es, Archipiélago Marqués de Traverse) are a group of three islands— Zavodovski, Leskov and Visokoi—at the northern end of the South Sandwich Islands. History The group was discovered in November 1819 by a Russian ...
( Zavodovski, Leskov and Visokoi) discovered by the
Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...
expedition of
Bellingshausen Bellingshausen may refer to: * Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (1778–1852), Baltic German explorer and officer in the Russian navy, after whom are named: ** Bellingshausen Plate, a tectonic plate ** Bellingshausen Sea, off the Antarctic Penins ...
and Lazarev in the ships ''Vostok'' and ''Mirny'' in 1819. The United Kingdom formally annexed the South Sandwich Islands through the 1908 Letters Patent, grouping them with other British-held territory in Antarctica as the Falkland Islands Dependencies. Argentina claimed the South Sandwich Islands in 1938, and challenged British sovereignty in the Islands on several occasions. From 25 January 1955 through summer of 1956
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
maintained the summer station Teniente Esquivel at Ferguson Bay on the southeastern coast of Thule Island. From 1976 to 1982, Argentina maintained a naval base named Corbeta Uruguay in the lee (southern East coast) of the same island. Although the British discovered the presence of the Argentine base in 1976, protested and tried to resolve the issue by diplomatic means, no effort was made to remove them by force until after the
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...
. The base was eventually removed on 20 June 1982 and the installations demolished in December. On 10 February 2008 an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 on the
Richter Scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...
had its epicentre 205 km south-southeast of
Bristol Island Bristol Island ( es, Isla Blanco or ''Isla Blanca'') is an island lying midway between Montagu Island and Thule Island in the South Sandwich Islands. Its features include Harker Point, Fryer Point, Turmoil Point, Havfruen Peak, Trulla Bluf ...
. On 30 June 2008, an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck the region. Its epicentre was at east-northeast (73 degrees) of Bristol Island.National Earthquake Information Center.
U.S. Geological Survey.


Old maps

* L'Isle, Guillaume de & Henry A. Chatelain. (1705/19)

Paris. (Map featuring Roché Island.) * Seale, Richard W. (ca. 1745)

London. (Map featuring Roché Island.) * Jefferys, Thomas. (1768)

London. (Map featuring Roché Island.) * Joseph Gilbert. (1775)

Plan with panorama. In: Charts, and views of headlands, taken during Captain Cook's Second Voyage, 1772–1774. British Library. * Cook, James. (1777)

W. Strahan and T. Cadel, London. * A. Arrowsmith. (1794). [http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~908~50001:Map-of-the-World-on-a-Globular-Proj Map of the World on a Globular Projection, Exhibiting Particularly the Nautical Researches of Capn. James Cook, F.R.S. with all the Recent Discoveries to the Present Time.] London.


See also

* Anthony de la Roché * History of the Falkland Islands


Notes


References

* Capt. Francisco de Seixas y Lovera
''Descripcion geographica, y derrotero de la region austral Magallanica. Que se dirige al Rey nuestro señor, gran monarca de España, y sus dominios en Europa, Emperador del Nuevo Mundo Americano, y Rey de los reynos de la Filipinas y Malucas''
Madrid, Antonio de Zafra, 1690. (Narrates the discovery of South Georgia by the Englishman Anthony de la Roché in April 1675 (Capítulo IIII Título XIX page 27 or page 99 of pdf); Relevant fragment.) * William Ambrosia Cowley, ''Cowley's Voyage Round the Globe'', in ''Collection of Original Voyages'', ed. William Hacke, James Knapton, London, 1699. * George Forster, ''A Voyage Round the World in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop Resolution Commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the Years 1772, 3, 4 and 5 (2 vols.)'', London, 1777. * James Cook
''A Voyage Towards the South Pole, and Round the World. Performed in His Majesty's Ships the Resolution and Adventure, In the Years 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775. In which is included, Captain Furneaux's Narrative of his Proceedings in the Adventure during the Separation of the Ships''
Volume II. London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1777. ( Relevant fragment) * Capt. Isaac Pendleton, ''South Georgia; Southatlantic Ocean: Discovered by the Frenchman La Roche in the year 1675'', 1802, reproduced by A. Faustini, Rome, 1906. (The second map of South Georgia; Pendleton was misled about the nationality of la Roché who, being an Englishman born in London, had a French father.) * ''South Georgia,'' Topographic map, 1:200000, DOS 610 Series,
Directorate of Overseas Surveys The Ordnance Survey International or Ordnance Survey Overseas Directorate its predecessors built an archive of air photography, map and survey records for the United Kingdom from 1946 to 1999. The Ordnance Survey International Collection (formerly ...
, Tolworth, UK, 1958. * Otto Nordenskjöld, Johan G. Andersson, Carl A. Larsen, ''Antarctica, or Two Years Among the Ice of the South Pole'', London, Hurst & Blackett, 1905. * R.K. Headland
South Georgia: A Concise Account.
Cambridge: British Antarctic Survey, 1982. 30 pp. * R.K. Headland
''The Island of South Georgia''
Cambridge University Press, 1984. * Roger Perkins, ''Operation Paraquat'', Picton (Chippenham), 1986, (Describes the Argentine invasion and defeat of 1982) *
Sally Poncet Sally Poncet (born 1954) is an Australian-born scientist and adventurer who has explored and studied the Antarctic region since 1977. Her specialty is birds and she made extensive studies of albatross and their habitats for the British Antarctic ...
and
Kim Crosbie Kim Crosbie is a former Executive Director of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and has been working in the polar regions since 1991. Early life and education Crosbie is from Edinburgh, Scotland, and she co ...
, '' A Visitor's Guide to South Georgia'', Wildguides 2005,
Historia de las Relaciones Exteriores Argentinas, Obra dirigida por Carlos Escudé y Andrés Cisneros, desarrollada y publicada bajo los auspicios del Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (CARI), GEL/Nuevohacer (Buenos Aires), 2000.
* Capt. Hernán Ferrer Fougá
El hito austral del confín de América. El cabo de Hornos. (Siglos XVI-XVII-XVIII). (Primera parte)
''Revista de Marina'', Valparaíso, 2003, No. 6.


External links




South Georgia Heritage Trust

King Edward Point Base

Bird Island Base

Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
{{History of South America Falkland Islands in World War II Whaling in Antarctica