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
South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east†...
.
Background
Throughout the 19th century, South Georgia was a
sealers' base and, in the following century, became a
whalers' base. Prince Olav Harbour is the site of one of the seven main whaling bases established on South Georgia. Prince Olav Harbour was the location of a former
Norwegian whaling station operational dating from 1911.
History
The whaling station was initially a
floating factory
A factory ship, also known as a fish processing vessel, is a large ocean-going vessel with extensive on-board facilities for processing and freezing caught fish or whales. Modern factory ships are automated and enlarged versions of the earlier w ...
site, a shore station being set up in 1916. The whaling station continued as a shore station until March 1931 and then was closed. The name was in use as early as 1912 and was given by Norwegian whalers for
Olav V of Norway.
The wreck of the ship ''Brutus'' remains, semi-submerged, where she was deliberately beached to serve as a
coaling station. The ship was built in
Glasgow in 1883 as the ''Sierra Pedrosa'', and measured 1,686
gross registered tons. After serving as a coal hulk at
Cape Town, she was towed to South Georgia in about 1912.
Brutus Island
Brutus Island () is a small island lying near the center of Prince Olav Harbour on the north coast of South Georgia
South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory o ...
in the harbour is named after it.
Named locations
Several locations in and around Prince Olav Harbour have been charted and named by various Antarctic survey and exploration groups, primarily by
Discovery Investigations (DI) personnel in their 1929–30 expedition. Unless noted otherwise, the following locations were first named by DI personnel.
Point Abrahamsen separates Prince Olav Harbour from Lighthouse Bay on the north side of Prince Olav Harbour. It was probably named for
Captain Abrahamsen
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, manager of the whaling station at Prince Olav Harbour at that time. Southwest of it sits Razor Point, first named on a 1938
British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
chart. Fine Point and Sheer Point are found close by.
Dinghy Point sits on the south side of the harbor.
Dinghy Point was originally called "Pram Point", but was renamed Dinghy Point by the
UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1991 to avoid duplication with
Pram Point
Hut Point Peninsula () is a long, narrow peninsula from wide and long, projecting south-west from the slopes of Mount Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica. McMurdo Station (US) and Scott Base (NZ) are Antarctic research stations located on the ...
at
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 ...
in
Stromness Bay.
To the east is the descriptively-named East Bay, mile wide. It was named by the
Shackleton–Rowett Expedition, a British expedition under
Ernest Shackleton, which visited South Georgia in 1921–22. Squire Point lies at the north side of the entrance to East Bay. The name appears on a 1938 British Admiralty chart.
Sheep Point marks the south entrance to the harbour, separating it from
Cook Bay.
Hay Peak
Hay Peak () is a peak rising to at the head of Prince Olav Harbour in Cook Bay, South Georgia. It was charted and descriptively named "The Snow Pap" by the Discovery Investigations in 1929, but subsequently deleted. It was renamed Hay Peak by the ...
sits at the head of the bay. Near the center of the harbour sits
Brutus Island
Brutus Island () is a small island lying near the center of Prince Olav Harbour on the north coast of South Georgia
South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory o ...
.
See also
*
History of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
References
External links
Plan of the Prince Olav Harbour whaling station
{{SGSSI
Whaling stations of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Ports and harbours of South Georgia