Port Jeanne d'Arc is a former

whaling station Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

in the

Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the subantarctic, sub-Antarctic region. They are among the Extremes on Earth#Remoteness, most i ...

French Southern and Antarctic Lands The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (, TAAF) is an overseas territory ( or ) of France. It consists of: * Adélie Land (), the French claim on the continent of Antarctica. * Crozet Islands (), a group in the southern Indian Ocean, south ...

, Southern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

The settlement was located by the northern shore of the Jeanne d'Arc Peninsula opposite

Île Longue Île Longue (; French language, French for "Long Island"; ) is a peninsula of the roadstead of Brest in the department of Finistère in the Brittany region. It is the base of the French SSBN, nuclear ballistic missile submarines (), and as such ...

and a little east of the isthmus that links it to Grande Terre. There are remains of the abandoned buildings of the station, as well as other facilities, including a graveyard and a railway.Le patrimoine des TAAF - L'avenir de Port-Jeanne d'Arc
/ref> Currently there is a project to renovate the buildings owing to their historical significance.

History

The name was given in 1908 by the Anglo-Norwegian company Storm & Bull from

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Naming it after a French historical figure had been a gesture of goodwill and appreciation towards brothers Henry and René-Émile Bossière, who had granted the concession to build the whaling station. The company gave the same name to the vessel that was going to ship the supplies for the construction of the station. Roughly 300 Norwegian construction workers succeeded in building the main facilities of the station in only 3 months. It is estimated that around 460 tons of

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

wood and 2,500 tons of steel were needed to build the site. By 1909 the production of whale oil began, employing around a hundred mostly Norwegian workers and supervisors throughout the year. The best year was in 1908 when 232 whales were caught and a total of 13,760 barrels of oil were produced. Altogether, the profitability of whaling at Port Jeanne d'Arc was short lived, as whale stocks in the waters surrounding Kerguelen were limited. Whaling lasted barely three seasons, with elephant seals being hunted in 1912 to enable the oil quota to be reached. In 1914, following the onset of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the few inhabitants of Kerguelen feared that navigation would be disrupted and that it would be difficult for them to get the necessary supplies for their outposts. Thus the personnel of Port Jeanne d'Arc whaling station, as well as the shepherds of

Port Couvreux Port Couvreux is a former settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Southern Indian Ocean.Google Earth The village was located at the head of Hillsborough Bay, in the innermost part of the Baleiniers Gulf. There ar ...

, a small settlement to the northwest, were evacuated by a vessel that was chartered for the purpose. After an interruption lasting over five years, the activity at Port Jeanne d'Arc was resumed in 1919 and the venture was bought by the Cape Town-based company Irwin & Johnson. The whaling station remained in operation until 1926, when production came to an end following the introduction of

factory ship 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 ...

s and the overhunting of whales and elephant seals that led to their near extinction in that area.Laurent Pirotte, ''Carnet de bord : l'usine baleinière de Port Jeanne d'Arc,'' Réunion La 1re

References

External links

*
The French-Norwegian whaling station at Port Jeanne d'Arc
Geography of the Kerguelen Islands Former populated places in France Populated places established in 1906 Populated places disestablished in 1926 Whaling stations Outposts of Antarctica {{FrenchSouthernTerritories-geo-stub

History

See also

References

External links