Ordnance Island is located within the limits of St. George's

St. George's, Bermuda

St. George's , located on the island and within the parish of the same names, was the first permanent settlement on the islands of Bermuda, and is often described as the third successful English settlement in the Americas, after St. John's, Newfoundland, and Jamestown, Virginia. However, St...

 town, Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

. It lies close to the shore opposite the town square (King's Square), in St. George's Harbour.

The only island in the town, it covers just 1.75 acres (7,082 m²) and was created by reclaiming the land between several small islands which were once situated here. The original islands of Ducking Stool, Frazer's and Gallows were used, in the early days of the colony, for executions.

Joined together to form Ordnance Island, they became a Royal Army Ordnance Corps

Royal Army Ordnance Corps

The Royal Army Ordnance Corps was a corps of the British Army. It dealt only with the supply and maintenance of weaponry, munitions and other military equipment until 1965, when it took over most other supply functions, as well as the provision of staff clerks, from the Royal Army Service...

 (RAOC) depot in the 19th Century, supplying ordnance to forts and batteries around St. George's. Prior to this, munitions had been kept within the town (as at the time of the 'Gunpowder Plot', when 100 barrels of gunpowder were stolen at the request of George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

, and sent to the rebellious Americans during the American War of Independence, and on Hen Island

Hen Island

Hen Island may refer to:* Hen Island * Hen Island * Hen Island * Hen Island * Hen Island, County Down, a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland* Hen Island, one of the Hen and Chicken Islands, New Zealand...

, further out in St. George's Harbour. An accidental detonation on Hen Island resulting from a lightning strike once smashed windows throughout St. George's. Ordnance Island is far closer to the town, and a similar explosion here would have been catastrophic. The RAOC operated a second, smaller depot, from a wharf on East Broadway on the outskirts of Hamilton

Hamilton, Bermuda

Hamilton is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination.-Geography:...

.
By the Second World War, the depot had fallen into disuse with the Army and was loaned to the US Navy for use as a submarine base from 1942 to 1945.

The channel between Ordnance Island and the King's Square was not bridged 'til after the Second World War. The island is visible as a location in the 1962 film That Touch of Mink

That Touch of Mink

That Touch of Mink is a 1962 romantic comedy starring Cary Grant and Doris Day. The film co-stars Gig Young, John Astin, Audrey Meadows, and Dick Sargent. In addition, baseball stars Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra make cameo appearances....

, with Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

 and Doris Day

Doris Day

Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...

. At the time, the bridge was clearly wooden. Today, the island is joined to St. George's Island

St. George's Island, Bermuda

St. George's Island is one of the main islands of the territory of Bermuda. It lies in the northeast of the territory. It is divided between the town of St. George's and St. George's Parish...

 by a concrete bridge.

Most of the buildings erected by the Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 and the US Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 have been razed. One large Army building, the Storekeeper's House remains, and was recently refurbished as offices for the Corporation of St. George. The only other buildings on the island are an office of HM Customs used to clear visiting yachts, and a new cruise ship terminal. There is, however, a prominent replica of the Deliverance located on the island. The original was one of the two ships built by the survivors of the Sea Venture

Sea Venture

The Sea Venture was a 17th-century English sailing ship, the wrecking of which in Bermuda is widely thought to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest...

, flagship of the Virginia Company

London Company

The London Company was an English joint stock company established by royal charter by James I of England on April 10, 1606 with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.The territory granted to the London Company included the coast of North America from the 34th parallel ...

, which was wrecked in Bermuda in 1609, accidentally beginning Bermuda's settlement.

Ordnance Island was the starting and finishing point of Dodge D. Morgan's record-breaking 1985-1986 non-stop, solo circumnavigation of the planet aboard the American Promise.

The Major Donald H. (Bob) Burns Memorial Park on the island includes the Desmond Hale Fountain statue of Admiral Sir George Somers

George Somers

This article is about the English naval hero. For the American football player, see George Somers Admiral Sir George Somers was an English naval hero. Born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, the son of John Somers, his first fame came as part of an expedition led by Sir Amyas Preston against the Spanish...

 (credited as the founder of Bermuda, and at the helm of the Sea Venture when she was driven on the reefs) which was unveiled by Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI....

 in 1984, during the 375th anniversary of the shipwrecking. The Memorial Park was unveiled on April 20, 1997 during the Twinning Ceremonies with Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...

.