Port Hamilton
Encyclopedia
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
(Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 거문도 [Geomun-do], Hanja
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
: 巨文島 or 巨門島) is a small group of island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s in the Jeju Strait off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula
Korean Peninsula
The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.Until the end of...
, located approximately at 34°1′35"N 127°18′45"E. There are three principal islands, the two larger ones, Sodo to the west (Seo-do, 서도, 西島) and Sunhodo to the east (Dong-do, 동도, 東島) forming a harbor
Harbor
A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...
with the smaller island in the center. On this central island, Observatory Island (or Go-do, 고도, 古島), there was a British naval
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
base
Military base
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...
from 1885 to 1887.
Today, the islands form a part of Samsan District, Yeosu
Yeosu
Yeosu is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Old Yeosu City, which was founded in 1949, Yeocheon City, founded in 1986, and Yeocheon County were merged into a new city in 1998....
City, South Jeolla Province, with the Samsan District offices located on Observation Island. The islands are also part of the Dadohae Haesang National Park.
History
Port Hamilton was surveyed in 1845 by BritishBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
naval officer Sir Edward Belcher
Edward Belcher
Admiral Sir Edward Belcher, KCB , was a British naval officer and explorer. He was the great-grandson of Governor Jonathan Belcher. His wife, Diana Jolliffe, was the stepdaughter of Captain Peter Heywood.-Early life:...
in HMS Samarang and was named after the then secretary of the Admiralty, Captain W. A. B. Hamilton. The spacious harbour was also noted for its strategic importance by others, such as Russian Vice-Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin
Yevfimy Putyatin
Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin was a Russian admiral noted for his diplomatic missions to Japan and China which resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855.-Early life:...
, who visited the islands several times and obtained permission from natives in 1857 to establish a coal depot, though due to delays in the delivery of the coal, the plan was abandoned.
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
"in 1884 urged the establishment of a naval station at Port Hamilton, off the southern Korean coast, and although it appears that such facilities were offered by the Korean government, nothing was done."
In April 1885, Port Hamilton was occupied by three ships of the British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
on orders from the Admiralty in what is known as the Port Hamilton Incident
Port Hamilton Incident
The Port Hamilton Incident or the Geomun Island Incident was the occupation of the Port Hamilton by the Royal Navy from 15 April 1885 to 27 February 1887....
. This was to forestall Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
advances in the face of the Panjdeh Incident
Panjdeh Incident
The Panjdeh Incident or Panjdeh Scare was a battle that occurred in 1885 when Russian forces seized Afghan territory south of the Oxus River around an oasis at Panjdeh . The incident created a diplomatic crisis between Russia and Great Britain...
in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. Port Hamilton served as a counterbalance to the Russian naval base at Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
. By occupying Port Hamilton, the British could prevent Russian advances in east Asia, and block Russian naval activity in the Korea Strait
Korea Strait
The Korea Strait is a sea passage between South Korea and Japan, connecting the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan in the northwest Pacific Ocean...
. The British built a few buildings and defensive works and introduced pheasant
Pheasant
Pheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...
s to the islands. Permission was obtained from China for a cable to be landed at Saddle Island (at the mouth of the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
). From there, the cable could be connected to the main telegraphic network at Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, thus enabling telegraph communication
Electrical telegraph
An electrical telegraph is a telegraph that uses electrical signals, usually conveyed via telecommunication lines or radio. The electromagnetic telegraph is a device for human-to-human transmission of coded text messages....
with Port Hamilton.
After the Russian threat had diminished the British demolished the base and left on 27 February 1887, though they continued to frequent the islands, in one case burying a young sailor there. The visits were less frequent after 1910, when the Japanese Empire annexed Korea.
Until the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a Japanese graveyard stood in Port Hamilton. When Japanese claims to the islands were specifically renounced in the Treaty of San Francisco
Treaty of San Francisco
The Treaty of Peace with Japan , between Japan and part of the Allied Powers, was officially signed by 48 nations on September 8, 1951, at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California...
, the Japanese graves were removed, but the British graveyard of ten British soldiers remains up to this day and has become a tourist attraction. Personnel of the British embassy in Korea have visited the British cemetery since 1982, the year when John Morgan, the British ambassador at the time, visited the cemetery.
Ten British sailors and marines are buried on the islands including two sailors from HMS Albatross who were killed in March 1886 when their gun exploded and a young sailor, Alex Wood, from HMS Albion
HMS Albion (1898)
HMS Albion was a British Canopus-class predreadnought battleship.-Technical Description:HMS Albion was laid down by Thames Iron Works at Leamouth, London on 3 December 1896...
, who died in 1903.
External links
- Julian Coy. The British Occupation of Komundo 1885-1887
- Photographs of the Port Hamilton at the time of British occupation
- Photographs of the British cemetery