![]() Following the formal annexation in 1815, the Royal Navy declared the entire island as a stone frigate, officially known as HMS Ascension. ![]() Only in the early nineteenth century the brig-sloops HMS Zenobia and HMS Peruvian claimed the Island for HBM King George III. Captain James Cook also visited Ascension and Saint Helena during his voyages in the early 1770s. ![]() In 1701, the HMS Roebuck a fifth-rate warship sunk nearby the Island while returning from an expedition to explore the Terra Australis, the crew sought relief onshore being rescued two months later. In the eighteenth century, the Island was visited by many Europeans navies, including the Royal Navy and the Dutch Navy, the latter used Ascension as an open prison for criminal sailors at least once. In spite of that, the Portuguese did not claim the tiny and dry island as it seemed to have no relevance for Portugal’s growing trade with the East Indies. The navigator Afonso de Albuquerque, later known as the Duke of Goa, reached the Island in 1501 on Ascension Day, naming it after this feast day. Although the islands’ territory is relatively small, their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) with more than 1,6 million km² is larger than Argentina’s.ĭespite the long-dated British presence, Ascension was first discovered by the Portuguese. miles), Ascension alone has nearly 800 inhabitants and a land area of 88 km² (34 sq. As a British Overseas Territory (BOT), it is governed as part of the ‘Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha’, with a total population of roughly 5,600 and a total area of 394 km² (152 sq. At the sunset of the Victorian Age, London possessed the high-hand in the region through its colonies and dependencies, which provided the Royal Navy with an enormous and safe network of bases for refuelling, repairs and staging points for operations beyond the region.Īmongst Britain’s possessions, Ascension Island – alongside Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha – remained a British territory after the decolonisation process that swept away the old imperial system. As part of the British Overseas Territories, Ascension Island has a long military history under the Union Flag, being crucial for many military operations since the nineteenth century, including the Royal Navy’s campaign against the slave trade and the Falklands War.īritain’s presence in the South Atlantic is closely linked to the country’s rise as the prominent trading and imperial power in Europe and elsewhere.
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