128-524: Irving Howard Romaine (born 8 August 1972), previously incorrectly known as Irvine Romaine , is a Bermudian cricketer , who played with the Bermudian cricket team in their first ever One Day International when they played Canada on 17 May 2006. Romaine scored 25 runs as Bermuda won the rain-affected game by three wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method . He went on to score 110 runs in three ODIs in
256-601: A Corps of Colonial Marines . Other refugees were first brought to Bermuda in May 1813, where they were employed in the construction of the new Dockyard on Ireland Island in the company of hired artisans, both free and enslaved, and finally to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for resettlement. In August, 1814, British forces sailed from the Dockyard to carry out the Chesapeake campaign , including an attack on Washington, D. C. , resulting in
384-682: A Royal Canadian Naval Base , HMCS Somers Isles , during the Second World War, and the brick building now housing the Carriage House Museum, and Restaurant. Once Hurd's Channel had been discovered, however, the Royal Navy soon relocated all of its facilities to the West End. Numerous islands at the West End, and in the Great Sound were used for various purposes, but the core of the base,
512-521: A US Army garrison with artillery and infantry elements) had the effect of placing most of the responsibility for guarding Bermuda into American hands, thereby freeing British forces to be redeployed elsewhere. With little remaining interest in policing the world's waterways, and with the American bases to guard Bermuda in any potential war with the Warsaw Pact or other enemies, the Royal Navy closed most of
640-424: A karst terrain . These eolianites are actually the type locality , and formed during interglaciations (i.e., the upper levels of the limestone cap, formed primarily by calcium-secreting algae, was broken down into sand by wave action during interglaciation when the seamount was submerged, and during glaciation, when the top of the seamount was above sea level, that sand was blown into dunes and fused together into
768-519: A barbed-wire fence, swam 1.5 miles (2.4 km) past patrol boats and bright spotlights, through storm-swept waters, using the distant Gibbs Hill Lighthouse for navigation until he arrived ashore on the main island. He settled in the U.S. and later became a spy for Germany in both World Wars. In 1942, Col. Duquesne was arrested by the FBI for leading the Duquesne Spy Ring , which to this day remains
896-670: A base for his privateers leading to the Earl of Warwick , the namesake of Warwick Parish , becoming the most important investor of the Somers Isles Company . Despite this, it was not until the loss of bases on most of the North American Atlantic seaboard (following US independence) threatened Britain's supremacy in the Western Atlantic that the island assumed great importance as a naval base (the attendant Bermuda Garrison of
1024-560: A base than as a colony. The convicts brought in from the United Kingdom to serve as manual labourers included many Irishmen, including participants in the ill-fated Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848 and Nationalist journalist and politician John Mitchel . Conditions for the convicts were harsh, and discipline was draconian. In April 1830, convict James Ryan was shot and killed during rioting of convicts on Ireland Island. Another five convicts were given death sentences for their parts in
1152-539: A base, HMS Malabar was effectively reduced to a supply station that supported Royal Naval vessels transiting through Bermuda or temporarily operating in the area, such as for the annual Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) exercises. By the 1990s, other than HMS Malabar , the Royal Naval establishment in the former North-America and West Indies Station had been reduced to the West Indies Guard Ship and
1280-555: A censorship centre. All mail, radio and telegraphic traffic bound for Europe, the US and the Far East was intercepted and analysed by 1,200 censors, of British Imperial Censorship, part of British Security Coordination (BSC), before being routed to their destination. With BSC working closely with the FBI, the censors were responsible for the discovery and arrest of a number of Axis spies operating in
1408-560: A century later. It was mentioned in Legatio Babylonica , published in 1511 by historian Pedro Mártir de Anglería , and was included on Spanish charts of that year. Both Spanish and Portuguese ships used the islands as a replenishment spot to take on fresh meat and water. Shipwrecked Portuguese mariners are now thought to have been responsible for the 1543 inscription on Portuguese Rock , previously called Spanish Rock. Legends arose of spirits and devils, now thought to have stemmed from
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#17328687144311536-547: A colony at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Two years later, a flotilla of seven ships left England with several hundred settlers, food, and supplies to relieve the Jamestown colony. However, the flotilla was broken up by a storm and the flagship, the Sea Venture , drove onto Bermuda's reef to prevent her sinking, resulting in the survival of all her passengers and crew. The settlers were unwilling to move on, having now heard about
1664-460: A common threat. The British Admiralty was also enraged by the practice of American merchant and naval vessels to poach sailors from the Royal Navy at a time when its manpower was stretched to the limit. The US also had its own interest in breaking Britain's supremacy on maritime trade, and from the first days of the Republic it has often claimed to champion free trade. The Royal Navy sought to counter
1792-405: A diverse population primarily of any mixture of African, European, and Native American ancestry, make up around 50% of the population, while White Bermudians , primarily of British, Irish and Portuguese descent, make up 30% of the population. There are smaller groups from other races or identifying as mixed race and about 30% of the population is not Bermudian by birth. The last remaining colony in
1920-686: A fee. After the American Revolution , the Royal Navy began improving the harbours on the Bermudas. In 1811, work began on the large Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island , which was to serve as the islands' principal naval base guarding the western Atlantic Ocean shipping lanes. To guard the dockyard, the British Army built the Bermuda Garrison , and heavily fortified the archipelago. During
2048-544: A frost or freeze on record in Bermuda. The hardiness zone is 11b/12a . In other words, the coldest that the annual minimum temperature may be expected to be is around 10 °C (50 °F). This is very high for such a latitude and is a half-zone higher than the Florida Keys . Summertime heat index in Bermuda can be high, although mid-August temperatures rarely exceed 30 °C (86 °F). The highest recorded temperature
2176-766: A limestone sandstone), and are laced by red paleosols , also referred to as geosols or terra rossas, indicative of Saharan atmospheric dust and forming during glacial stages . The stratigraphic column starts with the Walsingham Formation , overlain by the Castle Harbour Geosol, the Lower and Upper Town Hill Formations separated by the Harbour Road Geosol, the Ord Road Geosol, the Belmont Formation,
2304-724: A number of aircraft and boats have disappeared under unexplained or mysterious circumstances. Bermuda's pink sand beaches and clear, cerulean blue ocean waters are popular with tourists. Many of Bermuda's hotels are located along the south shore of the island. In addition to its beaches, there are a number of sightseeing attractions. Historic St. George's is a designated World Heritage Site . Scuba divers can explore numerous wrecks and coral reefs in relatively shallow water (typically 30–40 ft or 9–12 m in depth), with virtually unlimited visibility. Many nearby reefs are readily accessible from shore by snorkellers , especially at Church Bay . Bermuda's most popular visitor attraction
2432-554: A pedestrian mall has opened in the clock tower building. The keep area is now the site of the National Museum of Bermuda and the Dolphin Quest attraction. There are also several restaurants on site. Money is still being raised to repair the remaining damaged buildings and build a second dock to attract additional cruise ships. As of April 2011 the mega-cruise ship dock has been constructed. These lists are for senior officers within
2560-631: A prewar luxury liner taken up from trade and commissioned as an armed merchant cruiser . After the Second World War, with the former primary threat in the region, the United States, having been an ally in both World Wars, and a continuing ally under NATO , the naval base in Bermuda diminished rapidly in importance to the Admiralty. The US Navy had operated from a base on White's Island (officially listed as its Base 24 ), in Hamilton Harbour during
2688-503: A role which was rotated among the frigates of the fleet, which took turns operating extended patrols of the West Indies. The West Indies Guard Ship normally stops at Bermuda only on the way to and from taking up its station in the West Indies, and usually provides the Royal Naval detachment which takes the senior position in Bermuda's parade each Remembrance Day (a practice that began before the closure of HMS Malabar). While still designated
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#17328687144312816-456: A severe food shortage on the island until the departure of Nautilus in October. After France's entry into the war in 1778, Henry Clinton refortified the island under the command of Major William Sutherland . As a result, 91 French and American ships were captured in the winter of 1778–1779, bringing the population once again to the brink of starvation. Bermudian trade was severely hampered by
2944-429: A ship might be brought in and braced into position. The tanks were then emptied to lift the ship out of the water for repairs below its waterline. When the second phase of development began at the end of the 19th century, there was still a shortage of Bermudians willing to work as common labourers, and the Admiralty resorted to importing labour from British West Indian islands (which were suffering economic hardship due to
3072-485: A significant part of Britain's merchant fleet was made up of American ships. Despite its own, brief, naval dispute with Napoleon, the United States took full advantage of its neutral position in the wars between Britain and France in allowing its merchant fleet to trade with France and the countries under its influence, and the British Government was enraged by what it saw as America's failure to support it in combating
3200-605: A storm of privateers from the French West Indies in an attempt to cripple British trade in the New World. The Royal Navy was hard-pressed in Europe, and unable to release adequate forces to counter the menace of the privateers. In any case, multi-decked ships-of-the-line were designed to battle each other in slow-moving, opposing lines. However many guns they might have to bring to bear, they were not able to run down, or outmanoeuvre
3328-468: A supporting Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel. The former Royal Navy wireless facility at Daniel's Head was used by the Royal Canadian Navy from 1963 as Naval Radio Station Bermuda (NRS Bermuda), re-named Canadian Forces Station Bermuda ( CFS Bermuda ) in 1968. Both HMS Malabar and CFS Bermuda were closed, along with the three US Navy facilities in Bermuda, in 1995. After the closure of most of
3456-531: A total area of 53.3 km (20.6 sq mi). The largest island is Main Island (also called Bermuda ). Eight larger and populated islands are connected by bridges. The territory's tallest peak is Town Hill on Main Island at 79 m (259 ft) tall. The territory's coastline is 103 km (64 mi). Bermuda gives its name to the Bermuda Triangle , a region of sea in which, according to legend,
3584-472: A useful command centre for handling any contingency situation that arose there. However, after 1969, SNOWI retained responsibility for providing general military advice to Governors, Heads of Missions, and Administrators in the West Indies, with the exception of British Honduras. The South Yard Berthing Area of the Royal Naval Dockyard was commissioned on 1 June 1965, as HMS Malabar , under
3712-513: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Bermuda Bermuda ( / b ər ˈ m j uː d ə / ; historically known as the Bermudas or Somers Isles ) is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean . The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina , about 1,035 km (643 mi) to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an archipelago consisting of 181 islands , although
3840-669: Is a clear example, constituting the cave district around Castle Harbour. The Upper Town Hill Formation forms the core of the Main Island, and prominent hills such as Town Hill, Knapton Hill, and St. David's Lighthouse, while the highest hills, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, are due to the Southampton Formation. Bermuda has two major aquifers , the Langton Aquifer located within the Southampton, Rocky Bay and Belmont Formations, and
3968-667: Is also an oceanic climate , common to many oceanic islands and to the western coasts of continents in the Northern Hemisphere (resulting in a more moderate climate on the western coast of Europe than on the eastern coast of North America), characterised by high relative humidity that moderates temperature, ensuring generally mild winters and summers. Bermuda is warmed by the nearby Gulf Stream . The islands may experience modestly cooler temperatures in January, February, and March [average 18 °C (64 °F)]. There has never been snow,
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4096-605: Is formally appointed by the governor , who is nominated by the British government as the representative of the King . The United Kingdom is responsible for foreign affairs and defence. An independence referendum was held in 1995 with a large majority voting against independence. As of 2019, Bermuda had a population of around 64,000 people, making it the second-most populous of the British Overseas Territories. Black Bermudians ,
4224-577: Is on Long Island. The New York Times reported an attempted mutiny by Boer prisoners of war en route to Bermuda and that martial law was enacted on Darrell's Island. The most famous escapee was the Boer prisoner of war Captain Fritz Joubert Duquesne , who was serving a life sentence for "conspiracy against the British government and on (the charge of) espionage". On the night of 25 June 1902, Duquesne slipped out of his tent, worked his way over
4352-489: Is prone to severe weather from recurving tropical cyclones ; however, it receives some protection from a coral reef and its position north of the Main Development Region , which limits the direction and severity of approaching storms. Bermuda is named after Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez , who discovered the archipelago in 1505. The islands have been permanently inhabited since 1612 when an English settlement
4480-897: Is the Royal Naval Dockyard , which includes the National Museum of Bermuda. Other attractions include the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo , Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, the Botanical Gardens and Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art , lighthouses, and the Crystal Caves with stalactites and underground saltwater pools. Non-residents are prohibited from driving cars on the island. Public transport and taxis are available or visitors can rent scooters for use as private transport. Bermuda consists of over 150 limestone islands, but especially five main islands, along
4608-684: The Bermudian Parliament and the Cabinet Building, both in the City of Hamilton . After the War the men of the Corps of Colonial Marines were brought to Bermuda to man the garrison and to continue the construction of the Dockyard. With the reduction in naval budgets that came with peace, the Admiralty refused to be responsible for them any further. The men rejected a government order for them to be transferred to
4736-637: The British Army existed primarily to protect the naval base). In 1818 the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda officially replaced the Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax , as the British headquarters for the North America Station (which would become the North America and West Indies Station after absorbing the Jamaica Station in 1830 (and would ultimately be designated the America and West Indies Station after
4864-519: The Caribbean Community . Bermuda is named after the Spanish sailor Juan de Bermúdez , who discovered the islands in 1505, while sailing for Spain from a provisioning voyage to Hispaniola in the ship La Garça . Bermuda was discovered in the early 1500s by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez . Bermuda had no Indigenous population when it was discovered, nor during initial British settlement
4992-513: The Cold War . The Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda had occupied a useful position astride the homeward leg taken by many European vessels from the New World since before its settlement by England in 1609. French privateers may have used the islands as a staging place for operations against Spanish galleons in the 16th century. Bermudian privateers certainly played a role in many English and British wars following settlement, with its utility as
5120-862: The National Museum of Bermuda , which incorporates Bermuda's Maritime Museum, occupies the Keep of the Royal Naval Dockyard. Due to its proximity to the southeastern US coast, Bermuda was frequently used during the American Civil War as a stopping point base for the Confederate States ' blockade runners on their runs to and from the Southern states, and England, to evade Union naval vessels on blockade patrol. The blockade runners were then able to transport essential war goods from England and deliver valuable cotton back to England. The old Globe Hotel in St. George's, which
5248-687: The New England colonies and sold into slavery in the seventeenth century, notably in the aftermaths of the Pequot War and King Philip's War ; some are believed to have been brought from as far away as Mexico . Bermuda's ambivalence towards the American rebellion changed in September ;1774, when the Continental Congress resolved to ban trade with Great Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies after 10 September 1775. Such an embargo would mean
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5376-623: The New World . In 1615, the colony, which had been renamed the Somers Isles in commemoration of Sir George Somers , was passed on to the Somers Isles Company . As Bermudians settled the Carolina Colony and contributed to establishing other English colonies in the Americas , several other locations were named after the archipelago. During this period the first slaves were held and trafficked to
5504-605: The Outer Banks of North Carolina , United States which is the nearest landmass. Its next nearest neighbour is Cape Sable Island , Nova Scotia Canada which is 1,236 km (768 mi) north of Bermuda. It is also located 1,759 km (1,093 mi) north-northeast of Havana , Cuba , 1,538 km (956 mi) north of the British Virgin Islands, and 1,537.17 km (955.15 mi) north of San Juan , Puerto Rico . The territory consists of 181 islands , with
5632-405: The Raid on Alexandria , the Battle of Bladensburg , the Burning of Washington , and an attempted assault on Baltimore, Maryland , in the Battle of Baltimore . When the forces returned to Bermuda, they brought with them two sets of portraits of King George III , and his wife, Queen Charlotte , taken from a public building in Washington; these portraits hang, today, in the House of Assembly of
5760-409: The Royal Air Force and the Bermuda Flying School on Darrell's Island . Once the US Navy began flying air patrols from Darrell's Island in 1941, however, the Fleet Air Arm's patrols ceased. With Bermuda becoming the working-up area for Allied destroyers newly commissioned on the Atlantic seaboard of North America (specifically, those of the US Navy, and lend-lease destroyers from the United States for
5888-458: The Senior Naval Officer West Indies (SNOWI) was also based at Bermuda, with the shore headquarters of SNOWI occupying Moresby House (originally built in the 1899s as the residence of the civilian Officer in Charge, Works) along with the RNO, until the role was abolished in 1976. SNOWI served as Island Commander Bermuda in the NATO chain of command, reporting to Commander-in-Chief, Western Atlantic as part of Allied Command Atlantic . After 1962,
6016-434: The Slave Trade Act of 1807 , should not have been treated as slaves but were considered still slaves by dockyard officials and, from 1813, refugees from American slavery of the War of 1812 who had opted for employment at Bermuda rather than armed service or resettlement in Canada, and who suffered similarly from the dockyard officials’ attitudes, finding their situation inferior to that of the hired Bermudan slaves, and who at
6144-418: The War of 1812 between Britain and the United States, the British attacks on Washington, D.C. , and the Chesapeake were planned and launched from Bermuda, where the headquarters of the Royal Navy's North American Station had recently been moved from Halifax, Nova Scotia . In 1816, James Arnold, the son of Benedict Arnold , fortified Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard against possible US attacks. Today,
6272-423: The West India Regiment , but accepted in the end the government's alternative offer of settlement in Trinidad as free independent farmers. Their last day of pay at Bermuda was 15 July 1816, when they were taken, together with their families, to Trinidad where they were formally disbanded on 20 August and taken to their new settlements to occupy grants of land. The consequent depletion of the construction workforce
6400-447: The parliamentarian and Attorney General of the same name , his Master's certificate). The primary limitation of Bermuda as a Dockyard was the porosity of its limestone sandstone, which prevented construction of a proper drydock. From 1869, this problem was remedied with a floating drydock. This, and its successors, was a large hull, with a U-shaped cross-section. It could be partly submerged by filling ballast tanks with water, so that
6528-505: The 17th century, the Somers Isles Company suppressed shipbuilding, as it needed Bermudians to farm in order to generate income from the land. The Virginia colony, however, far surpassed Bermuda in quality and quantity of tobacco produced. Bermudians began to turn to maritime trades relatively early in the 17th century, but the Somers Isles Company used all its authority to suppress turning away from agriculture. This interference led to islanders demanding, and receiving, revocation of
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#17328687144316656-400: The 1960s. Universal suffrage was adopted as part of Bermuda's Constitution in 1967; voting had previously been dependent on a certain level of property ownership. On 10 March 1973, the governor of Bermuda, Richard Sharples , was assassinated by local Black Power militants during a period of civil unrest. Some moves were made towards possible independence for the islands, however, this
6784-404: The 19th century and after World War II, the territory became a prominent offshore financial centre and tax haven . Divided into nine parishes , Bermuda is a self-governing parliamentary democracy with a bicameral parliament located in the capital Hamilton . The House of Assembly dates from 1620, making it one of the world's oldest legislatures. The premier is the head of government and
6912-413: The Atlantic. The Fleet Air Arm 's Royal Naval Air Station Bermuda on Boaz Island (before the Second World War, it had been located in the North Yard of the dockyard), nominally an aircraft repair and replacement facility without its own aircrews, provided air patrols during the early years of the war, using Supermarine Walrus flying boats flown by naval pilots from ships at the dockyard, or pilots from
7040-412: The Bermudian magazine while Governor George James Bruere slept, and loaded onto these boats. As a consequence, on 2 October the Continental Congress exempted Bermuda from their trade ban, and Bermuda acquired a reputation for disloyalty. Later that year, the British Parliament passed the Prohibitory Act to prohibit trade with the American rebelling colonies and sent HMS Scorpion to keep watch over
7168-450: The Brighton Aquifer located within the Town Hill Formation. Four freshwater lenses occur in Bermuda, with the Central Lens being the largest on Main Island, containing an area of 7.2 km (1,800 acres) and a thickness greater than 10 m (33 ft). Bermuda has a tropical rainforest climate ( Köppen climate classification : Af ), bordering very closely on a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen climate classification : Cfa ). It
7296-471: The Commissioner's House, at the north of the Keep, and, later, the Royal Naval Air Station on Boaz Island that operated during the Second World War. Both of these were establishments within the larger active naval base, and the name HMS Malabar never applied to the entirety of the HM Dockyard Bermuda. In December, 1967, the position of RNO Bermuda was abolished, with its duties passing to SNOWI's secretary and SNOWI taking over command of HMS Malabar . As SNOWI
7424-454: The Dockyard facilities in 1958 (a process which had begun with the removal of the large floating drydock, AFD 5, in 1951 (the smaller AFD 48 remained)), with most of the Admiralty's landholdings in Bermuda (along with all of the British Army's properties) being transferred to the local government for £750,000. The South Yard of the Dockyard itself was retained as HM Naval Base, Bermuda, commissioned as HMS Malabar (see below). It continued to be
7552-444: The Dockyard, began to take shape on Ireland Island, at the North West extremity of the archipelago. Initially, local labourers, free or enslaved, were sought to carry out the construction. With most working-age Bermudian men being skilled workers, involved in seafaring or shipbuilding, local labour proved scarce and expensive (the Admiralty had acknowledged Bermuda's reliance on its merchant seamen by exempting them from impressment into
7680-499: The First World War, once it absorbed the areas that had formerly belonged to the South East Coast of America Station and the Pacific Station ). As prior to 1959, under section 87 of the Naval Discipline Act 1866 ( 29 & 30 Vict. c. 109), only sailors on the books of a commissioned naval vessel were subject to naval discipline, naval personnel assigned to shore duties were listed administratively as crew members of depot ships , originally usually hulks of old warships. In Bermuda,
7808-419: The Great Sound. A naval hydrographer, Thomas Hurd , spent a dozen years charting the waters around the Colony, and eventually found the Channel through the reefs, which is still used today by vessels travelling to the Great Sound and Hamilton Harbour . Initially, the Royal Navy bought and developed property in and around the then capital of St. George's, at the East End. These included Convict Bay, which became
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#17328687144317936-402: The Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy), the Fleet Air Arm formed 773 Fleet Requirements Unit at Bermuda on the 3 June 1940, equipped with Blackburn Roc target tugs, which towed targets for anti-aircraft gunnery practice by Allied vessels working-up at Bermuda, as well as for a United States Navy anti-aircraft gunnery training centre that operated on shore at Warwick Parish for the duration of
8064-514: The Royal Navy, to which all other British seamen were liable). In view of attitudes found amongst the Bermudian population to manual labour, the labour force for the start of the work was, apart from specialist Bermudian artisans, built up from slaves and ex-slaves from various sources. Alongside hired Bermudian slaves, who led unusually independent lives, finding their own work and bargaining with prospective employers for wages and conditions, there were ex-slaves taken off intercepted ships and who, by
8192-399: The Shore Hills Geosol, the Rocky Bay Formation, and the Southampton Formation. The older eolianite ridges (older Bermuda) are more rounded and subdued compared to the outer coastline (Younger Bermuda). Thus, post deposition morphology includes chemical erosion , with inshore water bodies demonstrating that much of Bermuda is partially drowned Pleistocene karst . The Walsingham Formation
8320-505: The US, including the Joe K ring . In 1948, a regularly scheduled commercial airline service began to operate, using land-based aeroplanes landing at Kindley Field (now L.F. Wade International Airport ), helping tourism to reach a peak in the 1960s and 1970s. By the end of the 1970s, however, international business had supplanted tourism as the dominant sector of Bermuda's economy. The Royal Naval Dockyard and its attendant military garrison remained important to Bermuda's economy until
8448-498: The United States, because of the presence of many privateers. The Bermuda Gazette , Bermuda's first newspaper, began publishing in 1784. The editor, Joseph Stockdale , had been given financial incentive to move to Bermuda with his family and establish the newspaper. He also provided other printing services and operated Bermuda's first local postal service. The Bermuda Gazette was sold by subscription and delivered to subscribers, with Stockdale's employee also delivering mail for
8576-440: The War was the capture of the Bermuda sloop, HMS Whiting , in a US port. During the War, the British blockade of American ports was orchestrated from Bermuda, and a squadron based in Bermuda was active in the Chesapeake from February 1813 until the end of the War, British forces briefly occupying Kent Island in 1813 and establishing a base on Tangier Island in 1814, where the Royal Navy recruited from among refugee slaves
8704-425: The absence of suitable labour for the continuation of the dockyard works over the following six years led to the decision late in 1822 to use convicts shipped from Britain and Ireland to carry out most of the original phase of building at the base, the first arriving in 1823. Admiralty House in Bermuda, at that time, was still in the East End, at Mount Wyndham, above Bailey's Bay . One of the first Naval actions of
8832-451: The administration of the Royal Naval Dockyard. For the senior naval officer in Bermuda, see Commanders-in-Chief of the North America and West Indies Station Up until 1831 all navy dockyards, were administered by a Resident Commissioner on behalf of the Navy Board in London. By An Order in Council dated 27 June 1832 the role of the Resident Commissioner was replaced by either a Captain or Commodore or Admiral Superintendent depending on
8960-412: The base as an active naval dockyard in 1957 (excluding HMS Malabar , the shore establishment which operated until 1995), the base fell into a state of disrepair. Storms and lack of maintenance caused damage to many buildings. Beginning in the 1980s increased tourism to Bermuda stimulated interest in renovating the dockyard and turning it into a tourist attraction. Currently, cruise ships regularly land at
9088-401: The base of the North America and West Indies Station, with the Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station , at the Admiralty House, Bermuda, until 29 October 1956, when the position was abolished, leaving the Commodore West Indies as the Senior Royal Navy officer in the region, reporting directly to the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, in England. A diminishing number of station frigates
9216-656: The calls of raucous birds (most likely the Bermuda petrel , or cahow ) and loud nocturnal noises from wild hogs. With its frequent storm-racked conditions and dangerous reefs, the archipelago became known as the "Isle of Devils". Neither Spain nor Portugal attempted to settle it. For the next century, the island was frequently visited but not settled. The English began to focus on the New World, initially settling in Virginia , starting British colonization in North America, establishing
9344-407: The cessation of hostilities. During the Second World War, the United States had been permitted to build a US Naval Operating Base (serving both ships and seaplanes) and a US Army airfield in the colony under free 99-year leases. This had been agreed before Britain and France declared war on Germany and set into motion before the US had actually entered the war, but (along with the establishment of
9472-630: The collapse of their inter-colonial commerce, famine and civil unrest. Lacking political channels with Great Britain, the Tucker Family met in May ;1775 with eight other parishioners and resolved to send delegates to the Continental Congress in July, aiming for an exemption from the ban. Henry Tucker noted a clause in the ban which allowed the exchange of American goods for military supplies. The clause
9600-513: The colonists developed a strong sense of devotion to the Crown. The royalists ousted the Somers Isles Company's Governor and elected John Trimingham as their leader (see Governor of Bermuda ). Bermuda's civil war was ended by militias, and dissenters were pushed to settle The Bahamas under William Sayle . The rebellious royalist colonies of Bermuda, Virginia, Barbados and Antigua , were
9728-415: The colony serving as a base for merchants, privateers and the Royal Navy , giving its name to the Bermuda rig and Bermuda sloop . It became an imperial fortress , the most important British naval and military base in the western hemisphere with vast funds lavished on its Royal Naval Dockyard and military defences until the 1950s. Tourism has been a significant contributor to Bermuda's economy since
9856-467: The combined efforts of the Royal Navy, the British garrison and loyalist privateers , such that famine struck the island in 1779. Upon the death of George Bruere in 1780, the governorship passed to his son, George Jr., an active loyalist. Under his leadership, smuggling was stopped, and the Bermudian colonial government was populated with like-minded loyalists. Even Henry Tucker abandoned trading with
9984-656: The command of the Resident Naval Officer (RNO), with the headquarters of both SNOWI and the RNO at Moresby House (built in the 1890s as the residence of the dockyard's Officer in Charge, Works ). The name HMS Malabar causes considerable confusion in relation to the Bermuda naval base. At least one vessel attached to the HM Dockyard, and three separate shore establishments have used the name. The shore establishments included one at
10112-482: The company's charter in 1684, and the company was dissolved. Bermudians rapidly abandoned agriculture for shipbuilding, replanting farmland with the native juniper trees ( Juniperus bermudiana , called Bermuda cedar). Establishing effective control over the Turks Islands , Bermudians deforested their landscape to begin the salt trade. It became the world's largest and remained the cornerstone of Bermuda's economy for
10240-664: The convoys that were assembled at Bermuda before crossing the Atlantic. As would be the case in the Second World War, the primary threat to trans-Atlantic Allied shipping was the menace of German submarines. Ships from the dockyard also took part in the Battle of the Falkland Islands . During the Second World War, again, the naval base in Bermuda organised trans-Atlantic Convoys. Ships would arrive at Bermuda singly, where Charles Fairey 's converted yacht , HMS Evadne , patrolled beyond
10368-526: The depot ship was HMS Terror from 1857 to 1897, which was replaced by the former troopship HMS Malabar (renamed HMS Terror in 1901). The former HMS Malabar was sold in 1918, following which the name HMS Malabar was applied to the Casemates Naval Barracks in the dockyard as a stone frigate under command of the Captain in Charge to which the shore personnel at Bermuda, whether belonging to
10496-414: The dockyard during summer months (cruise lines call this place King's Wharf). The West End Development Corporation (WEDCO) was formed in 1982 as a quango to oversee the development of the former Admiralty lands (other than those still in use by the Royal Navy, or by HM Prisons) on Ireland, Boaz, and Watford islands. To serve these visitors, several former warehouses have been turned into artists shops and
10624-522: The dockyard, to outlying naval facilities (such as Admiralty House, Bermuda , Royal Naval Air Station Bermuda , or the Royal Naval wireless station (from 1961, NRS Bermuda ) at Daniel's Head ), or to minor vessels assigned to the dockyard for local use, were administratively assigned. As a consequence, HMS Malabar was often used interchangeably with HM Dockyard Bermuda or Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda , and has been often mistaken as referring only to specific subordinate naval facilities in Bermuda, such as
10752-646: The end of the War found themselves sent to Canada , despite their original choice of location, to make way for that part of the Corps of Colonial Marines that had been recruited on the Atlantic coast. With the refusal of the Admiralty to accept continuing responsibility for the Corps, and with the rejection by the Corps of orders given by the government for them to be transferred to the West India Regiments and their subsequent departure in 1816 for settlement in Trinidad ,
10880-436: The first were intended to counter the privateer menace, Bermudian sloops ultimately became 'advice' vessels, using their speed and handling to evade enemies, and carrying communications and vital freight around the globe. They were also used for reconnaissance and maintaining pickets. In addition to ships commissioned by the Admiralty, Bermudian merchant vessels were also bought up and commissioned for this purpose. The most famous
11008-561: The former British North America (following the 1867 Confederation of Canada and the Colony of Newfoundland becoming the Dominion of Newfoundland in 1907), Bermuda has a distinct dialect of English and has historically had strong ties with other English-speaking countries in the Americas, including the United States, Canada, and the Commonwealth Caribbean . It is an associate member of
11136-538: The island in large numbers, originating from America and the Caribbean. As the black population grew, so did the fear of insurrection among the white settlers. In 1623, a law to restrain the insolence of the Negroes was passed in Bermuda. It forbade blacks to buy or sell, barter or exchange tobacco or any other produce for goods without the consent of their master. Unrest amongst the slaves predictably erupted several times over
11264-508: The island. The island's forts were stripped of cannons. Yet, wartime trade of contraband continued along well-established family connections. With 120 boats by 1775, Bermuda continued to trade with St. Eustatius until 1781 and provided salt to North American ports. In June 1776, HMS Nautilus secured the island, followed by HMS Galatea in September. Yet, the two British captains seemed more intent on capturing prize money, causing
11392-596: The islands. These were a mixture of native Africans who were trafficked to the Americas via the African slave trade and Native Americans who were enslaved from the Thirteen Colonies . The first African slaves arrived in Bermuda in 1617, not from Africa but from the West Indies. Bermuda Governor Tucker sent a ship to the West Indies to find black slaves to dive for pearls in Bermuda. More black slaves were later trafficked to
11520-484: The largest espionage case uncovered in the history of the United States. In the early 20th century Bermuda became a popular destination for American, Canadian and British tourists arriving by sea. The US Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which enacted protectionist trade tariffs on goods imported into the US, led to the demise of Bermuda's once-thriving agricultural export trade to America and encouraged development of tourism as an alternative source of income. The island
11648-645: The last year of the First World War, servicing submarine hunters, submarines and other vessels that travelled across the Atlantic to the European theatre of conflict in convoys of one to two dozen vessels. Many of these vessels had also made use of the Royal Navy's facilities at HM Dockyard. In addition to White's Island, the United States operated a supply station on the British Army's formerly secret munitions depot, Agar's Island . Both US facilities were closed following
11776-472: The loss of the sugar industry, following American victory in the Spanish–American War ). This began a century of sustained immigration into Bermuda from the West Indies which has had profound social and political effects. The Dockyard served as the base for a succession of Royal Naval organisations, including the North America and West Indies Squadron. A fleet of C-class cruisers and smaller vessels
11904-477: The mid-20th century. In addition to considerable building work, the armed forces needed to source food and other materials from local vendors. Beginning in World War II , US military installations were also located in Bermuda, including a naval air station , and submarine base . The American military presence lasted until 1995. Universal adult suffrage and development of a two-party political system took place in
12032-431: The most significant islands are connected by bridges and appear to form one landmass. It has a land area of 54 square kilometres (21 sq mi). Bermuda has a tropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Its climate also exhibits oceanic features similar to other coastal areas in the Northern Hemisphere with warm, moist air from the ocean ensuring relatively high humidity and stabilising temperatures. Bermuda
12160-557: The next century. Bermudians also vigorously pursued whaling , privateering , and the merchant trade. Some islanders, especially in St David's , still trace their ancestry to Native Americans, and many more are unaware that they have such ancestry. Hundreds of Native Americans were shipped to Bermuda. The best-known examples were the Algonquian peoples such as Pequots, Wampanoags, Podunks, Nipmucks, Narragansetts and others who were exiled from
12288-528: The next decades. Major rebellions occurred in 1656, 1661, 1673, 1682, 1730 and 1761. In 1761 a conspiracy was discovered that involved the majority of the blacks on the island. Six slaves were executed and all black celebrations were prohibited. In 1649, the English Civil War was taking place and King Charles I was beheaded in Whitehall , London. The conflict spilled over into Bermuda, where most of
12416-495: The other convicts aboard the hulk assembled behind a rail to witness. When ordered to strip, he hesitated. Thomas Cronin, his older brother, addressed him and, while brandishing a knife, rushed forward to the separating rail. He called out to the other prisoners in Gaelic and many joined him in attempting to free the prisoner and attack the officers. The officers opened fire. Two men were killed and twelve wounded. Punishment of James Cronin
12544-506: The reefline, and the converted tugboat, HMS Castle Harbour , and later HMS Sumar , crewed by local ratings, patrolled nearer to shore and transported the pilots (who steered the visiting ships through the treacherous reefs that protected the harbours and anchorages) and the naval examination officer tasked with inspecting arriving vessels. Most convoys from Bermuda (coded BHX), once assembled, joined at sea with convoys originating at Halifax, Nova Scotia (coded HX ), before crossing
12672-467: The riots, with those of the youngest three being commuted to transportation for life. In 1849, convict James Cronin, on the hulk Medway at Ireland Island, was placed in solitary confinement from the 25th to the 29th for fighting. On release, and being returned to work, he refused to be cross-ironed. He ran onto the breakwater, brandishing a poker threateningly. For this, he was ordered to receive punishment (presumably flogging) on Tuesday, 3 July 1849, with
12800-470: The same officer also occupied the office of Commander British Forces Caribbean Area (CBFCA), with overall command of all British naval and military forces in the Caribbean. This office lapsed in 1969. Among other difficulties that had beset SNOWI in the role of CBFCA, Bermuda, being over 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) North of the Virgin Islands , had been found to be too remote from the West Indies to be
12928-468: The ship the Plough . New London (renamed St. George's Town) was settled that year and designated as the colony's first capital. It is the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the New World . In 1616 and 1620 acts were passed banning the hunting of certain birds and young tortoises . The archipelago's limited land area and resources led to the creation of what may be the earliest conservation laws of
13056-454: The small privateers. The second threat was American. The first successful English colony in the North America, Jamestown, Virginia , which Bermuda was settled as an extension of, was intended to exploit the abundance of timber on that continent. This was at a time when Britain, and much of Europe, had long been stripped almost clear of trees. American timber had been one of the enablers of Britain's ascendancy to maritime supremacy, and, by 1776,
13184-656: The south-west. Initial uplift of this rise occurred in the Middle to Late Eocene and concluded by the Late Oligocene , when it subsided below sea level. The volcanic rocks associated with this rise are tholeiitic lavas and intrusive lamprophyre sheets, which form a volcanic basement, on average, 50 m (160 ft) below the island carbonate surface. The limestones of Bermuda consist of biocalcarenites with minor conglomerates . The portion of Bermuda above sea level consists of rocks deposited by aeolian processes , with
13312-593: The southern margin of the Bermuda Platform, one of three topographic highs found on the Bermuda Pedestal . This Bermuda Pedestal sits atop the Bermuda Rise, a mid-basin swell surrounded by abyssal plains . The Bermuda Pedestal is one of four topographic highs aligned roughly from North-East to South-West. The others, all submerged, are Bowditch Seamount to the north-east, and Challenger Bank and Argus Bank to
13440-518: The squadron of the America and West Indies Station (which ceased to be a separate station with the 1956 abolishment of the Commander-in-Chief America and West Indies , though the diminishing squadron remained based in Bermuda until the 1970s) but, no longer equipped with a drydock, ships based at Bermuda needing major repairs or refit were obliged to cross the Atlantic to Portsmouth ). The base
13568-520: The strategic Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda. By the time the first phase of development was complete, in the 1860s, the convict establishment was no longer seen as politically expedient. The last convicts were withdrawn in 1863, returned to Britain on the Bermudian merchant clipper, Cedrine (which was wrecked on the Isle of Wight , on its maiden voyage, costing Captain Thomas Melville Dill, grandfather of
13696-576: The subjects of an Act of the Rump Parliament of England . The royalist colonies were also threatened with invasion. The Government of Bermuda eventually reached an agreement with the Parliament of England which retained the status quo in Bermuda. In 1655 fifty-four Bermudians became the first British subjects to permanently settle on the Island of Jamaica , followed by a further (200) Bermudians in 1658, following Cromwell’s Invasion of Jamaica . In
13824-404: The tenants or other occupants after Bermuda-grown tobacco became steadily less profitable following the 1620s, becoming family farms that switched from growing tobacco for export to producing food (initially for local consumption). Consequently, a plantation economy did not develop and the slave trade largely ceased by the end of the 17th century. The economy instead became maritime-focused, with
13952-493: The threat of French privateers in the New World by commissioning its own light vessels, built along the lines of traditional Bermuda sloops . The first three vessels commissioned from Bermudian shipyards were 200 ton, 12-gun sloops-of-war , ordered in 1795, and commissioned as HMS Dasher , HMS Driver and HMS Hunter . Over the next fifteen years, the Admiralty would commission a great many more vessels from Bermudian builders, manned by locally recruited officers and crews. Although
14080-523: The tournament, followed by a century (the first in ODIs for Bermuda) in his fourth One-day International innings in August 2006. He has since gone on to play for Bermuda in 35 ODIs, also playing in 17 ICC Intercontinental Cup matches, the 2006 ICC Americas Championship , the 2005 ICC Trophy and the 2006 Stanford 20/20 . He works as a schoolteacher. This biographical article related to Bermudian cricket
14208-552: The true conditions in Jamestown from the sailors, and made multiple attempts to rebel and stay in Bermuda. They argued that they had a right to stay and establish their own government. The new settlement became a prison labour camp, and built two ships, the Deliverance and the Patience . In 1612, the English began settlement of the archipelago, officially named Virgineola, with arrival of
14336-571: The war. The target tugs operated at first from Boaz Island as floatplanes, and from 1943 also from the runway at the United States Army's Kindley Field . Although Bermuda was a naval base, her warships were normally spread far-and-wide across the Atlantic, unable to protect the base or the colony. Early in the war German battleships, operating as commerce raiders, created some concern of Bermuda's vulnerability to naval bombardment (especially when Convoy HX 84 – which included ships from Bermuda –
14464-580: The wireless station at Daniel's Head or the Royal Naval Air Station. After the Bermuda dockyard was reduced to a base in the 1950s, the part that continued to operate as a naval base was commissioned as HMS Malabar until 1995. In the decades following American independence, Britain was faced with two threats to its maritime supremacy. The first was French, as Napoleon battled Britain for military, political, and economic supremacy in Europe, closing continental ports to British trade. He also unleashed
14592-538: Was 34 °C (93 °F) in August 1989. The average annual temperature of the Atlantic Ocean around Bermuda is 22.8 °C (73.0 °F), from 18.6 °C (65.5 °F) in February to 28.2 °C (82.8 °F) in August. Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda HMD Bermuda ( Her/His Majesty's Dockyard , Bermuda) was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and
14720-767: Was a centre of intrigue for Confederate agents, is preserved as a public museum. During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), 5,000 Boer prisoners of war were housed on five islands of Bermuda. They were located according to their views of the war. "Bitterenders" ( Afrikaans : Bittereinders ), who refused to pledge allegiance to the British Crown, were interned on Darrell's Island and closely guarded. Other islands such as Morgan's Island held 884 men, including 27 officers; Tucker's Island held 809 Boer prisoners, Burt's Island 607, and Port's Island held 35. Hinson's Island housed underage prisoners. The camp cemetery
14848-520: Was attacked by the German cruiser Admiral Scheer in November 1940), but the island was never attacked, and the threat of German surface vessels and their aircraft quickly faded. Bermuda was to provide the namesakes for three other Royal Naval vessels, other than HMS Castle Harbour, during the War, specifically the cruiser HMS Bermuda , the destroyer HMS Hamilton , and HMS Queen of Bermuda ,
14976-545: Was based there in the 1930s. In both World Wars, Bermuda served as a staging area for trans-Atlantic convoys. During the First World War , the Dockyard and its vessels, intended to dominate the American coastline and the West Indies, found themselves absorbed with the role of protecting Allied merchant shipping the length and breadth of the Atlantic. The vessels of the North America and West Indies Squadrons were employed to track down German surface raiders, and in escorting
15104-593: Was confirmed by Benjamin Franklin when Tucker met with the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety . Independently, others confirmed this business arrangement with Peyton Randolph , the Charlestown Committee of Safety, and George Washington . Three American boats, operating from Charlestown, Philadelphia and Newport, sailed to Bermuda, and on 14 August 1775, 100 barrels of gunpowder were taken from
15232-547: Was decisively rejected in a referendum in 1995 . At the 2020 Summer Olympics , Bermuda became the smallest overseas territory to earn a gold medal, as Flora Duffy won Bermuda's first ever Olympic gold medal in the women's triathlon . Bermuda is a group of low-forming volcanoes in the Atlantic Ocean , in the west of the Sargasso Sea , roughly 578 nmi (1,070 km; 665 mi) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras on
15360-461: Was established at St. George's , which is also the territory’s largest settlement. Forming part of British America , Bermuda was governed under Royal charter by the Somers Isles Company until 1684, when it became a crown colony . The first enslaved Africans were taken to Bermuda in 1616. The Somers Isles Company ensured a steady flow of free but indentured servants until 1684, and most tobacco farms owned by overseas adventurers were sold to
15488-400: Was frequently in the West Indies, he was unable to effectively command HMS Malabar , and a lieutenant-commander was consequently appointed to the roles of commanding officer of HMS Malabar and RNO in 1971. On 1 April 1976, the post of SNOWI was abolished. The Bermuda-based Station Frigates were withdrawn and replaced with a West Indies Guard Ship (now called Atlantic Patrol Task (North) ),
15616-568: Was nameless until commissioned as HMS Malabar on 1 June 1965 (it was also designated HM Naval Base Bermuda (HMNB Bermuda)), until it, too, closed in 1995, following the end of the Cold War. The closure of HMS Malabar marked the end of 200 years of permanent Royal Naval establishment in Bermuda. Following the withdrawal of the Admiral (the Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies ) in 1956,
15744-536: Was one of the centres for illegal alcohol smuggling during the era of Prohibition in the United States (1920–1933). A rail line was constructed in Bermuda in the 1920s, opening in 1931 as the Bermuda Railway , which was abandoned in 1948. The right of way is now the Bermuda Railway Trail. In 1930, after several failed attempts, a Stinson Detroiter seaplane flew to Bermuda from New York City : It
15872-570: Was partially made good in 1823 by the first importation of British convicts. Bermudian privateers also played a notable part in the war, capturing 298 American vessels. After the War, the Navy concentrated on the building of the Dockyard, while the Army began its own buildup of fortifications, coastal artillery, and infantry garrisons to defend the Naval Base, as the British Government began to view Bermuda more as
16000-415: Was subsequently based at Bermuda until the 1970s, although the base was no longer capable of carrying out repairs to vessels based there. The 1951 closure of the dockyard was actually a reduction of its status to a base, with the disposal of most Admiralty land holdings in Bermuda. The South Yard Berthing Area continued to be maintained as a base, under the command of the Resident Naval Officer (RNO), for
16128-547: Was the first aeroplane ever to reach the islands. In 1936, Deutsche Luft Hansa began to experiment with seaplane flights from Berlin via the Azores with continuation flights to New York City. In 1937, Imperial Airways and Pan American Airways began operating scheduled flying boat airline services from New York and Baltimore to Darrell's Island, Bermuda . In World War II, the Hamilton Princess Hotel became
16256-495: Was then carried out. Three hundred men of the 42nd Regiment of Foot , in barracks on Ireland Island, responded to the scene under arms. In addition to Mitchel, notable convicts sent to Bermuda included Irish painter William Burke Kirwan . In 1851 Master stone carver Charles Thomas Thomas travelled to North America. He was appointed foreman of works with the Works Department of the Royal Navy, responsible for development of
16384-492: Was undoubtedly HMS Pickle , which carried the news of British victory back from Trafalgar . The Royal Navy began to invest into Bermudian real-estate in 1795. Very early, it began to buy islands at the West End of the chain, and in the Great Sound , with the view to building a naval base and dockyard. Unfortunately, at that time, there was no known channel wide and deep enough to allow large naval vessels to gain access to
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