Leith Harbour

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Disambiguation, you may be looking for Leith, the port of Edinburgh, Scotland

Leith Harbour was a whaling base set up on the North coast of South Georgia in 1909, which was in operation until 1965. It was the largest of seven whaling stations, situated near the mouth of Stromness Bay. One man prominently involved in setting up Leith Harbour was William Storm Harrrison.

There is a gun emplacement on the hill behind the station, and another at Hansen Point with the original 4.1" gun still in position. Leith Harbour boasted a hospital, a library and a cinema, as well as a narrow gauge railroad. The centre of Leith Harbour is occupied by the so-called Portuguese graveyard. Due to its nature, the station also contained a factory and a flensing plan or platform.

The Falklands War was precipitated on 19 March 1982 when a group of Argentineans, posing as scrap metal merchants, occupied the abandoned whaling station at Leith Harbour.

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History of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

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