Swan Islands, Honduras

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The Swan Islands are a chain of three islands located in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, approximately ninety miles off the coastline of Honduras.

Both the United States and Honduras claimed the Swan Islands until the United States dropped its claim in 1972. A United States citizen named Sumner Smith had claimed ownership in the name of the United States. Smith was a resident of Boston, Massachusetts, president of Abington Textile and Manufacturing Works, and a stockholder in Gibraltar Steamship Company of New York City.

The islands gained attention in the early 1960s due to the activities of Radio Swan which claimed to be owned by the Gibraltar Steamship Company. The station began broadcasting during events leading up to and after the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Later investigation discovered that both Radio Swan and Radio Americas which replaced it, were part of a CIA proprietary company operation. The station was removed from the islands in the late 1960s and its main transmitter was transferred for use in the Vietnam conflict.