Basilaki Island
| Native name: <span class="nickname" ">Bassylakky Nickname: Moresby Island | |
|---|---|
|
Louisiade Archipelago | |
| Geography | |
| Archipelago | Louisiade |
| Adjacent bodies of water | Pacific Ocean |
| Total islands | 1 |
| Major islands | 1 |
| Area | 100.2 sq mi (260 km2) |
| Coastline | 43 mi (69 km) |
| Highest elevation | 1,742.13 ft (531.001 m) |
| Country | |
| Capital city | Port Moresby |
| Largest settlement | Port Moresby |
| Prime Minister | Peter O'Neill |
Basilaki Island (Moresby Island[1]) is an island in the Louisiade Archipelago in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. It is located at the eastern end of the New Guinea mainland. Its area is 100 km2.
First recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Luís Vaez de Torres on 18 July 1606, that charted it as San Buenaventura (Saint Bonaventure in Spanish).[2][3][4]
A party of French naturalists was believed to have been murdered in James Bay in October 1880.[5] A later visit established that they were instead killed on Basilisk Island.[6]
This island was the scene of the murder of 2 sailors by natives in Hoopiron Bay, July 28, 1885.[7] The men were Captain John Friar[8] and John Watkins, a carpenter of the Lallah Rook, a schooner[9] registered in Saint John, New Brunswick. The vessel anchored in the bay to take on fresh water. After the murders, the crew sailed away.[10]
The murders were revenge taken for two unpaid-for deaths of natives in Friar's employ. Despite a two-day search of the island on October 16, by the crews of the Governor Blackall, and HMS Diamond and HMS Raven (1882), the murderers were not found, although the skulls of Friar and the carpenter were recovered and given a burial at sea.[11] Later the Diamond returned and burned all the villages nearby. [12]
3 planes were ditched off the island in 1943, a P-38H Lightning, a P-38F Lightning, and a B-24D Liberator "The Leila Belle" (MIA).[13]
References
- ↑ Admiralty hydrogr. dept (1879). "Moresby Island". The Australia directory. Vol.2. 2nd-6th ed. [With]. pp. 520–521.
- ↑ Coello, Francisco "Notas sobre los planos de las bahias descubiertas en el año 1606 en las islas de Espiritú Santo y de Nueva Guinea, que dibujo el capitán Don Diego de Prado y Tovar, en igual fecha"" Boletín de Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid, t.IV. 1º semestre 1878, Madrid, p.67
- ↑ Sharp, Andrew The discovery of the Pacific Islands Oxford, 1960, p.66.
- ↑ Brand, Donald D. The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.137.
- ↑ "Further massacres...". The Record-Union (Sacramento, California). 30 Dec 1880. p. 4. Retrieved 21 July 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Further atrocities in the South Seas". Daily Honolulu Press. 19 Feb 1881. p. 1. Retrieved 21 July 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Resurgo says July 2
- ↑ Resurgo says Frier
- ↑ Resurgo says barque
- ↑ Pincombe, C. Alexander; Larracey, Edward W. (1990). Resurgo : the history of Moncton 1. New Brunswick, Can.: City of Moncton. pp. 210–211. ISBN 0969463405.
- ↑ Sir Peter Scratchley (1887). "New Guinea". Australian defences and New Guinea. Macmillan. p. 344.
- ↑ Sir Peter Scratchley (1887). "Sir Peter's Diary". Australian defences and New Guinea. Macmillan. p. 305, fn1.
- ↑ Basilisk Island Pacific Wrecks
Coordinates: 10°37′S 151°00′E / 10.617°S 151.000°E