Ladd Reef
Disputed reef
Ladd Reef
Ladd Reef is located in Spratly Islands
Ladd Reef
Ladd Reef
Other names
Đá Lát (Vietnamese)
日積礁 / 日积礁 Rìjī Jiāo (Chinese)
Geography
LocationSouth China Sea
Coordinates8°39′57″N 111°40′36″E / 8.66583°N 111.67667°E / 8.66583; 111.67667 (Ladd Reef)
ArchipelagoSpratly Islands
Administration
DistrictTrường Sa District
TownshipTrường Sa Township
Claimed by
 China
 Taiwan
 Vietnam

Ladd Reef (Vietnamese: Đá Lát; Mandarin Chinese: 日積礁/日积礁; pinyin: Rìjī Jiāo) is a Vietnam-controlled reef in the Spratly group of islands, South China Sea. China (PRC) and Taiwan (ROC) are also claimants of the reef. Like Spratly Island, Ladd Reef lies to the west of the Philippines-defined "Kalayaan Islands" claim area.[1]

Names

The English name Ladd Reef was coined by Richard Spratly in late March 1843, after Captain Ladd of the ship Austen, who seemed to be the first to have seen the reef.[2] The Chinese name Rìjī Jiāo was coined in 1947 to replace the 1935 name Lādé Jiāo (拉德礁),[3] which was transliterated from the English name Ladd.

Geography

Ladd Reef lies west of Dangerous Ground in the western half of the Spratly Islands, to the south of Coronation Bank, southwest of West London Reef (West Reef) and 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) west of Spratly Island.[4]

This coral reef lies on a northeast-southwest axis, 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) in length, 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) in width, and spans over an area of 9.9 square kilometres (990 ha; 2,400 acres; 3.8 sq mi). It is entirely submerged during high tide, but there are some stones jutting out of the sea during low tide.[5]

Structures

The reef is uninhabited but contains a Vietnamese lighthouse (built in 1994)[6] with the inscription Hải đăng đá Lát[7] (literally "Ladd Reef Lighthouse"). The lower portion of the lighthouse consists of quarters for a handful of Vietnamese soldiers and the lighthouse keeper.

Other information

The British tea clipper Taeping, while on a route from New York to Amoy, struck the reef and became grounded on the night of 22 September 1871 before being abandoned by its crew on 24 September.
In 1945, towards the end of the Second World War, a Dutch submarine (HNLMS O-19) ran aground on Ladd Reef.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Presidential Decree No. 1596 (Philippines)". The Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. 1978. Retrieved 2014-07-15.
  2. ↑ Hancox, David; Prescott, Victor (1995). A Geographical Description of the Spratly Islands and an Account of Hydrographic Surveys amongst Those Islands. Maritime Briefings. Vol. 1. University of Durham, International Boundaries Research Unit. p. 15. ISBN 978-1897643181.
  3. ↑ 南海诸岛中外地名对照表 (in Chinese). 海南史志网. 2009-06-15. Archived from the original on 2016-02-11. Retrieved 2014-07-15. (Contains a list of maritime features in the South China Sea, with their English names, and their Chinese names in 1935, 1947 and 1983.)
  4. ↑ Sta Ana, D.J. (25 May 2011). "Vietnam also has garrisons in PH zone of Spratlys". Interaksyon. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  5. ↑ Những điều cần biết về hai quần đảo Hoàng Sa, Trường Sa và khu vực thềm lục địa phía nam [What you need to know about Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands and southern continental shelf] (in Vietnamese). Political Department, Naval Command (Vietnam). 2011.
  6. ↑ Rowlett, Russ (15 November 2013). "Lighthouses of the Spratly Islands". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Photo of Lighthouse on Ladd reef". timawa.net/. Timawa - Forum. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Spruijt, Siem. "The Ladd reef Incident". dutchsubmarines.com. Dutch Submarines. Archived from the original on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2014.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.