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Stonecutters Island or Ngong Shuen Chau is a former island in Victoria Harbour,Hong Kong. Following land reclamation,it is now attached to the Kowloon Peninsula.
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Stonecutters Island or Ngong Shuen Chau is a former island in Victoria Harbour,Hong Kong. Following land reclamation,it is now attached to the Kowloon Peninsula.
The island once boasted at least three mating pairs of sulphur-crested cockatoos as well as many snakes;banded kraits,brown cobras and bamboo snakes were all common denizens as late as the 1980s. Black kites often hovered overhead,looking for prey and carrion amongst the many tamarind,ficus benjamina and banyan trees.[ citation needed ]
The island was ceded by the Qing dynasty to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland along with Kowloon in 1860 through the Convention of Peking. It was initially used for quarrying by the British,hence the English name for the island. In the 1850s it was the site of a prison. [1]
A Royal Navy Radio Interception and Direction-finding Station was established on the island in 1935. From 1935 to 1939,the base was the main radio interception unit for the Far East Combined Bureau,which was four miles (6.4 kilometres) away across the harbour in the naval dockyard.
After World War II the island became host to British Army units including 415 Maritime Unit RCT and the Ammunition Sub-Depot RAOC. Explosive storage became more important following the 1967 riots and the Mines Division elected to have all commercial explosives stored on Stonecutters prior to being issued to the various blasting sites around the colony. British Royal Army Ordnance Corps soldiers oversaw all commercial explosive issues post-1968 until 1994,at which time the Royal Navy took over care and custody of the military explosives at the site. Civilian explosive storage and issues was controlled by civilian contractors. The Royal Navy retained care and custody until the colony was transferred to China in 1997. Before then,it was the training and HQ depot of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps.
The island was policed by Indian Sikhs,[ citation needed ] because traditionally they neither smoke nor drink alcohol. The Army Department Police (ADP),as they were known,saw continuous service on the island during the British era. They enjoyed field hockey,and were often seen playing bare-footed on the field. During the early 1980s,the ADP boasted two Indian national hockey players. It was common to see their blue pagris (turbans) drying in the sun outside their barracks.[ citation needed ]
The Royal Navy continued to provide a ferry service (known as T-Boats) connecting the islanders with HMS Tamar on Hong Kong and the Star Ferry terminal in Kowloon. Additional boats were provided by 415 Maritime Unit RCT and crewed by Local Employed Personnel (LEPs).
During the 1960s,70s and 80s,the island was used as a 'Rest and Recuperation' resort,having several chalet style bungalows built around the Navy,Army and Air Force Institutes shop,restaurant and swimming pool complex on the South Shore. There was also a commercial interest on the island;Jardine Matheson along with DuPont erected an explosives factory to cater to the ever-growing need for commercial blasting explosives. The factory manufactured several tonnes of water gel and other commercial explosives per week. Limited stocks of Chinese,British and other commercial explosives were stored in the island's Victorian explosive storage tunnels.
During the 1970s and 80s,the island was also the forward operating base (FOB) of a Royal Navy Hovercraft unit deployed to assist the Hong Kong government with anti-illegal immigration operations.[ citation needed ] The Royal Navy unit (Naval Party 1009) was under the control of Cmdr Chris Stafford and two SRN6 Mk6 Hovercraft were continually operated until 1985 when the unit was finally disbanded.
Some buildings or military facilities within the Ngong Shuen Chau Barracks are now graded historic buildings. [2]
Stonecutters Island was captured by the Japanese Imperial Army on 11 December 1941,following heavy shelling. Merchant ships in the island's docks were scuttled,and demolitions were carried out at Kowloon Naval Yard and on the island. During World War II,radio installations on the island were used by the Japanese for military purposes and for extending the range of transmission of the NHK Overseas Broadcasting Bureau.
The Japanese (during the WW2 occupation) used the unique isolation of the island to house a snake farm. The snakes were milked of their venom to provide antidotes for their soldiers bitten on active duty in the Pacific theatre.
Following the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997,the naval base is now operated by the People's Liberation Army Navy.
The island was connected to the Kowloon peninsula by the West Kowloon Reclamation in the 1990s to provide land for the construction of the road and railway network to the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok,and for the Container Terminal 8 of Kwai Tsing Container Terminals.
Stonecutters Island is the site of a large sewage treatment facility known as Stonecutters Island Sewage Treatment Works. Since the facility was built in 2001,it has reduced the amount of E. coli in the nearby water by 99 percent,while other pollutants have been reduced by 70-80 percent,allowing coral to return to Victoria Harbour and make Hong Kong's beaches safe for swimming again. [3]
Stonecutters Bridge,a cable-stayed bridge linking the Kowloon peninsula with Tsing Yi Island to form part of Route 8,opened on 20 December 2009.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR),can be divided into three geographical regions:Hong Kong Island,Kowloon,and the New Territories. Hong Kong is a coastal city,bordering Guangdong Province through the city of Shenzhen to the north and the South China Sea to the east,south,and west. Hong Kong and its 260 nearby islands and peninsulas are located at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta. The area of Hong Kong is distinct from Mainland China,but is considered a part of "Greater China".
Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island,known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong",had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of 16,390 per square kilometre (42,400/sq mi),as of 2023. It is the second largest island in Hong Kong,with the largest being Lantau Island. Hong Kong Island forms one of the three areas of Hong Kong,with the other two being Kowloon and the New Territories.
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of 43,033/km2 (111,450/sq mi) in 2006. It is one of the three areas of Hong Kong,along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is the smallest,second most populous and most densely populated of the divisions.
The New Territories is one of the three areas of Hong Kong,alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory,and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically,it is the region described in the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory. According to that treaty,the territories comprise the mainland area north of Boundary Street on the Kowloon Peninsula and south of the Sham Chun River,as well as over 200 outlying islands,including Lantau Island,Lamma Island,Cheung Chau,and Peng Chau in the territory of Hong Kong.
Sai Kung District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. The district comprises the southern half of the Sai Kung Peninsula,the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the New Territories and a strip of land to the east of Kowloon. Areas in the district include Sai Kung Town,Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark,Tseung Kwan O and over 70 islands of different sizes. The administrative centre had been located in Sai Kung Town until the Sai Kung District Office was relocated to Tseung Kwan O recently. The district's population is concentrated in Tseung Kwan O,as of 2011. In 2011,the district was the third youngest district,with a median age of 39.3. Known as the "back garden of Hong Kong",Sai Kung has been able to retain its natural scenery. Many traditional customs and cultures are still retained in the rural villages.
Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep,sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental in Hong Kong's establishment as a British colony in 1841 and its subsequent development as a trading centre.
British Forces Overseas Hong Kong comprised the elements of the British Army,Royal Navy and Royal Air Force stationed in British Hong Kong. The Governor of Hong Kong also assumed the position of the commander-in-chief of the forces and the Commander British Forces in Hong Kong took charge of the daily deployment of the troops. Much of the British military left prior to the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. The present article focuses mainly on the British garrison in Hong Kong in the post Second World War era. For more information concerning the British garrison during the Second World War and earlier,see the Battle of Hong Kong.
The People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison is a garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA),responsible for defence duties in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997.
Sham Shui Po District is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is the second poorest district by income in Hong Kong,with a predominantly working-class population of 405,869 in 2016 and the lowest median household income of all districts. Sham Shui Po has long been home to poorer new immigrants from China. It also saw the birth of public housing in Hong Kong,as the government sought to resettle those displaced by a devastating fire in its slums. Sham Shui Po also hosted a Vietnamese refugee camp during the influx of migration in the aftermath of the Vietnam War in the 1970s.
HMS Tamar was the name for the British Royal Navy's base in Hong Kong from 1897 to 1997. It took its name from HMS Tamar,a ship that was used as the base until replaced by buildings ashore.
Tsing Yi Peak,also known as Sam Chi Heung,is a hill with three peaks occupying the southern half of the Tsing Yi Island,Hong Kong. The hill is situated on the western half of Victoria Harbour. Its peaks are good locations to observe the harbour and the channels among harbour islands. While situated in the south,a short hill Liu To Shan occupies the northwest of the island.
Rocky Harbour or Leung Shuen Wan Hoi is a harbour at the south-east of Sai Kung Peninsula,Hong Kong.
Government Dockyard is a dockyard of Hong Kong Government responsible for the design,procurement and maintenance of all vessels owned by the Government.
Port Shelter,known in Cantonese as Ngau Mei Hoi,is a harbour south of Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong. The water body connects to Inner Port Shelter,as well as Hebe Haven (白沙灣),Rocky Harbour (糧船灣海) and other water body. Outer Port Shelter,is situated at the mouth of the harbour.
Ngong Shuen Chau Naval Base is part of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison and small naval base on Stonecutters Island,Hong Kong. It is home to the South Sea Fleet Squadron #38081 and is a sub-base of the naval squadron of the South Sea Fleet. The area surrounding the base is off limits to civilian ship traffic.
The United States Army Air Forces and United States Navy conducted numerous air raids against Japanese-occupied Hong Kong and shipping near the city during World War II. The Royal Australian Air Force took part in efforts to lay naval mines in the Hong Kong area. These attacks began in 1942. In 1945 it was incorporated into the larger South China Sea raid. British Pacific Fleet aircraft also attacked Japanese suicide boats at Hong Kong as part of the reoccupation of the colony in late August 1945.
This is a list of military parades held in the Hong Kong since 1945.
