Tanjung Layar, formerly Java's Eerste Punt in Dutch, and Java's First Point or Java Head in English, is a prominent cape at the extreme western end of Java, at the Indian Ocean entrance to the Sunda Strait. [1] Java Head is a bluff at the sea's edge with higher land beyond, visible from a significant distance at sea, with deep water close to the shore. [2] Its name means "sail cape" because of the shape of a rock close to its shore. Cape Gede, the westernmost point of Java, is located in its southwestern part.
The narrator, Ishmael, in Herman Melville's Moby Dick refers to "Java head" at the beginning of Chapter 87. The Grand Armada, in the following description:
"Those narrow straits of Sunda divide Sumatra from Java; and standing midway in that vast rampart of islands, buttressed by that bold green promontory, known to seamen as Java Head; they not a little correspond to the central gateway opening into some vast walled empire: and considering the inexhaustible wealth of spices, and silks, and jewels, and gold, and ivory, with which the thousand islands of that oriental sea are enriched, it seems a significant provision of nature, that such treasures, by the very formation of the land, should at least bear the appearance, however ineffectual, of being guarded from the all-grasping western world. The shores of the Straits of Sunda are unsupplied with those domineering fortresses which guard the entrances to the Mediterranean, the Baltic, and the Propontis. Unlike the Danes, these Orientals do not demand the obsequious homage of lowered top-sails from the endless procession of ships before the wind, which for centuries past, by night and by day, have passed between the islands of Sumatra and Java, freighted with the costliest cargoes of the east. But while they freely waive a ceremonial like this, they do by no means renounce their claim to more solid tribute." [3]
Indonesia's transport system has been shaped over time by the economic resource base of an archipelago with thousands of islands, and the distribution of its more than 200 million people concentrated mainly on a single island, Java.
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for vengeance against Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that bit off his leg on the ship's previous voyage. A contribution to the literature of the American Renaissance, Moby-Dick was published to mixed reviews, was a commercial failure, and was out of print at the time of the author's death in 1891. Its reputation as a Great American Novel was established only in the 20th century, after the 1919 centennial of its author's birth. William Faulkner said he wished he had written the book himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world" and "the greatest book of the sea ever written". Its opening sentence, "Call me Ishmael", is among world literature's most famous.
The Sunda Strait is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean.
Lampung, officially the Province of Lampung, is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. It has a short border with the province of Bengkulu to the northwest, and a longer border with the province of South Sumatra to the north, as well a maritime border with the province of Banten and Jakarta to the east. It is the original home of the Lampung people, who speak their own language, and possess their own written script. Its capital is Bandar Lampung.
The Battle of the Java Sea was a decisive naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II.
Geologically, the Sunda Shelf is a south-eastern extension of the continental shelf of Mainland Southeast Asia. Major landmasses on the shelf include Bali, Borneo, Java, Madura, and Sumatra, as well as their surrounding smaller islands. It covers an area of approximately 1.85 million km2. Sea depths over the shelf rarely exceed 50 metres and extensive areas are less than 20 metres resulting in strong bottom friction and strong tidal friction. Steep undersea gradients separate the Sunda Shelf from the Philippines, Sulawesi, and the Lesser Sunda Islands.
Timor Tom or Old Tom is a sperm whale from the 19th century, referenced in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.
Anyer, also known as Anjer or Angier, is a coastal town in Banten, formerly West Java, Indonesia, 82 miles (100 km) west of Jakarta and 15 kilometers (9 mi) south of Merak. A significant coastal town late 18th century, Anyer faces the Sunda Strait.
A lee shore, sometimes also called aleeward, is a nautical term to describe a stretch of shoreline that is to the lee side of a vessel—meaning the wind is blowing towards land. Its opposite, the shore on the windward side of the vessel, is called the weather or windward shore.
Desolación Island is an island at the western end of the Strait of Magellan in the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, Chile.
The Gaspar Strait is a strait separating the Indonesian islands Belitung and Bangka. It connects the Java Sea with the South China Sea.
The Sunda Strait Bridge was a planned road and railway megaproject between the two large Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java.
Sunda Kelapa is the old port of Jakarta, located on the estuary of the Ciliwung River. "Sunda Kalapa" is the original name, and it was the main port of the Sunda Kingdom. The port is situated in Penjaringan District, of North Jakarta, Indonesia. Today the old port only accommodates pinisi, a traditional two-masted wooden sailing ship providing inter-island freight service in the archipelago. Although it is now only a minor port, Jakarta has its origins in Sunda Kelapa and it played a significant role in the city's development. The port is currently operated by the state-owned Indonesia Port Corporations.
CSS Alabama's Indian Ocean Expeditionary Raid commenced shortly after the Confederate States Navy ship CSS Alabama left the Cape of Good Hope and cruised across the Indian Ocean ultimately exiting via the Sunda Strait into the Java Sea from where she proceeded through the Karimata Strait past the west coast of Borneo before turning west towards Singapore. The raid lasted from about the end of September 1863 to the end of November 1863.
Tanja sail or tanja rig is a type of sail commonly used by the Austronesian people, particularly in Maritime Southeast Asia. It is also known as the tilted square sail, canted rectangular sail, rectangular balance lug, or balance lug sail in English. In historical sources, tanja sail is sometimes incorrectly referred to as lateen sail or simply square sail.
Bulkington is a character in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. Bulkington is referred to only by his last name and appears only twice, briefly in Chapter 3, "The Spouter Inn", and then in Chapter 23, "The Lee Shore", a short chapter of several hundred words devoted entirely to him.
Kent was launched in Deptford in 1781. She made six voyages to India, China, and South East Asia for the British East India Company (EIC), and participated as a transport in one military campaign. She was sold for breaking up in 1797.
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