Yampi Sound is a part of the Indian Ocean off the coast of north-western Australia, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is located between King Sound and Collier Bay. It lies between the Yampi Peninsula and the islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago, which contain important iron ore deposits.
The traditional owners of the areas around the sound are the Umiida people. [1]
The sound was visited in March 1838 by Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of HMS Beagle, who named Yampee Point, Yampee being the local Aboriginal people's word for fresh water. [2] The sound is off the Yampi Peninsula, which is bounded by King Sound to the south, Collier Bay to the north, and the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges inland on the north-eastern side. [3]
During World War II, several raids were launched against the Japanese forces in Borneo and Java using Catalina flying boats by the Royal Australian Air Force from Cockatoo Island in Yampi Sound. [4]
Yampi Sound is located between King Sound and Collier Bay. [2] It contains many islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago, the largest being Koolan Island. Others include: Cockatoo Island, Conilurus Island, Irvine Island, Bathurst Island, Gibbings Island, Hidden Island, and the Baylis Islands.
High grade iron ore has been mined from Koolan and Cockatoo Islands since 1951. A small copper mine also operated at Coppermine Creek on the mainland side of the sound, which in the period 1915–1916 produced ore containing 23.06 tons of copper, worth £1504 [5] (A$155,000 in 2019 currency). [6]
The Australian Defence Force has maintained a training facility at Yampi Sound since the 1970s. [7]
HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. Later reports say the ship took part in celebrations of the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom, passing through the old London Bridge, and was the first rigged man-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge. There was no immediate need for Beagle, so she "lay in ordinary", moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions.
The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, and on the east by the Northern Territory.
Admiral John Lort Stokes was a Royal Navy officer who served onboard HMS Beagle for almost eighteen years.
John Clements Wickham was a Scottish explorer, naval officer, magistrate and administrator. He was first lieutenant on HMS Beagle during its second survey mission, 1831–1836, under captain Robert FitzRoy. The young naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin was a supernumerary on the ship, and his journal was published as The Voyage of the Beagle. After that expedition, Wickham was promoted to Commander and made captain of the Beagle on its third voyage, from 1837 and conducted various maritime expeditions and hydrographic surveys along the Australian coastline.
Cockatoo Island is an island in the Buccaneer Archipelago off the coast of Western Australia near the town of Derby. It was mined for iron ore by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company from 1951 until 1984. Koolan Island is a neighbouring island that was also mined by BHP for high grade iron ore. It was most recently mined by Perth-based mining company, Pluton Resources until the company was placed under administration in September 2015.
The Buccaneer Archipelago is a group of islands off the coast of Western Australia near the town of Derby in the Kimberley region. The closest inhabited place is Bardi located about 54 kilometres (34 mi) from the western end of the island group.
The Fitzroy River is located in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. It has 20 tributaries and its catchment occupies an area of 93,829 square kilometres (36,228 sq mi), within the Canning Basin and the Timor Sea drainage division.
The Horizontal Falls, or Horizontal Waterfalls, nicknamed the "Horries" and known as Garaanngaddim by the local Indigenous people, are an unusual natural phenomenon on the coast of the Kimberley region in Western Australia, where tidal flows cause waterfalls on the ebb and flow of each tide. The Lalang-garram / Horizontal Falls Marine Park is a protected area covering the falls and wider area.
Koolan Island is an island off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia in the Buccaneer Archipelago. It is about 1,900 km north of Perth, and about 130 km (81 mi) north of Derby. It hosts deposits of high-grade iron ore.
King Sound is a large gulf in northern Western Australia. It expands from the mouth of the Fitzroy River, one of Australia's largest watercourses, and opens to the Indian Ocean. It is about 120 kilometres (75 mi) long, and averages about 50 kilometres (31 mi) in width. The port town of Derby lies near the mouth of the Fitzroy River on the eastern shore of King Sound. King Sound has the highest tides in Australia, and amongst the highest in the world, reaching a maximum tidal range of 11.8 metres (39 ft) at Derby. The tidal range and water dynamic were researched in 1997–1998.
Vansittart Island, also known as Gun Carriage Island, is a granite island with an area of 800 hectares. The island is part of Tasmania's Vansittart Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait between Flinders and Cape Barren Islands in the Furneaux Group.
The Meda River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Camden Sound is a relatively wide body of water in the Indian Ocean located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The Sound is bounded by the Bonaparte Archipelago to the north-east, the Buccaneer Archipelago to the south-west, and Montgomery Reef to the south.
Champion Bay is a coastal feature north of Geraldton, Western Australia, facing the port and city between Point Moore and Bluff Point.
Irvine Island is located 11 km (6.8 mi) off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia in the Buccaneer Archipelago. It is about 250 km (160 mi) northeast of Broome and 140 km (87 mi) north of Derby. Irvine Island is located near Koolan and Cockatoo Islands, on the same iron-mineralized rock formation. Irvine Island has a surface area of 893 hectares and is 5 kilometres (3 mi) west of Cockatoo Island.
The Jawi people, also spelt Djaui, Djawi, and other alternative spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley coast of Western Australia, who speak the Jawi dialect. They are sometimes grouped with the Bardi people and referred to as "Bardi Jawi", as the languages and culture are similar.
The Yawijibaya, also written Jaudjibaia, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia. Along with the Unggarranggu people, they are the traditional owners of Buccaneer Archipelago, off Derby, together known as the Mayala group for native title purposes. Yawijibaya country includes Yawajaba Island and the surrounding Montgomery Reef.
The Umiida, also written Umida and Umede, were an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of north Western Australia.
The Unggarranggu, also traditionally transcribed as Ongkarango, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Collier Bay is a bay in the Indian Ocean, located on the Kimberley coast in the north-west of Western Australia.