Prince Olav Harbour
Encyclopedia
Point Abrahamsen
Point Abrahamsen is a point which separates Lighthouse Bay and Prince Olav Harbour, the two western arms of Cook Bay, on the north coast of South Georgia. Charted by DI personnel in 1929 and probably named for Captain Abrahamsen, manager of the whaling station at Prince Olav Harbour at that time....
and Sheep Point
Sheep Point
Sheep Point is a point along the south side of Cook Bay, marking the south side of the entrance to Prince Olav Harbour, on the north coast of South Georgia. The name appears on a chart based upon a 1929 survey of Prince Olav Harbour by DI personnel, but may reflect an earlier naming....
, along the north coast of South Georgia.
Background
Throughout the 19th century South Georgia had first been a sealers' baseSeal hunting
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
and, in the following century, became a whalers' base
History of whaling
The history of whaling is very extensive, stretching back for millennia. This article discusses the history of whaling up to the commencement of the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986....
. Prince Olav Harbour was the site of one of the seven main whaling bases established on South Georgia. Prince Olav Harbour was the location of a former Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
whaling station operational dating from 1911. The whaling station was initially a floating factory site, a shore station being set up in 1916. The whaling station continued as a shore station until March 1931 and then was closed. The name was in use as early as 1912 and was given by Norwegian whalers for Crown Prince Olav
Olav V of Norway
Olav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud of Norway...
of Norway.
History
The Brutus was deliberately beached at the Harbour to serve as a coaling station. It was built in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
in 1883, and weighed 1,700 tonnes. It was originally known as the Sierra Pedrosa. It was towed from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. Brutus Island in the harbour is named after it.