Hamilton Harbour is a natural harbour in Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

 which serves as the port for the capital, the City of Hamilton

Hamilton, Bermuda

Hamilton is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination.-Geography:...

. It is an arm of the Great Sound

Great Sound, Bermuda

The Great Sound is a body of water shaped by the islands of Bermuda. It dominates the southwest of the island chain, and forms a natural harbour. It is surrounded on all sides by the islands, except for the northeast, where it is open to the Atlantic Ocean....

, and forms a tapering wedge shape of water between Paget Parish

Paget Parish, Bermuda

Paget Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named for William Paget, 4th Baron Paget de Beaudesert .The parish is located in the central south of the island chain, immediately south of Hamilton Harbor on the main island. It is joined to Warwick Parish in the southwest, and Devonshire...

 and the peninsula which forms Pembroke Parish

Pembroke Parish, Bermuda

Pembroke Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named after English aristocrat William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke ....

, and upon which the capital sits.

The approaches to the harbour are protected by a chain of islands (notably Hinson's

Hinson's Island, Bermuda

Hinson's Island is a small island within the Great Sound, Bermuda of Bermuda. It lies in the southeast of the sound, and is part of Paget parish, although it was formerly part of Warwick Parish and is still within the Warwick North constituency....

, Marshall's

Marshall's Island, Bermuda

Marshall's Island is a small island within the Great Sound of Bermuda. It lies in the southeast of the sound, and is in the north of Warwick Parish. The island is in two distinct parts, joined by a narrow neck. Previously owned by the Royal Navy, it is now privately owned....

, Long

Long Island, Bermuda

Long Island is a small island within the Great Sound of Bermuda. It lies in the southeast of the sound, and is in the north of Warwick Parish. Like its neighbour Hawkins Island, it was a prisoner of war camp during the Second Boer War from 1901 to 1902....

, and Hawkins

Hawkins Island, Bermuda

Hawkins Island is a small island within Bermuda's Great Sound. It lies in the southeast of the sound, and is in the north of Warwick Parish.Originally named Elizabeth's or Tatem Island, it was re-named in 1809...

), and by the small Salt Kettle Peninsula

Salt Kettle, Bermuda

The Salt Kettle is a small peninsula in Paget Parish, Bermuda which stands at the southern approach to Hamilton Harbor. One of the termini of the ferries that ply the harbor, this scenic peninsula was the subject of several important paintings by American artist Winslow Homer....

. Another island sits inside the Harbour itself, White's Island

White's Island

White's Island is an island located in Hamilton Harbour in Hamilton, Bermuda, the only island directly adjoined on all sides by the harbour.- History :...

. The eastern end of the Harbour, the narrow corner of an isosceles triangle, is a small mangrove

Mangrove

Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

 grown bay used for mooring smaller pleasure boats.

History

The name Hamilton Harbour is taken from the City of Hamilton, itself named for the Governor of Bermuda

Governor of Bermuda

The Governor of Bermuda is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government...

 at the time of its 1793 founding, Sir Henry Hamilton. Prior to this, the harbour was known as Paget's Port, taking its name from the parish of Paget

Paget Parish, Bermuda

Paget Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named for William Paget, 4th Baron Paget de Beaudesert .The parish is located in the central south of the island chain, immediately south of Hamilton Harbor on the main island. It is joined to Warwick Parish in the southwest, and Devonshire...

 to its south (the parish having been named for William Paget, 4th Baron Paget de Beaudesert

William Paget, 4th Baron Paget de Beaudesert

William Paget, 4th Baron Paget of Beaudesert was an English peer and colonist born in Beaudesert House, Staffordshire, England to Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget and Nazareth Newton. He was a descendent of William Paget, 1st Baron Paget. William's father had been stripped of his title after fleeing...

).

Although superior in many ways to St. George's Harbour

St. George's Harbour, Bermuda

St. George's Harbour is a natural harbour in the north of Bermuda. It serves as the port for the town of St. George's and separates St. George's Island in the north and west from St. David's Island in the south and east. Several other islands lie to the south and east, closing the harbour from the...

 at the east of the archipelago, no easy route of access to Hamilton Harbour for large vessels, from the open ocean through the reefline which surrounded Bermuda, was known until the narrows was located by a Royal Naval hydrographer who spent twelve years charting Bermuda's reefs following US independence. The reason for the Royal Navy's effort was its development of Bermuda as a major naval base, to replace the bases lost along the US Atlantic Seaboard

Atlantic Seaboard

The Atlantic seaboard watershed is a watershed of North America along both*the Atlantic Canada coast south of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence Watershed &*the East Coast of the United States north of the watershed of the Okeechobee Waterway....

 when those colonies seceded. Although it initially began operating out of Convict Bay in St. George's Harbour, the Navy began buying up land at the West End of Bermuda with a view to establishing what would become the Royal Naval Dockyard. It also bought up most of the smaller islands in the Great Sound, including those in Hamilton Harbour. Its plans for the development of the base were stymied, however, 'til it could discover a route by which its warships could reach the Great Sound. When it discovered this, allowing naval operations to begin to be transferred to the West End, it also opened the Great Sound and Hamilton Harbour for access by merchant shipping, accelerating the development of the port of Hamilton, and of the central parishes, to the point that by 1815 Hamilton was clearly a more important town than St. George's, and the capital of Bermuda was relocated there.

Hamilton has remained Bermuda's primary port ever since. Despite dredging of the narrow channels into St. George's Harbour, the largest merchant vessels which visit the island are unable to enter it (many cruise ship operators have preferred in recent decades not to enter it, as Hamilton was seen as a more lucrative destination). The port of Hamilton includes Bermuda's primary freight docks and cruise ship docks along Front Street in Hamilton, as well as yacht marinas in Hamilton, Pembroke, and Paget. Although very large vessels, such as the ships delivering cars and other motor vehicles from factories in Asia, call at Hamilton, recent years have seen an increase in the size of the cruise ships which visit Bermuda to the point that none can fit through the channel into Hamilton Harbour (in past, only the very largest ocean liners, like the QE2 and the Canberra, were unable to enter, being forced to use an anchorage beyond the Great Sound). Today, most cruise ships must moor at the former Royal Naval Dockyard, their passengers using tenders and ferries to reach Hamilton. Despite the suggestion of removing White's Island in order to widen the accessway into Hamilton Harbour, current plans of the Corporation of Hamilton (the municipal government of the City of Hamilton), call for the redevelopment of its docklands for other uses. Even the freight docks may be relocated, though the Corporation of Hamilton earns considerable revenue from them. Even as the commercial applications of the port of Hamilton have dwindled, the use of the Harbour for marinas and pleasure craft has increased in recent years, with both the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club

The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is a private yacht club that was established as the Bermuda Yacht Club on November 1, 1844. In 1845, Prince Albert consented to become Patron of the Club and in 1846 the Club was permitted to add the adjective "Royal" to its name...

having greatly expanded their marinas, and with a new, commercially-operated marina having been developed on Pitt's Bay Road.

External links

• Corporation of Hamilton: New Hamilton Waterfront
• Hamilton Harbour.net Webcam on Hamilton Harbour