Carondelet Reef

Carondelet Reef is a horseshoe-shaped reef of the Phoenix Islands, also known as the Rawaki Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It is located 106 km southeast of Nikumaroro, at 05°34′S 173°51′W, and has a least depth of 1.8 meters. It is reported to be approximately 1.5 km in length.[1] The sea occasionally breaks over it.

Carondelet Reef
Location of Phoenix Islands
Summit depth1.8 metres
Location
Locationcentral Pacific Ocean
GroupPhoenix Islands
Coordinates05°34′S 173°51′W
CountryKiribati
Geology
TypeReef
History
Discovery dateAugust 31, 1898
Discovered byCapt. Wilder F. Stetson
Carondelet Reef at south of Phoenix group

History and Name

During his voyage from Puget Sound to Australia, Captain Wilder Farley Stetson (1849-1924) of the ship Carondelet sighted a reef on August 31, 1898 from position 5° 35′ S, 173° 58′ W. He was within two miles of it and considered it very dangerous. He “called it Carondelet Reef”. Most likely this wasn't the first time it was viewed by a Westerner, for on authority of admiral Adam Johann von Krusenstern, a discovery in the year 1824 of a reef in position 5° 38′ S, 172° 54′ W. (of Greenwich) had already been claimed by a captain Kemin (of unknown ship). It may have been seen next by Capt. Obed Starbuck of the Nantucket whaler Loper on February 19, 1826, as he saw a "reef of rocks" in the reported position of 5° 29′ S, 175° 01′ W. that day.[2][3][4]

The multiple positions of Winslow Reef, mentioned by Robert Louis Stevenson, may have been due to confusing the position of Carondelet Reef with Winslow Reef.

Status

The reef is part of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area as an underwater nature reserve.

See also

References
  1. Mike Pearson; Jonathan Willis-Richards. "Islands of Kiribati". Archived from the original on 2006-12-31. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  2. "page 7". The San Francisco Call. March 13, 1899.
  3. Dehner, First (2019). THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR I: Supplements to Post-Spanish Discoveries in The Pacific. Bad Tattoo Inc. pp. 24–25.
  4. von Kruzenštern, Adam Johann (1827). Recueil de mémoires hydrographiques, pour servir d'analyse et d'explication à l'Atlas de l'océan Pacifique, Volume 2. p. 430.


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