Macclesfield Bank

File:Macclesfield Bank 1920 nautical chart.jpg

A 1920 American nautical chart, based on British surveys - depths in fathoms

Macclesfield Bank is an elongated sunken atoll of underwater reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. It lies east of the Paracel Islands, southwest of Pratas Island and north of the Spratly Islands. It is about Template:Convert long from southwest to northeast, and about Template:Convert wide at its broadest part. <ref name="EnRoute">Template:Cite enroute</ref> With an ocean area of Template:Convert it is one of the largest atolls in the world.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Macclesfield Bank is part of what China calls the Zhongsha Islands, which includes a number of geographically separate submarine features, and also refers to a county-level administrative division.

History

Macclesfield banks reportedly were named after British ship named Macclesfield,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> though there is some ambiguity which vessel this was. By one account, the vessel was the British East India Company East Indiaman Template:Ship, which mapped and recorded the shoals in early 1701 on her way back to England from China.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> An alternative origin story attributes the name to an HMS Macclesfield that reportedly ran aground in the vicinity of these shoals in 1804.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Efn

In April 1888 Template:HMS, under the command of William Usborne Moore, with Percy Bassett-Smith as Surgeon-Naturalist, mapped the banks. They found a depth of Template:Convert inside the bank, with the rim rising to within Template:Convert of the surface. Dredging found live corals, showing that although entirely submerged, the bank was an actively growing reef.<ref name="Bassett-Smith1890">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Geography

The broken coral reef rim of Macclesfield Bank, with a width of up to Template:Convert, has depths of Template:Convert at Pygmy Shoal on the northeast end of the bank and depths of 11.6 to Template:Convert elsewhere. Within the lagoon, Walker Shoal marks the least known depth of Template:Convert. In general, the central lagoon is very deep, with depths up to Template:Convert. While the bank is everywhere submerged, with no drying shoals, it is usually visible due to the turbulence it causes, the seas becoming "high and confused" in heavy weather.<ref name=EnRoute/>

The elongated atoll consists of the following shoals, clockwise starting in the northeast, and at the end the six named shoals in the lagoon:

English Name	Romanized Name	Chinese Name	Coordinates	least depth (fathoms)
Pigmy (Pygmy) Shoal	Biwei Ansha	比微暗沙	Template:Coord	7
Engeria (Egeria) Bank	Yinji Tan	隱磯灘	Template:Coord	10
Howard Shoal	Wuyong Ansha	武勇暗沙	Template:Coord	10
Learmonth Shoal	Jimeng Ansha	濟猛暗沙	Template:Coord	9
Plover Shoal	Haijiu Ansha	海鳩暗沙	Template:Coord	10
Addington Patch	Anding Lianjiao	安定連礁	Template:Coord	10
Smith Shoal	Meixi Ansha	美溪暗沙	Template:Coord	9
Bassett Shoal	Bude Ansha	布德暗沙	Template:Coord	9
Balfour Shoal	Bofu Ansha	波洑暗沙 or 波伏暗沙	Template:Coord	8
Parry Shoal	Paibo Ansha	排波暗沙	Template:Coord	8
Cawston Shoal	Guodian Ansha	果淀暗沙	Template:Coord	10
Penguin Bank	Paihong Tan	排洪灘	Template:Coord	9
Tancred Shoal	Taojing Ansha	濤靜暗沙	Template:Coord	10
Combe Shoal	Kongpai Ansha	控湃暗沙	Template:Coord	7
Cathy (Cathay) Shoal	Huaxia Ansha	華夏暗沙	Template:Coord	7
Siamese Shoal	Simen Ansha	西門暗沙	Template:Coord	9
Bankok Shoal	Bengu Ansha	本固暗沙	Template:Coord	7
Magpie Shoal	Meibin Ansha	美濱暗沙	Template:Coord	8
Carpenter Shoal	Luban Ansha	魯班暗沙	Template:Coord	8
Oliver Shoal	Zhongbei Ansha	中北暗沙	Template:Coord	7
Hardy Patches1	Shitang Lianjiao	石塘連礁	Template:Coord	8
Hand Shoal1	Zhizhang Ansha	指掌暗沙	Template:Coord	9
Margesson Shoal1	Nanfei Ansha	南扉暗沙	Template:Coord	8
Walker Shoal1	Manbu Ansha	漫步暗沙	Template:Coord	5
Phillip's Shoal1	Lexi Ansha	樂西暗沙	Template:Coord	9
Payne Shoal1	Pingnan Ansha	屏南暗沙	Template:Coord	8

¹ inside lagoon

Territorial claims

File:Karta CN SouthChinaSea.PNG

South China Sea

Macclesfield Bank is claimed, in whole or in part, by China<ref name="NYTarticle">Template:Cite news</ref> and Taiwan (Republic of China).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="USStateDept">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Jose Zaide, a Filipino diplomat of ambassadorial rank, has written that the Philippines does not claim the Macclesfield Bank.<ref name=mb_zaide>Template:Cite news</ref> Moreover, Macclesfield Bank is not within UNCLOS 200 or Philippines EEZ.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As the bank is entirely underwater, some scholars have raised questions regarding the legality of territorial claims upon it with regards to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="syh">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="ckl">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> However, the Philippines filed claim for another underwater feature, the Benham Rise, in 2008 in compliance with the requirements of UNCLOS and UN officially approved the claim in April 2012.<ref name="BR Claim">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="UN Decision">UN to decide on Phl claim on 13-M hectare Benham Rise Template:Webarchive, August 16, 2011, Philippine Star.</ref><ref name="UN Approval">UN approves PH territorial claim to Benham Rise Template:Webarchive, April 28, 2012, Philippine Daily Inquirer.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• Sansha
• Scarborough Shoal
• South China Sea

External links

• Nautical Information
• ROC's home page
• Taiwanese List