Editing Port Hamilton (section)

== History ==
{{see also|Port Hamilton Incident}}
Port Hamilton was surveyed in 1845 by [[British people|British]] naval officer [[Edward Belcher|Sir Edward Belcher]] in [[HMS Samarang (1822)|HMS ''Samarang'']] and was named after the then secretary of the Admiralty, Captain W. A. B. Hamilton, and became renowned for its strategic importance by others, such as Russian Vice-Admiral [[Yevfimy Putyatin]], who visited the islands several times and obtained permission from natives in 1857 to establish a coal depot, though due to delays in the delivery of the coal, the plan was abandoned.

[[File:PortHamiltonLocMap.png|thumb|300px|right|Location of Port Hamilton in the [[Jeju Strait]]]]
Although the [[United States Secretary of the Navy]] "in 1884 urged the establishment of a naval station at Port Hamilton, off the southern Korean coast, and although it appears that such facilities were offered by the Korean government, nothing was done."<ref>James A. Field, Jr. ''History of United States Naval Operations: Korea''. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20000823093341/http://history.navy.mil/books/field/ch1a.htm Chapter 1: To Korea By Sea, Part 1. The Commodore's Treaty]) U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962. Electronic edition released June 2000. Retrieved 20 August 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-89875-675-3}}</ref>

In April 1885, Port Hamilton was occupied by three ships of the British [[Royal Navy]] on orders from the Admiralty in what is known as the [[Port Hamilton Incident]].  This was to forestall [[Russian Empire|Russian]] advances in the face of the [[Panjdeh Incident]] in [[Afghanistan]].  Port Hamilton served as a counterbalance to the Russian naval base at [[Vladivostok]]. By occupying Port Hamilton, the British could prevent Russian advances in east Asia, and block Russian naval activity in the [[Korea Strait]]. The British built a few buildings and defensive works and introduced [[pheasant]]s to the islands.  Permission was obtained from China for a cable to be landed at [[Saddle Island (China)|Saddle Island]] (at the mouth of the [[Yangtze River]]).  From there, the cable could be connected to the main telegraphic network at [[Shanghai]], thus enabling [[electrical telegraph|telegraph communication]] with Port Hamilton.

After the Russian threat had diminished the British demolished the base and left on 27 February 1887, though they continued to frequent the islands, in one case burying a young sailor there.  The visits were less frequent after 1910, when the Japanese Empire annexed Korea.

Until the end of [[World War II]], a Japanese graveyard stood in Port Hamilton.  When Japanese claims to the islands were specifically renounced in the [[Treaty of San Francisco]], the Japanese graves were removed, but the British graveyard of ten British soldiers remains up to this day and has become a tourist attraction.  Personnel of the British embassy have visited on occasion to pay their respects. The British Ambassador visited most recently in May 2021.

Ten British sailors and marines are buried on the islands including two sailors from HMS ''Albatross'' who were killed in March 1886 when their gun exploded, and a young sailor, Alex Wood from [[HMS Albion (1898)|HMS ''Albion'']], who died in 1903.