Editing Gilbert and Ellice Islands (section)

=='Spheres of influence' in the western and central Pacific==
In 1876 Britain and Germany [[Anglo-German Declarations about the Western Pacific Ocean|agreed to divide up]] the western and central Pacific, with each claiming a 'sphere of influence'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Treaty_between_Great_Britain_and_Germany_relating_to_the_Demarcation_of_the_Spheres_of_Influence |title=Declaration between the Governments of Great Britain and the German Empire relating to the Demarcation of the British and German Spheres of Influence in the Western Pacific, signed at Berlin, April 6, 1886|year=1886 |access-date=22 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="TAHNPT">{{cite book |first1=Noatia P. |last1=Teo |editor-first1=Hugh |editor-last1=Larcy |title=Tuvalu: A History|year= 1983 |publisher= University of the South Pacific/Government of Tuvalu|pages=127–139|chapter= Chapter 17, Colonial Rule }}</ref> In the previous decade German traders had become active in the [[Solomon Islands]], [[New Guinea]], [[Marshall Islands]] and the [[Caroline Islands]]. In 1877 the Governor of Fiji was given the additional title of High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. However, the claim of a 'sphere of influence' that included the Ellice Islands and the Gilbert Islands did not result in the immediate move to govern those islands.<ref name="TAHNPT"/>  Ships from the navies of the United States of America and European powers that visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands included:

===United Kingdom===
Ships of the [[Royal Navy]], on the [[Australian Station]], were involved in suppressing the coercive labour recruitment practices, known as [[blackbirding]] in the South Pacific Ocean.

1872, from 10 to 14 October, the [[Sloop-of-war|sloop]]  {{HMS|Blanche|1867}}, under Captain Cortland Herbert Simpson, visited Tawara, Abaiang and Butaritari. Also in 1872, the sloop {{HMS|Basilisk|1848|3}}, under Captain [[John Moresby]],<ref name="JM">{{cite web| last =  Beale | first = Howard |title= John Moresby (1830–1922) |publisher= Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5 |page=|year =2006|url= https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/moresby-john-4241 | accessdate=21 March 2024}}</ref> visited the Gilberts, and the [[corvette]] {{HMS|Barossa|1860}}, under Captain Lewis James Moore, visited Tabiteuea.

1873, from 28 to 30 June, the [[schooner]] {{HMS|Alacrity|1872}}, under Captain Francis W. Sanders, lands islanders on Tabiteuea and Maiana who had been kidnapped in 1871 by the brig ''Carl''.<ref name="AC">{{cite journal |last=|title= The Pacific Labour Trade |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5871969 |date=20 September 1873 |journal= The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.)|pages=6}}</ref> The [[Steam frigate|screw sloop]] {{HMS|Dido|1869}} also visited the Gilberts in 1873.

1874, in August, the screw sloop {{HMS|Rosario|1860}}, under Commander Arthur Edward Dupuis, visited Tawara and Abaiang searching for [[Bully Hayes|William "Bully" Hayes]], who was notorious for his [[blackbirding]] activities.<ref name="AR1">{{cite book|first= Alfred |last= Restieaux |title = Recollections of a South Seas Trader – Reminiscences of Alfred Restieaux |publisher= National Library of New Zealand, MS 7022-2}}</ref><ref name="AR2">{{cite book|first= Alfred |last= Restieaux |title = Reminiscences - Alfred Restieaux Part 2 (Pacific Islands) |publisher= National Library of New Zealand, MS-Papers-0061-079A}}</ref>

1875, the survey ship {{HMS|Myrmidon|1867}}, under Commander Richard Hare, visited the Gilberts.

1876, from April to June, the schooner {{HMS|Renard|1873}}, under Lieutenant Horace J. M. Pugh, visited Abaiang and Tawara, regarding the murders in 1874, of Cornelius Sullivan on Tarawa, and St. John C. Keyes on Abaiang. The screw sloop {{HMS|Sappho|1873}}, under Commander Noel Stephen Fox Digby, was also sent to the Gilberts in support of HMS ''Renard''.

1881, from 13 May to 6 June, the corvette HMS {{HMS|Emerald|1876|3}}, under Captain [[William Henry Maxwell (Royal Navy)|William Maxwell]], visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.

1883, from 26 May to 10 June, the sloop {{HMS|Espiegle|1880}}, under Captain [[Cyprian Bridge]], visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.

1884, from 13 June to 26 July, the survey ship {{HMS|Dart|1882}}, under Lieutenant-Commander W. W. Moore, visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.<ref name="DAR">	Moore, W.U., Lt. Reports of Proceedings of H.M.S. 'Dart' in the Fiji, Ellice, Gilbert, Marshall, New Britain, &c., Gr oups, from May to September, 1884. in: RNAS XVI, 26. Government Printer, Sydney.</ref>

1886, from 10 May to 26 June, the sloop {{HMS|Miranda|1879|6}}, under Commander Eustace Rooke, visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.<ref name="JRCD">{{cite book|first= |last= |title = The proceedings of H.M.S. "Royalist", Captain E.H.M. Davis, R.N., May-August, 1892, in the Gilbert, Ellice and Marshall Islands}}</ref><ref name="ROO">	Rooke, Eustace. Reports of Commander Eustace Rooke, HMS Miranda, of Proceedings when visiting Islands of the Union Group, Sophia and Rotuman Islands, the Ellice Group and the Gilbert Group. April to July 1886. 29pp (NS National Archives). Royal Navy, Australian Station, Gov't Printer, Sydney.</ref>

1892, from 14 April to 30 August, the screw sloop {{HMS|Royalist|1883|6}}, under Captain [[Edward H. M. Davis|Edward Davis]], visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.<ref name="JRCD"/><ref name="BM">{{cite web|title = Admiral Edward H M Davis (Biographical details)|url= https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=40382|year=2019  |publisher= The British Museum }}</ref>

===United States===
1825, the schooner {{USS|Dolphin|1821}}, under Lieutenant [[Hiram Paulding]], visited Nikunau and Tabiteuea.<ref name="PHD">Paulding, Hiram. ''Journal of a Cruise of the United States Schooner Dolphin, Among the Islands of the Pacific Ocean; and a Visit to the Mulgrave Islands, in Pursuit of the Mutineers of the Whale Ship Globe.'' New York: G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1831.</ref>

1870, from 15 to 26 May, the sloop {{USS|Jamestown|1844}}, under Captain William Truxtun, visited Tawara, Abaiang and Butaritari.

1872, in August, the sloop {{USS|Narragansett|1859}} visited Nikunau, Beru, Tabiteuea, Abaiang and Tawara.

1889, the steam powered sloop {{USS|Iroquois|1859}} visited Butaritari.

===France===
1874, the corvette ''L'Ariane'' visited Arorae and [[Banaba|Ocean Island]].

1888, the cruiser ''Le Fabert'', under Commander Benoit, visited Nikunau, Nonouti and Butaritari to deliver Father Joseph Leray, Father Edward Bontemps and Brother Conrad Weber, Roman Catholic [[Missionaries of the Sacred Heart]],<ref name="MKT">{{cite web|last= |work=Mauri – Kiribati, Tawara and Gilberts |title=Tourism Authority of Kiribati |date=2019 |url=https://visitkiribati.travel/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/4Tarawa-Guide-2019-final.pdf|access-date=30 March 2024  }}</ref> who were the first [[Roman Catholic]] missionaries to arrive in the Gilberts.

===Germany===
[[SMS Eber (1887)|SMS ''Eber'']] of the German {{lang|de|[[Kaiserliche Marine]]}} (Imperial Navy), was sent to the Pacific to serve in the [[German colonial empire]]. In 1888 she visited the Gilberts, and also disarmed the inhabitants of [[Nauru]],<ref>{{cite book |last1= Stevenson |first1= Robert Louis |author-link1= Robert Louis Stevenson |title= [[A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa]] |date= November 1888 |orig-year= 1892 |publisher= Cassell |isbn= 978-0-8248-1857-9 |oclc= 227258432 |pages= 49 |chapter= VII_The Samoan Camps |chapter-url= https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/stevenson/robert_louis/s848fh/s848fh7.html |access-date= 2009-10-04 |archive-date= 2008-07-30 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080730185043/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/stevenson/robert_louis/s848fh/s848fh7.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> ending their [[Nauruan Civil War|civil war]] and annexing the island to the German Empire.

1891, the [[steam corvette]] SMS {{SMS|Alexandrine||2}} visited the Gilberts (Marakei, Tawara, Abaiang, Abemama and Tabiteuea). Also in 1891, the gunboat {{SMS|Wolf|1878}} visited Tawara, Abaiang and Maiana, and the cruiser SMS {{SMS|Sperber|1888|2}} visited Butaritari, Maiana and Tabiteuea.<ref name="JRCD"/>