Yampi Sound

History

The traditional owners of the areas around the sound are the Umiida people.

The sound was visited in March 1838 by Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of HMS Beagle, who named Yampee Point, Yampee being the local Aboriginal people's word for fresh water. The sound is off the Yampi Peninsula, which is bounded by King Sound to the south, Collier Bay to the north, and the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges inland on the north-eastern side.

During World War II, several raids were launched against the Japanese forces in Borneo and Java using Catalina flying boats by the Royal Australian Air Force from Cockatoo Island in Yampi Sound.

Description

Yampi Sound is located between King Sound and Collier Bay. It contains many islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago, the largest being Koolan Island. Others include: Cockatoo Island, Conilurus Island, Irvine Island, Bathurst Island, Gibbings Island, Hidden Island, and the Baylis Islands.

High grade iron ore has been mined from Koolan and Cockatoo Islands since 1951. A small copper mine also operated at Coppermine Creek on the mainland side of the sound, which in the period 1915–1916 produced ore containing 23.06 LT of copper, worth £A1,504, equivalent to in .

The Australian Defence Force has maintained a training facility at Yampi Sound since the 1970s.

References

References

1. (2012). "AusAnthrop Australian Aboriginal tribal database".
2. (1846). "Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1. With An Account Of The Coasts And Rivers Explored And Surveyed During The Voyage Of H.M.S. Beagle, In The Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43". T. and W. Boone.
3. [[Australian Heritage Council]]. (2010–2011). "West Kimberley Place Report".
4. (1995). "Kimberley Society Talks 1995".
5. (1971). "The Geology of the Yampi 1:250,000 Sheet Area Se/51-3 Western Australia". Commonwealth of Australia Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics.
6. (24 September 2013). "Yampi Sound Training Area". Nautilus Institute.