View source for Bombay Reef

{{Short description|Atoll in the South China Sea}}
{{About-distinguish-text|the atoll in the Paracel Islands|Bombay Shoal, where the ''[[USS Darter (SS-227)|USS Darter]]'' was wrecked, which is also in the South China Sea.}}

{{Infobox islands
| disputed                   = yes
| name                       = Bombay Reef
| type                       = atoll
| plural                     = no
| other_names                = {{zh|t=浪花礁|s=浪花礁|p=Lànghuājiāo}}; {{langx|vi|đá Bông Bay}}
| image_name                 = ParacelIslands.png
| image_caption              = Location of Bombay Reef within the Paracel Islands
| pushpin_map                = South China Sea
| location                   = [[South China Sea]]
| coordinates                = {{coord|16|02|41|N|112|31|06|E|type:isle|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago                = Paracel Islands
| length_mi                  = 10
| length_footnotes           = <ref name="NGA_Sailing_Directions_161-7"/>
| country                    = People's Republic of China
| country1                   = Republic of China (Taiwan)
| country2                   = Vietnam
}}
'''Bombay Reef''' ({{zh|t=浪花礁|s=浪花礁|p=Lànghuājiāo}}, {{langx|vi|đá Bông Bay}}) is an [[atoll]] of the [[Paracel Islands]]. In Chinese, the reef is alternatively known as "Pengbojiao" ({{zh|s=蓬勃礁|t=蓬勃礁}}), or "Qilianyu" (literally "7 key lago") along with six other islands close by.

==Geography==

The [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]]'s ''[[Sailing Directions]]'' describes Bombay Reef as "the southeasternmost known danger of the Paracel Islands, a steep-to reef 10 miles long E and W that surrounds a rock-strewn lagoon."<ref name="NGA_Sailing_Directions_161-7">{{cite enroute|161|2017|11}}</ref>

A lighthouse is located on the south-west end of the reef.<ref name="NGA_Sailing_Directions_161-7"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Bombay reef light house|url=http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/es/lightdetails.aspx?light_id=1000022581|publisher=Marine traffic|accessdate=29 October 2013}}</ref> It was built by the French in 1980.<ref name="Rowlett Lighthouse Directory">{{cite rowlett|chnp}}</ref>

[[File:BombayReef.jpg|thumbnail|Bombay Reef (Paracel islands) as viewed from the [[International Space Station]]]]

== History ==
In the early hours of 20 December 1946, en route from Hong Kong to Singapore for [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioning]], HMS ''Aire'' [[Ship grounding|ran aground]] on Bombay Reef.<ref name="naval-history.net_AIRE">{{Cite web | title = HMS Aire, frigate | author = Geoffrey B Mason | work = SERVICE HISTORIES of ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS in WORLD WAR 2 | date = 1995 | accessdate = 2016-02-01 | url = http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-15Fr-River-HMS_Aire.htm }}</ref> She was spotted by chance, three days later, by the passing {{HMS|Bonaventure|F139|6}} and the 85 crew, amongst them the ship's dog, were rescued with no serious casualties.<ref name="RNRA_Aire">{{Cite web | title = Shipwrecked in the South China Sea - The loss of HMS Aire | last1 = Drury | first1 = Tony | last2 = Elliott |first2 = Tony | publisher = The Royal Navy Research Archive | date = 2012 | accessdate = 2016-02-01 | url = http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/Loss_of_AIRE.htm }}</ref> As a {{sclass2|River|frigate}}, HMS ''Aire'' was [[sister ship]] to the famous [[superyacht]] {{ship||Christina O}}.

In early May 1967 the {{convert|87|ft|m|adj=on}}<ref name="All_Hands-1967-8">{{Cite magazine | title = What a Way to Start a Day | author = ill  Peterson | magazine = [[All Hands]] | page = 35 | date = August 1967 | accessdate = 2016-02-01 | url = http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/archpdf/ah196708.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150915043021/http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/archpdf/ah196708.pdf | archive-date = 2015-09-15 | url-status = live }}</ref> steel sailing schooner ''Dante Deo'', with six men and a six-year-old boy on board,<ref name="LJW_1967-05-05">{{Cite news | title = 7 survivors of Lost Schooner Are in Vietnam | newspaper = [[Lawrence Daily Journal-World]] | page = 1 | publisher = The World Company | date = 5 May 1967 | accessdate = 2016-02-01 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19670505&id=p8xTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yDgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5927,603456&hl=en }}</ref> was wrecked on Bombay Reef.<ref name="OCC_FlyingFish_2014-1_p">{{Cite magazine | title = The Small World of the Vast Oceans | author = Sid Shaw | periodical = Flying Fish | page = 192 | publisher = [[Ocean Cruising Club]] | date = 2014 | accessdate = 2016-02-01 | url = https://www.oceancruisingclub.org/images/FlyingFish/FF2014-1.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160201144524/http://www.oceancruisingclub.org/images/FlyingFish/FF2014-1.pdf | archive-date = 2016-02-01 | url-status = dead | quote = I ended up joining Dante Deo in Bali in February 1967, after working for a year in Sydney. I sailed on her throughout Indonesia, on to Singapore and as far as Bombay Reef in the Paracel Islands, south of Hainan Island, where she was shipwrecked in May 1967. }}</ref> The crew were rescued on 5 May 1967 by an [[amphibious aircraft]] operated by the [[37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron|37th Air Rescue Squadron]].<ref name="LJW_1967-05-05"/>

Bombay Reef is the site of numerous other [[shipwreck]]s, at least one of which is visible above water and on [[radar]] from 15 miles away.<ref name="NGA_Sailing_Directions_161-7"/>

== Territorial claims  ==

{{main|Nine-dash line|Territorial disputes in the South China Sea}}

Lacking a native population, ownership of the Paracel Islands has been disputed since the early 20th century. In the aftermath of the [[First Indochina War]] until 1974 Vietnam occupied Pattle Island, approximately {{convert|60|nmi|km}} away. Control has been enforced by the People's Republic of China since the [[Battle of the Paracel Islands]].

Bombay Reef is administered and governed by the [[People's Republic of China]] and patrolled by the Chinese border police.

==See also==
* [[Lincoln Island, Paracel Islands|Lincoln Island]] (东岛/đảo Linh Côn)
* [[Middle Island, Paracel Islands|Middle Island]] (中岛/đảo Trung)
* [[North Island, Paracel Islands|North Island]] (北礁/đảo Bắc)
* [[North Reef, Paracel Islands|North Reef]] (北岛/đá Bắc)
* [[Rocky Island, South China Sea|Rocky Island]] (石岛/đảo Đá)
* [[South Island, Paracel Islands|South Island]] (南岛/đảo Nam)
* [[Tree Island, South China Sea|Tree Island]] (赵述岛/đảo Cây)
* [[Triton Island]] (中建岛/đảo Tri Tôn)
* [[Woody Island (South China Sea)|Woody Island]]

==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}

{{South China Sea}}

[[Category:Baselines of the Chinese territorial sea]]
[[Category:Paracel Islands]]
[[Category:Reefs of China]]


{{PRChina-geo-stub}}