Fanning Island. A postcard showing a beach on Fanning Island, which was a small island south of ...

Place Oceania: Pacific Islands, Fanning Island
Accession Number P02564.005
Collection type Photograph
Object type Negative
Maker Nutt, P
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Fanning Island. A postcard showing a beach on Fanning Island, which was a small island south of the Hawaiian Islands and was the only relay station between Vancouver Island, British Columbia and Suva, Fiji. On 7 September 1914 the German ship, Nurnberg, attended by a collier landed at Fanning Island, both were flying the French flag. Nurnberg had been sent to Fanning Island by Vice Admiral Count von Spee to destroy the Cable Relay Station, cutting out the British communications network in the Pacific. Repairs to the cable were carried out quickly and communications were restored within a fortnight. (Donor J. Luscombe)