Map - Boaz Island, Bermuda (Boaz Island)

Boaz Island (Boaz Island)
Boaz Island, formerly known as Gate's Island or Yates Island, is one of the six main islands of Bermuda. It is part of a chain of islands in the west of the country that make up Sandys Parish, lying between the larger Ireland Island and Watford Island, with which it has been joined by a man-made isthmus. South of Watford Island is Somerset Island. Boaz and Watford are connected to Somerset by Watford Bridge, and to Ireland by Gray's Bridge. Watford's east coast forms part of the edge of the Great Sound. The western end of the channel between Boaz and Watford was blocked by the isthmus, creating a camber that opens to the Great Sound. Boaz and Watford Islands were parts of the Royal Naval base, which included the HM Dockyard on Ireland Island.

The Clarence Barracks were built on Boaz in the middle of the 19th century to house convict labourers who had formerly been accommodated aboard Prison hulks. A hospital and other connected facilities were built on neighboring Watford Island. When the Convict Establishment was withdrawn in the 1860s, both islands were transferred to the British Army, and the bridge between was replaced with the man-made isthmus.

With the reduction of the Bermuda Garrison after the First World War, both islands were returned to the Royal Navy in the 1930s. From 1939, Boaz Island and Watford Island were used as Royal Naval Air Station Bermuda (which had previously been located in the North Yard on Ireland Island). The primary role of the air station was the servicing, repair and replacement of spotter floatplanes and flying boats belonging to naval vessels. Early in the Second World War, with no other units to fill the role, aeroplanes from Boaz Island were used to maintain anti-submarine air patrols, using whatever aircrew were on hand, including pilots from the Bermuda Flying School on Darrell's Island. Subsequently, target tugs were based at the air station to service the Allied naval vessels working-up on Bermuda's waters.

The air station was placed on a care and maintenance footing after the war and both islands were among the former Admiralty and War Office lands transferred to the local government in the 1950s. All that remains of the Fleet Air Arm facility today is a hangar on runway road, and two slips.

 
Map - Boaz Island (Boaz Island)
Country - Bermuda
Bermuda (historically known as The Bermudas or Somers Isles) is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Bermuda archipelago consists of 181 islands with a total land area of 54 km2. The closest land outside the territory is in the US state of North Carolina, approximately 1035 km to the northwest.

Bermuda is named after Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez, who discovered the archipelago in 1505. The islands have been permanently inhabited since 1612, and, forming part of British America, became a crown colony in 1684. The first African slaves arrived in 1616, but as the slave trade ceased by the end of the 17th century, the colony developed into a base for merchants, privateers, and the Royal Navy. More recently, tourism has been a significant contributor to Bermuda's economy. After World War II the territory became an offshore financial centre and tax haven.
Currency / Language  
ISO Currency Symbol Significant figures
BMD Bermudian dollar $ 2
USD United States dollar $ 2
Neighbourhood - Country