Watkins Island
| Watkins Island | |
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| Location: | 66°21’13"S, 67°5’10"W |
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Watkins Island is one of the largest of the Biscoe Islands, which lie off the coast of Graham Land in the British Antarctic Territory. It is a low-lying island five miles long which lies three miles to the south-west of Lavoisier Island, separated from it by Lewis Sound
Following a survey by the British Graham Land Expedition in 1935-36, this island was named 'Mikkelsen Island' after Captain E. Mikkelsen (after whom Mikkelsen Bay is named). The personnel of the United States Antarctic Service "East Base" were evacuated to this island by Condor aircraft which landed on the ice cap, 22 March 1941; they were then taken off the island by USS Bear and the aircraft was abandoned.
In order to avoid possible confusion with the Mikkelsen Islands, this island was later renamed 'Watkins Island' after Henry George ("Gino") Watkins (1907-32), British Arctic explorer and the Leader of expeditions to Edge Island (Svalbard) in 1927, Labrador in 1928-29, and of the British Arctic Air Route Expedition of 1930-31, who made the original plan for the British Graham Land Expedition in 1932 but failed to get financial support in that year. Watkins was drowned in Tugtulik (Lake Fjord) near Angmaggssalik on a second expedition to East Greenland on 20 August 1932.
An Argentine refuge hut was established on a small island between the present feature and Belding Island on 29 February 1956 and called "Refugio Aeronaval Capitán Estivariz" (Argentina. MM, 1957b, p.154) or "Refugio Capitán Estivariz".
