Grytviken in the context of "Johan Gunnar Andersson"

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⭐ Core Definition: Grytviken

Grytviken (/ˈɡrɪtvkən/ GRIT-vee-kən Norwegian: [ˈɡɾŷːtviːkn̩]) is a hamlet on South Georgia in the South Atlantic. Formerly a whaling station, it was the largest settlement on the island. Grytviken is located at the head of King Edward Cove within the larger Cumberland East Bay, considered the best harbour on the island. The location's name, meaning "pot bay", was coined in 1902 by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition and documented by the surveyor Johan Gunnar Andersson, after the expedition found old English try pots used to render seal oil at the site. Settlement was re-established on 16 November 1904 by Norwegian Antarctic explorer Carl Anton Larsen on the long-used site of former whaling settlements.

Grytviken is built on a substantial area of sheltered, flat land and has a good supply of fresh water. Although it was the largest settlement on South Georgia, the island's administration was based at the nearby British Antarctic Survey research station at King Edward Point. The whaling station closed in December 1966 when dwindling whale stocks made it financially unviable.

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Grytviken in the context of Invasion of South Georgia

The invasion of South Georgia, also known as the Battle of Grytviken or Operation Georgias, took place on 3 April 1982, when Argentine Navy forces seized control of the east coast of South Georgia after overpowering a small group of Royal Marines at Grytviken. Though outnumbered, the Royal Marines shot down a helicopter and hit the Argentine corvette ARA Guerrico several times before being forced to surrender. It was one of the first episodes of the Falklands War, immediately succeeding the invasion on the Falkland Islands the day before.

The operation had been prepared on 19 March, when a group of Argentine civilian scrap metal workers arrived at Leith Harbour on board the transport ship ARA Bahía Buen Suceso without the required landing clearance and then raised the Argentine flag. The scrap workers had been infiltrated by Argentine marines posing as civilian scientists.

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Grytviken in the context of South Georgia

South Georgia is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east–west direction, South Georgia is around 170 kilometres (106 mi) long and has a maximum width of 35 kilometres (22 mi). The terrain is mountainous, with the central ridge rising to 2,935 metres (9,629 ft) at Mount Paget. The northern coast is indented with numerous bays and fjords, serving as harbours.

Discovered by Europeans in 1675, South Georgia had no indigenous population due to its harsh climate and remoteness. Captain James Cook in HMS Resolution made the first landing, survey and mapping of the island. On 17 January 1775, Cook claimed it a British possession, naming it "Isle of Georgia" after King George III. Through its history, it served as a whaling and seal hunting base, with intermittent population scattered in several whaling bases, the most important historically being Grytviken. The main settlement and the capital today is King Edward Point near Grytviken, a British Antarctic Survey research station, with a population of about 20 people.

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Grytviken in the context of Mount Paget

Mount Paget is a summit of Allardyce Range on the South Atlantic/Antarctic island of South Georgia. At 9,629 feet (2,935 m) above the sea level, it is the highest peak on the island, and the highest peak in any territory under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom (excluding the British Antarctic Territory, where British sovereignty is unrecognised by most countries, where Mount Hope is the highest peak). Mount Paget is more than twice the height of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain on the island of Great Britain and is ranked 23rd by topographic isolation.

It is a saddle-shaped mountain, marking the highest point of the Allardyce Range in the central part of South Georgia. This feature was known to early sealers and whalers at South Georgia, and the name has long been established through general usage. It is clearly visible from Grytviken and King Edward Point.

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Grytviken in the context of King Edward Point

King Edward Point (also known as KEP) is a permanent British Antarctic Survey research station on South Georgia island and is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It is situated in Cumberland East Bay on the northeastern coast of the island. The settlement is the second smallest capital in the world by population, after Ngerulmud in Palau.

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