| Name | Tulagi (Tulaghi) |
|---|
| Image map | NggelaSolomons.png |
|---|
| Mapsize | 300px |
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| Map caption | Location in the Nggela (Florida) Islands |
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| Pushpin map | Solomon Islands |
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| Pushpin label position | bottom |
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| Pushpin mapsize | 300 |
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| Pushpin map caption | Location in the Solomon Islands |
|---|
| Latd | 09 | latm = 06 | lats = | latNS = S |
|---|
| Longd | 160 | longm = 09 | longs = | longEW = E |
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| Coordinates region | SB |
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| Subdivision type | Country |
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| Subdivision name | |
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| Subdivision type1 | Province |
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| Subdivision name1 | Central |
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| Subdivision type2 | Island group |
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| Subdivision name2 | Nggela (Florida) Islands |
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| Population as of | |
|---|
| Population total | 1750 |
|---|
Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island (5.5 km by 1 km) in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida Island. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1896 to 1942, and is today the capital of the Central Province.
The island was originally chosen by the British as a comparatively isolated and healthier alternative to the disease-ridden larger islands of the Solomons.
World War II
The
Japanese occupied Tulagi on May 3, 1942, with the intention of setting up a
seaplane base nearby (see
Japanese Tulagi landing). The ships in Tulagi harbor were raided by planes from
USS Yorktown the following day in a prelude to the
Battle of the Coral Sea.
U.S. forces, primarily the 1st Marine Raiders, landed on August 7 and captured Tulagi as part of Operation Watchtower after a day of hard fighting.
After its capture by Naval and Marine forces, the island hosted a fleet of PT boats for a year which included John F. Kennedy's PT-109, as well as other ancillary facilities.
A small 20-bed dispensary was operated on Tulagi until its closure in 1946. The island also formed part of Purvis Bay, which hosted many U.S. Navy ships during 1942 and 1943.
Postwar
The present-day Tulagi has a
fishing fleet.
Scuba diving
Tulagi offers some excellent
scuba diving. The wrecks of
USS Aaron Ward,
USS Kanawha, and
HMNZS Moa are close by, and the wrecks of
Ironbottom Sound are not much further off.
While the USS Aaron Ward is considered to be one of the world's great wreck dives; the hull lies on a sandy bottom at 70 metres, which is about 20 metres deeper than one can safely dive on compressed air. The Ward lies upright and intact, the deck replete with artifacts.
Tulagi is developing a tourism industry based on scuba; however, due to ongoing civil unrest, the industry in the Solomons is in a perilous state.
Category:Populated places in the Solomon Islands
Category:Underwater diving sites
Category:Islands of the Solomon Islands
