Natural harbor

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The Bay of Gdańsk is a vivid example of a natural harbor
The Kaipara Harbor also forms a good natural harbor due to its widely ramified arms.

A natural harbor is a roadstead or port facility that is usually located in a bay or mouth of a body of water and can be used by ships on a larger river or sea due to the existing natural geological and hydrological conditions .

One speaks of a natural harbor especially when there is a need for a harbor function at a suitable location. Due to their characteristics with an enclosed water surface, bays offer protection for the anchorages and berths of the ships from strong waves, but the flow conditions of the water and especially the water depth at low tide must also meet the requirements for use by shipping.

The term is used around the world for port facilities, especially due to the presence of a natural harbor basin . However, many place names with the nickname natural harbor refer to the originally favorable location due to the protection from weather and water conditions. The nickname natural port does not make any statement about necessary structural measures, technical systems and changes to the existing nature for the actual usability as a port.

Historical meaning

The natural harbor of Lindos, already used in antiquity

Before the construction of the port facilities, so-called “shipyards”, where the ships simply ran aground on the bank, served as landing places for shipping, as in the case of Haitabus . The places suitable for this were often expanded later in the course of use and developed into settlement and trading centers. Homer describes suitable natural port facilities in the Odyssey and Thucydides emphasized their importance in the founding of Piraeus by Themistocles . During the colonial period , natural harbors were often decisive criteria for the establishment of settlements and bases.

Even after antiquity, the presence of natural harbors up to the age of industrialization often played a decisive role in the establishment of settlements. The Order of St. John , expelled from the island of Rhodes in 1523 , was given the island of Malta (including Gozo and Comino ) as a fief by Charles V in 1530 . The reason for choosing this group of islands was, in addition to the strategic location, the presence of two large natural harbors on the east coast of the island of Malta. The cities of Senglea and Valletta emerged directly on the Grand Harbor within a few years . In the Hanseatic era, illegally used so-called clip ports fell into disrepute.

From a military point of view, natural harbors offered the only possibility until the 20th century for the temporary or permanent stationing of larger fleets, which could comprise several hundred ships. Examples are the use of the bay of Marsaxlokk and the Marsamxett Harbor by the Ottoman fleet during the siege of Malta , the deployment of the British Home Fleet in Scapa Flow in the First and Second World War and the US Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor from the 1898th

Examples of important natural harbors

literature

  • Gustav Fochler-Hauke: traffic geography . Westermann 1957, p. 37
  • Tommy P. Christensen: From natural harbor to industrial harbor . In: Old Ports - New Tasks. Coastal shipping ports in Scandinavia and Western Europe yesterday and today . Working group "History of coastal shipping in the 20th century". Bremen, 2006. ISBN 978-3897573116

Web links

Wiktionary: Naturhafen  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jamie Morton: The role of the physical environment in ancient Greek seafaring . BRILL, 2001, p. 24/126 ( ISBN 9004117172 )
  2. ^ Lionel William Lyde: A Commercial Geography of the British Empire . BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008 ( ISBN 0559484801 )
  3. ^ A b Ernle Bradford: Cross and Sword, Der Johanniter / Malteser-Ritterorden, Ullstein non-fiction book, Frankfurt / M .; Berlin; 1999, ISBN 3-548-34429-1