30/04/2026
Spotted an article in the Royal Gazette about Ordnance Island and plans to fix up the Customs dock. Ordnance is among those bits of history that Bermuda shares with the US military and I know we used Ordnance Island as a sub base during WWII. What I have not established is if this was the specific island. St Georges has plenty of little islands but our sub base was real. There was a postage stamp depicting it. This gives a brief overview of one of the boats that operated at Ordnance Island.
"7 December 1941, R-1 remained in the southern New England area for the first days of American participation in World War II. On the 9th and 10th she patrolled the sealanes leading to New England and on the 11th arrived at Bermuda, whence, with other SubRon 7 boats, she joined the hunt for U-boats preying on maritime traffic along the North American coast. Although limited in cruising range, the R-boats operating out of Ordnance Island, continued their patrols through the N**i submarine offensive of early 1942."
