North Keeling

North Keeling is a small, uninhabited coral atoll, approximately 1.2 square kilometres (0.46 sq mi) in area, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Horsburgh Island. It is the northernmost atoll and island of the Australian territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. North Keeling comprises just one C-shaped island, a nearly closed atoll ring with a small opening into the lagoon, about 50 metres (160 ft) wide, on the east side. The lagoon is about 0.5 square kilometres (0.19 sq mi) in area. The island is home to the only surviving population of the endemic, and endangered, Cocos buff-banded rail, as well as large breeding colonies of seabirds. Since 1995, North Keeling Island and the surrounding sea to 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from shore have been within the Pulu Keeling National Park.

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are believed to have first been seen by Europeans in 1609 by Captain William Keeling, after whom they are named, of the East India Company on a journey from Java in the Dutch East Indies. North Keeling was sketched by Ekeberg, a Swedish captain, in 1749, showing the presence of coconut palms. It also appears on a 1789 chart produced by British hydrographer Alexander Dalrymple.

North Keeling was visited in 1836 by Captain Robert FitzRoy and his companion Charles Darwin in HMS Beagle, who were, as with many other visitors, unable to land on the island.

In the 19th century many people suffering from Beriberi were put ashore at the island. Several graves are present, some from these people, but also from shipwrecks.

On 9 November 1914, the German cruiser SMS Emden attacked a wireless and cable station at Direction Island, attracting the attention of Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney. At 11:20, after an hour-and-a-half-long battle, the heavily damaged Emden was beached on North Keeling Island. In 1915, a Japanese company proposed that the ship be repaired and refloated, but an inspection by HMAS Protector concluded that wave damage to Emden made such an operation unfeasible. By 1919, there were reports that the wreck had almost completely broken up and disappeared.

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