Ascension Island links

Ascension Island Links

Most of the links relate directly to Ascension Island, but some provide good background information.

Links are grouped together into the following sections:

Communications
Ecology
Game Fishing
General
Geography
Geology
History
Military and Space
Nasa and Apollo moon Missions
South Atlantic
Volcanoes

Suggest a Link

This page is probably the biggest collection of Ascension Island links on the web, but if you think there is a useful link that has been missed then use the Contact Us page and put "Ascension Island Link" as the subject.

Ecology

Sea Turtles and Ascension Island: Site about University of Wales, Swansea project project to determine the current status of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) which nests on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. The project is funded by the Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species
California Turtle and Tortoise Club's list of links: Lots of links to other turtle pages
Sea Turtle Survival league: Bulletin board, Email list and other information
Green Sea Turtle: Yet another site
Green Turtle Farm: This site basically exists to market a book, but it has got quite a few pictures.
The Atlantic Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas): Very comprehensive. Based on information from the Recovery Plan for U.S. Population of Atlantic Green Turtles, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, 1991
UN System-wide EarthWatch Island Directory: Basic environmental and geographic information on the significant islands
of the world including Ascension Island.
Magnetic Turtles and the GPS: Interesting page about how turtles navigate and find Ascension. As the author points out this is no mean feat, after all World War II Air Force pilots based there had a saying - ''If you miss Ascension, your wife gets a pension''.
Internet Turtle Resources: Lots of Turtle links from Berkeley University
Caribbean Conservation Corporation: The Caribbean Conservation Corporation aims to ensure the survival of sea turtles within the Wider Caribbean basin and Atlantic through research, education, training, advocacy and the protection of the natural habitats upon which they depend. Includes this page which explains how tracking transmitters are attached to turtles
Marine Turtle research group: Subsite on their Ascension Island turtle project
Seabird Restoration Project: Mainly about the program to eradicate feral cats so that the bird population can be allowed to recover. Also a little about problems such as rats and the Mexican thorn bush.
Falklands Conservation: Serious site about conservation on the Falklands island but also includes a "Penguins Do Not Topple Over" page
Seabirds return to ascension island: Article on Birdlife International website about the success story on removal of the cats on Ascension
BirdLife International: Fact sheet about the Ascension Frigate bird
Terrestrial Ecoregions -- Ascension scrub and grasslands: World wild life fund page about Ascension's ecology
Pirate Fishing Impacts: Greenpeace report on the effects of pirate fishing on both green turtles and also local fishermen on Ascension Island.
Coffee on St. Helena: The Tea & Coffee Trade Journal's article on The Island of Saint Helena Coffee Company, April 2001
UK Overseas Conversation Forum: The UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum helps with the co-ordinated conservation of the plant, animal species and natural habitats of UK's Overseas Territories (UKOTs). The site does not have it' search facility implemented yet so click here to search it via Google.
Ascension Island seabirds in the Ascendancy: Recent article (Dec 2004) about the improvement in the prospects for sea-birds on the island.
Ornithology Cruise in South Atlantic: Account of 32 day cruise in South Atlantic visiting all of the islands from Cape Verde, past Ascension and on down to South Georgia
Cats, Birds, and Ascension Island: Short article about the clearing of the feral cats on Ascension, and also includes links to other information on the effects of feral cats on bird populations.
Birdwatching Trip Report from Ascension Island: Brief account Army Ornithological Society survey of the Sooty "Wideawake" Tern fairs on Ascension Island. Detailed description of bird species encountered but only a few pictures.
Green Mountain: Wikipedia entry for Green mountain with description of how the flora on the mountain has come to be what it is today.
The Green Sea Turtle Nesting on Ascension Island: paper pulished in 1976 based on observations made in February and March 1973 and 1974 about the nesting of Green Turtles on Ascension Island
Ascension Island Flora: Page showing selection of the Ascension Island flora seen during a stay by Jonathan Shanklin between March 21 and 25 2006
Enigma of the man-made rainforest: Article in the Independent newspaper about the evolution of the man-made rain forest at the top of Green mountain
Sea Turtle Navigation: Interesting page showing the results of research in the late 90's into tracking the actual path turtles took around Ascension and also when "commuting" between the Ascension and Brazil coastlines.
Memories of Ascension: Account by Phil Brooks of the setting up in the late sixties of the BBC World Services or South Atlantic Relay Station. (S.A.R.S.) as it was known then.

General

Ascension Island diary - smith family visit 2004/5: Daily diary, with plenty of pictures, of exploits of the smith family during their 2004/5 visit staying with Johnny Hobson (the island's dentist).
Administrator of Ascension Island: The "official" Ascension Island site with lots about the island and details of how to visit.
Nasa Deep Space station: The Nasa space tracking station that is now the 1st Ascension Scout HQ
Ascension Island Scout Troop: An excellent new site recording/showing the activities of the island's scout troop with plenty of pictures.
Small Islands Information Network: Large amount of information and links on small islands around the globe, including small island development. However it does not seem to have been updated much recently.
Island Resources Foundation: Private, non-profit research and education organization, dedicated to solving the environmental problems of development in small tropical islands. This site seems to very active and up to date.
Ascension Island Webcam: Live view from the bridge head.
The Islander: The current edition online of Ascension Island's only newspaper plus searchable archive of past issues.
Trembly's Travels: A page about Cristy Trembly's visit to the South Atlantic by plane to Ascension and then on by sea to Saint Helena and Tristan.
The ZD8TC Ascension Island Story: Ted Collins describes how he set-up and ran a world beating Amateur radio station on the island, but starts off with some odd snippets of Ascension Island history.
Atlantis: This is the site of Atlantis, the Ascension Island internet server. Run by Cable & Wireless, the island's internet service provider. Look here for Ascension contacts email addresses and eventually a phone directory. Also has it's own set of Ascension Island links.
Scuba Surf: A scuba Ezine which might be useful for anyone intending scuba diving on Ascension
Remote Islands of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans: A small but growing site, including the usual South Atlantic islands and also the Faroes, Pitcairn etc.
ZD8SIX on Ascension: Very comprehensive account of visit by Chris Gare to Ascension during November 2000. Plenty of pictures and a very full diary account of his visit.
The St.Helena Virtual library and Archive: Provides electronic versions of literature mainly related to St. Helena and also maps and views of St. Helena, but there is a section at the end on material related to Ascension.; The emphasis is on the older, more scarce, St. Helena material (books published prior to 1900; maps and views published prior to 1800).
(Does not contain books that deal only, or mainly, with Napoleon's exile on St. Helena.)
Ascension Island Photos: Many photos but not much text, from Helen & Tony Baczynski's 3 year stay during 1979-1982
Ascension Undersea: Underwater pictures from Jimmy Young, one of the most experienced divers on Ascension who knows it's waters and turtles.
Expat Exchange: Useful site for anyone living or working abroad.
St Helena Leisure Corporation Ltd(SHELCO): Comprehensive site about SHELCO, a British company, proposing to develop communications and tourist amenities on St.Helena by constructing an airport, a world-class hotel, together with leisure facilities. SHELCO also wants to found and operate a new international flag-carrying civil airline for the Territory - St Helena Airways, flying to Ascension, the Falklands, Dubai, Bermuda and Cape Town.
Ascension in the sixties: Photographs taken by Mike Simpson during his stay on Ascension from 1966-1968, plus some historic pictures taken around 1898
Ascension AAF Local Post: Short piece about the local post in the seventies on the US Auxiliary Air Field base complex
Ascension island current weather summary: Comprehensive information on current weather conditions plus 24 hour history of conditions
Ascension island weather history statistics: Statistics and trends (temperature rainfall etc) on weather at Georgetown
Badgers Guide to Ascension Island: Site by Airframe Technician in the RAF about his stay on Ascension
Island Search: Search engine specialising in Islands
Send an Ascension Island Postcard: Contains about a dozen quite good pictures of Ascension which you can send as a postcard.
Unofficial Ascension Island: Useful site from Telecom Consulting Limited covering most aspects of the islands with plenty of pictures and a good links section.
Ascension Island guide: Page on VirtualTourist.com with link to nice page by Aabebi Glass who lives on St. Helena.
Mysterra Reports: Mysterra.org is a site which covers out of the way places and islands, with a well structured sub site about Ascension.
Aerial view of Ascension Island: Aerial picture of Ascension Island from the earth observatory sub-site of Nasa.
There is an additional link on the page to an even higher quality image (1870 kB)
South Atlantic Remote Territories Media Association: Comprehensive and regularly updated site with news from all the South Atlantic islands.
Obsidian Group: Obsidian Group Accommodation and Tourist Services. The main providers for business and tourist accommodation on Ascension Island.
NASA earth Observatory: Info and aerial image of Ascension. (A much larger Ascension Island aerial image is available via a text link)
Green Mountain - in high places: Account of a visit by someone from the Sierra Club - a US mountain climbing club
Kite flying report: As Ascension enjoys the steady breeze provided by the Trade Winds perhaps it is no surprise that someone has tried their hand at kite flying there.
Weather statistics (Georgetown): Mainly temperature related stats. e.g. average, highest, lowest.
Current weather on Ascension Island: As collected and supplied by NOAA(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Wind Turbines on Ascension: Advertorial article about how EnXco installed 4 wind turbines, but does gives some background fact and figures.
Yacht Prrrfection sails to Ascension Island in the Atlantic: Quite detailed account of the visit to Ascension by Yacht Prrrfection (Note: all text no pictures)
Cruises that call at Ascension: List of cruises by several companies that stop at Ascension en route. (These are all part of larger itineraries typically ranging from 14 days to 28 days)
The Parable of Green Mountain: Interesting 4 page article about how the ecology of Green Mountain has evolved. (Note: This is a PDF file)
Welcome to Nowhere: Brief account of Simon Winchester transferring from Russian tramp steamer to land at Ascension and cadge a flight to UK
The diary of Malaika, June 2000: Brief account of visit by the yacht Malaika, including the problem of the tuna that was too large.
Visit by GreenPeace's Esperanza: Account of visit by the GreenPease vessel Esperanza on 15 March 2006, plus links to Guardian articles about the Uk Government u-turn on plans for democracy and self-determination on the island.
YouTube video on Ascension: Short video but all still shots but these were all taken by members of the 701st airlift squadron there are some interesting aerial views.
Notes from the Abyss: Blog by biogeographer David Lawrence about his trip to Ascension. Currently it seems to stop abruptly after a couple of days but maybe will get changed
Ascension AAF (Auxiliary Air Field) Local Post: Page about the Ascension AAF (Auxiliary Air Field) Local Post service which operated from just January 1972 to August 25, 1972 !
Andrew Mcgrath's Ascension Island visits: See links at bottom of this page for Andrew's visit in 1999 and 2000 to Ascension
Abandoning Ascension.; Some peculiarities of the island that made life a burden there: Article about life on Ascension from The New York Times August 30, 1881, edition.
N.B. the full article is a scanned file in PDF format.
FMF Local Post Honors Ascension Naturalist Robin Hannay: Page about stamps issued by FMF Local Post (FMFLP) of Fort Myers Florida to commemorate naturalist Robin Hannay for his work on Ascension Island by issuing a special commemorative local post first day cover in 1978.
Ashes to More Ashes!… Exercise Busch Baby: Account of RAF team who walk all 21(or is it 22) letterbox walks.
ASI - Airport: A few statistics etc about the Wideawake Airfield if you are into that sort of thing
Six Years of Ascension Island Wind Farm Operations: PDF file that looks like it was based on a Powerpoint presentation, never the less lots of interesting facts about the installation and subsequent running of Wind turbines on a remote place like Ascension

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Communications

Space flight tracking and data network: Some information about Networks Division of Goddard Space Flight Center and how Ascension fits into the GSFC network of stations around the world.
NAVSTAR Global Positioning System: Some explanation about GPS and how Ascension plays a role in the GPS network.
Cable and Wireless: Short history of Cable and Wireless's connection with the Island starting in 1899.
History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy - Ascension Island: Article about the role Ascension Island as a undersea telephone/telecommunications station.

Game Fishing

Atlantic Fishing charter: Try your hand at deep sea fishing off Ascension. The site says that there are plenty of blue marlin, sailfish, swordfish, yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, wahoo, mako shark, thresher shark, tiger shark, mahi mahi and a lot of other species.
Big Game Fishing: Account by Terry B. Tri of his fishing expedition to Ascension during November 2004. Inclludes account of fishing with catches of yellowfin and tuna. Lots of pictures including some of Tuna boils and diving birds

Geography

Ascension Island climate: Some weather statistics for Ascension
Current Conditions for Wide awake field,Ascension Island: Find out what the weather was doing on the island a few hours ago.
Earth Viewer: Cities around the World: Click on the name of a city to show a zoomable image centred on that city; Flatteringly this site includes Ascension Island in the list. The image is a little small; but is relatively current as it comes from an orbiting satellite.
Ascension Island, south Atlantic Ocean: This page contains a few facts and figures, but more interestingly an image of Ascension taken from the Space shuttle( to a bigger scale than Earth Viewer).
RIDGE Multibeam Synthesis Project: A synthesis of multi-beam bathymetry collected by academic and government agencies from mid-ocean ridges, if you are into that sort of thing.
Mining Company Geography Guide: The Mining Co provide all sorts of guides and this geography one has an excellent collection of links and resources.
www.countries.com: Links to all over the world.
Skye International Teleservice Centre: Follow "islands index" to get a whole series of links to pages about various islands around the world.
Internet Geography: Links to original works that describe general physical, environmental, human, and
economic geography subjects. Special sections of the site are geared specifically for students and teachers; the site provides them with homework help and lessons for teaching geography.
Visible Earth: Nasa sub-site contains searchable directory of images, visualizations and animations of the Earth sorted by country.

Geology

Barry Weaver's pages: This site from the University of Oklahoma gives an overview of the Island and a comprehensive insight into its geology.
Jon Davidson's Ascension Island studies: Some pictures and a bit more geology, but no where as comprehensive as Barry Weaver's pages.
IRIS/IDA seismic station ASCN homepage: All about the seismic station on Ascension
University of Oregon Geology Department: Interesting set of links and resources about earthquakes , volcanoes , sea surface temperature and hurricane formation

History

William Dampier: As a result of a ship wreck, William Dampier was the first person to live on Ascension Island for any length of time.
More on William Dampier: More on William Dampier from Wikipedia.
Napoleon: Napoleon's exile to St. Helena was the impetus for the first permanent occupation of Ascension
The Eastern test range in the fifties: A brief history, with pictures, of how Ascension fitted in as the end point for a 5,000 mile missile range from Cape Canaveral.
The Falklands War: A good starting place for researching the Falklands history.
The Voyage of the Beagle: Chapter 21 of the Internet Wiretap Online Edition of Darwin's book which contains details of Darwin's brief visit.
The Suffering of Six Deserters: The Extraordinary Adventures of six deserters belonging to the Artillery on the Island of St. Helena as related by John Brown before a court of enquiry in 1801
The Strange Story of Napoleon's Wallpaper: A very interesting piece of historic and scientific detective work. (Don't forget to click the link at the bottom of each page for the next part of the story).
The Napoleonic Guide: A one-stop reference site for Napoleon and French history between 1796 to 1815, providing information on the period's major powers, armies, soldiers, battles, the Naval War, the War of 1812, etc. As expected from the site's title it has personal information on Napoleon's career, opponents, marshals, and family, including a page on Napoleon's exile on St. Helena. Also provided are digital images; key maps; and a list of relevant movies, books, and music.
Websmith bookshop Napoleon and St. Helena: Books on Napoleon and St. Helena.
The Laconia incident: Details of how U-boat U-156 was rescuing survivors from a "kill" when itself became a victim of a American B-24 Liberator bomber operating from the Ascension Island. This incident caused Dönitz to alter his standing instructions to U-boats about rescuing survivors.
Ascension Island Heritage Society: Rich source of information for both modern and older history of the island. Has a then and now pictures section.
The Island of St Helena Coffee Company: Set of pages about the Island of St. Helena Coffee Compant and coffee production in St. Helena
Six Months in Ascension: Electronic copy of book by Mrs Gill published in 1878. An account of a visit, sponsored by the Royal Astronomical Society, to measure the distance from the Earth to the sun during a favorable Opposition of Mars. There are 25 chapters covering most aspects of life on Ascension in the second half of the 19th century.
Thevet's description of Ascension Island: Short description of island landing written in 1555
Partial Military History: Contains scanned in copy of a document about the Marines occupation of Ascension when Napoleon was exiled on St. Helena.
Time traveller's guide to Napoleon's Empire: From UK Channel 4 television, this site covers everything you ever wanted to know about Napoleon from his seizure of power in 1799 to his exile in 1815
Discoverers Web: Site contains links to information on the web about voyages of discovery and exploration.
Letter about Ascension circa 1900: Letter home from a young girl who first arrived on Ascension in 1897.
Diary of US WWII aviator: Diary of US airman who fly from Florida via British Guyana, Brazil, Ascension Island, Accra and on the the Far East theatre of operations. Ascension only gets passing mention , but interesting to see how Widawake was used in World Ward II.
Ascension Island during the Falklands War 1982: A photographic record of people, planes and places taken by Bob Shackleton at Ascension during the preparations for the Falklands campaign
The Atlantic Relay Station and the Falklands War: BBC Memoryshare contribution by Norman Shacklady on his memories of the part the BBC on Ascension to teh Falklands campaign.
Ministry of Defence | Fact Sheets | Falklands 25: Background Briefing: MOD background briefing on the Falklands conflict. Contains description of how Ascension was used as the initial destination for the task force.
Modified to Meet the Need: Online reprint of article from the Spring 1989 Airport Journal. The section entitled "Meeting the Long Distances" contains a number of mentions of Ascension and the logistics issues of operating C-130 Hercules and Nimrods from Wideawake airfield given the remoteness of Ascension Island
Royal Marine Commandants of Ascension Island: Page about the commandants of Ascension when it was run by the Royal Marines. Includes some thoughts on the high mortality rate.
The Journal of Syms Covington: Chapter 7 of The Journal of Syms Covington(Assistant to Charles Darwin Esq. on the Second Voyage of the HMS Beagle) which includes a short mention of the stop on Ascension in July 1836. Of interest are the mention of plentiful guinea fowl and the land rail.
Albion Airlines scenery files: Contains zipped up downloadable BGL files for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and includes a file for Ascension.

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DVD > Genres > Documentary > General
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Nasa and the Apollo moon Missions

Apollo expeditions to the Moon

Massive site organised into 15 chapters plus appendixes.
To give an indication of the coverage of this site here are all the main chapters:

A Perspective on Apollo
The forces that set us on the path to the Moon
"I Believe We Should Go to the Moon"
Engineering what had never been done before
Saturn the Giant
Building the boosters to send men beyond Earth
The Spaceships
Building the first craft to cross an ocean of space
Scouting the Moon
Mechanical explorers went before human ones

The Cape
The new shipyard of space created for Apollo
"This is Mission Control"
How men on Earth aided men in space
Men for the Moon
How they were chosen and train
The Shakedown Cruises
Bold steps preceded 'one small step'
Getting It All Together
Critical tests of the total system

"The Eagle Has Landed"
A goal attained, men on the Moon
Ocean of Storms and Fra Mauro
Exploring on foot, emplacing automatic laboratories
"Houston, We've Had a Problem"
A crippled bird limps safely home
The Great Voyages of Exploration
Scientific expeditions return a rich harvest
The Legacy of Apollo
New understanding of ourselves and our world

Planet Earth
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First Man on the Moon
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Military and Space

The Ariane Space program: The Ariane site has some interesting "ARIANESPACE MOVIES" if you have a fast link for the chunky AVI files, but not much mention of Ascension.
Shopping for the Boosters: An account of the development of the Atlas ICBM in the late fifties, with a brief mention of Ascension as the east end of the Atlantic missile range.
All about GCHQ and CSO(Composite Signals Organisation): Does exactly what it says !
Space.COM: The site name says it all !
Operation Black Buck: An account of the Vulcan bomber raid from Ascension on the Falklands
The Vulcan Operating Company: Site about the project to restore the last Vulcan bomber that was in active service for the RAF back to air-worthiness.
ASCENSION ISLAND Stepping Stone to Victory: Interesting piece from Naval-history.net on Ascension's role in the Falklands war
HMS Hood's 5.5" Guns on Ascension Island: Short piece about how the HMS Hood guns came to be on Ascension and their restoration in the eighties.
Britains Small Wars: This site has a subtitle of "The History of British Military Conflicts since 1945" and it has plenty of well organised information on the Falklands war, including a section of the role of the Vulcan bombers, the SAS and SBS involvement on the ground. Other conflicts covered include includes India, Palestine, Malaya, Korea, Suez Canal Zone, Kenya, Cyprus, Suez 1956, Borneo, Vietnam, Aden, Radfan, Oman, Northern Ireland, the Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone.
History of the Eastern Test Range: In the 50's Ascension formed the far end of the US Eastern Test Range and to this day Ascension is still used as part of the USA missile testing program.
Keeping the Vulcans flying: Exact reproduction of "The Vulcan Engineering Detachment on Ascension Island Diary" from the Vulcan Black Buck missions in the Falklands conflict and life on Ascension at the time. Also has lots of pictures.

More on World War II from Amazon.com ...

DVD : See all 50+ results for World War II DVD...

The World At War - Complete Set -- World at War, narrated by Laurence Olivier; DVD Box Set
World War II - The Lost Color Archives -- World War II-Lost Color Archive; DVD
World War II in Color - The British Story -- DVD

Books : See all 10200+ results in World War II Books...

Life: World War 2: History's Greatest Conflict in Pictures -- Richard B. Stolley (Editor); Hardcover
The Second World War: A Short History (Parker, Robert Alexander Clarke, Struggle for Survival.) -- Robert Alexander Clarke Parker, Robert Alexander Clark Parker; Paperback
Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission -- Hampton Sides; Hardcover

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DVD > Genres > Documentary > Military & War > General

South Atlantic

ABC Country Book of Saint Helena: A few facts on St Helena and it's dependencies.
Falkland Islands News Network: Good place for the latest news on what is happening on, and around the Falklands.
Radio Saint Helena: Not strictly about Ascension, but because of it's very nature, the best place to look for current news on the South Atlantic.
St Helena Institute: As the name says lots about St. Helena but also information on Ascension Island and Tristan da Cuhna.
The South Atlantic & Sub-Antarctic Islands Home Page: Not strictly about Ascension, but St Helena and Tristan da Cunha. Also contains mention of minor, uninhabited islands such as "Inaccessible", just off Tristan.
Tristan visit: Not a very big page, but does have a section which has relatively recent pictures (Jan 98)

Volcanoes

MTU Volcanoes Page: Michigan Tech's Volcanoes Page aims to provide information about volcanoes to the public, and has plenty of info and links to follow..
The Electronic Volcano: Plenty more links about volcanoes.
VolcanoWorld: At this research and information site you can learn about the natural forces that cause volcanic eruptions and view photographs, satellite images, and movies of active volcanoes.
The Global Volcanism program: This site from the Smithsonian Institute contains of all volcanic eruptions over the last 10,000 years and also news on current eruptions in almost real time.
Volcanoes Online: Comprehensive site from basic theory to deep science
Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands (chapter III): Electronic copy of chapter from Darwin's book, and an insight into geology thoughts and techniques at the time of Darwin's life
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory: Sub-site of the U.S. Geological Survey. Unlike Ascension Yellowstone has lots going on.
The site is divided into several major sections that covering topics such as current volcanic and seismic activity in the region, volcanic history in the area, and FAQ (e.g. frequency of volcanic eruptions at Yellowstone and the relationship between
volcanism and the geysers and hot springs in Yellowstone).