Pratas Island

Pratas Island, also known as the Tungsha Islands or the Dongsha Islands (), is a coral island situated in the northern part of the South China Sea administered as part of Cijin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It is located about southeast of Hong Kong. It has an area of about , including of lagoon, and is the largest of the South China Sea Islands. It is the location of the Dongsha Airport. There are three undersea features in the waters associated with Pratas Island: Pratas Atoll, North Vereker Bank and South Vereker Bank. The atoll is circular, and the crescent-shaped Pratas Island occupies its western part. Below the ocean's surface to the northwest () of Pratas Island, North Vereker Bank rises to below sea level and South Vereker Bank to below sea level. There are numerous oil wells to the west of the banks. In 2007, the Dongsha Atoll National Park was established on the island. The People's Republic of China claims the island, atoll and banks as part of Guangdong Province. Pratas Atoll is also called Pratas Reef. Tungsha Island (Tung-sha Tao) () is the Wade–Giles-derived romanization of the Mandarin Chinese name for the island, and Dongsha Island (Dongsha Dao) is the pinyin-derived name. A smaller island with the same Chinese character name is located in the Taiwan-administered Dongyin Township in the Matsu Islands in the East China Sea. The area including the island, atoll and banks is also called the Pratas Islands (), the Tungsha Islands and the Dongsha Islands. Despite these names, Pratas Island is the only island; there is no group of islands. The East Indiaman was wrecked on Pratas Island on or about 22 October 1800 with the loss of all aboard. At the time the island was known to British sailors as "Perates". In 1851, the British screw sloop wrecked on the south-east bend of Pratas Atoll while going to the aid of another wrecked vessel; the crew were all saved. Decades later, the boilers and parts of the machinery of the wreckage of HMS Reynard remained visible on the atoll.