The Tizard Bank, is a partially sunken

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can ...

and one of the significant maritime features of the north-western part of the

Spratly Islands The Spratly Islands ( fil, Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; zh, c=南沙群島/南沙群岛, s=, t=, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, id, Kepulauan Spratly; vi, Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed ...

. It is claimed by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

, the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northea ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

, and various parts of it are occupied by these states. It was named after Thomas Henry Tizard (1839 – 17 February 1924), a British oceanographer and surveyor who surveyed the bank from aboard HMS ''Rifleman'' in the 1860s. In 1947 the

government gave the bank the name

Zheng He Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferre ...

Archipelago after the famous Ming-era admiral, although there is no evidence that he ever visited Tizard Bank. From before the 1870s the islands were used by fishermen from

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slight ...

with Itu Aba Island having a semi-permanent settlement of Chinese fishermen. The bank rises steeply from surrounding depths ranging from 500 to 700 meters. It is in length, and extends west from the

Gaven Reefs The Gaven Reefs, also known in Mandarin and ; Burgos Reefs ( tl, Mga Bahura ng Burgos, lit=Reefs of Burgos); vi, Đá Ga Ven and vi, Đá Lạc, is a group of two reefs in the Tizard Bank of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. They a ...

to the NW of Dangerous Ground.NGA Chart 93044
shows the area NW of Dangerous Ground.
Note that this chart incorrectly labels the bank as the Southhampton Reefs - the Southampton Reefs are further east (10°11'N 115°17'E) - and also mis-spells Petley Reef as ''Peltey Reef''. The atoll is up to wide. The total area is , and the greatest depth of the central

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons' ...

is 80 meters. The central lagoon generally is 10 to 40 meters deep, although many coral heads have much shallower depths. There are several entrances into the lagoon. The bank contains a number of features along the rim of the reef, including shoals, reefs, islands, and cays, numerous wrecks, some lighthouses, and an ammunition dumping ground in about 2000m of water to the north of Itu Aba.The ammunition dumping ground is about to the north in water 1900m deep. Several coral heads with depths of 6-12m lie in the lagoon, and depths "3.7m less than charted can be expected. ... Mariners should navigate with extreme caution in this vicinity." Features in the area include: * Namyit Island (10°11'N 114°22'E) on the S side of the bank is about 12 miles S of Itu Aba. It is less than a metre high and covered with small trees and brush. *

(10°12'N 114°13'E) consists of two reefs which cover at high tide and lie 7 miles W and 8.5 miles WNW of Namyit Island. * Itu Aba Island (10°23'N 114°22'E), lies on the NW edge of the bank * Zhongzhou Reef (Ban Than Reef / Centre Cay) lies on the north edge between Itu Aba and Sand Cay, 3 miles E of Itu Aba * Sand Cay lies on the north edge, 4.5 miles E of Zhongzhou * Petley Reef, which dries 0.9m, is about 1 mile in extent and lies on the N side of the bank. * Eldad Reef, 7 miles ESE of Petley Reef, is the easternmost drying reef of the group. The reef is 4.5 miles long with the middle section having a depth of about 1.2m, located at the NE end of the reef.

It is neighboured by the Loaita Bank to the North, Discovery Great Reef to the west, and the Union Banks to the south.

References

External links

Chart of Tizard Bank
{{South China Sea Banks of the Spratly Islands