Koh Tang (), also known as Tang Island, is the biggest of a group of

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

n islands off the coast of

Sihanoukville Province Preah Sihanouk (, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: , ), also Sihanoukville, is a province (''khaet'') in southwest Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. The provincial capital, also called Sihanoukville, is a deep water port city and a steadily growing and div ...

in the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

. The island is situated approximately off the southwest coast of

. There are no permanent civilian inhabitants living on the island. The Cambodian military maintain a base with a sizable number of personnel. The Khmer word ''Koh'' (), means 'island', ''Tang'' can be loosely translated to "legend".

Geography

The island is rock fringed with its highest point at its northern extremity. Two shallow coves press into the eastern and western neck of its northern plateau. The eastern cove has a long shallow coral sand beach. The small islet Koh Mul/Tuich lies about to the East and Koh Domloung (potato) island about to the South. The islets Koh Tee Mui ( off) and Koh Tee Bpi ( off) complete the Koh Tang archipelago.

Important Bird Area

The archipelago has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports populations of

Christmas Island frigatebird The Christmas frigatebird (''Fregata andrewsi''), or Christmas Island frigatebird, is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae which is an endemic breeder to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. Apart from the Ascension frigatebird, the th ...

s and

Nicobar pigeon The Nicobar pigeon or Nicobar dove (''Caloenas nicobarica'', Car: ') is a bird found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, east through the Indonesian Archipelago, to the Solomons and Palau. It is ...

History

Koh Tang massacre

In May 1975, Khmer Rouge troops landed on nearby Thổ Chu Island and kidnapped 513 Vietnamese civilians (almost the entire population of Thổ Chu) to Koh Tang, where they were forced to do hard labor until they were all executed.

Mayaguez Incident

Pararescuemen board CH-53 during Koh Tang-raid

The island is the site of the last combat action of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and the only ground combat between U.S. forces and the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

. On May 15, 1975, U.S. Marines on board

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

helicopters landed on Koh Tang in the hope of freeing the crew of the SS ''Mayagüez'' which had been captured by Khmer Rouge gunboats on May 12, 1975. The crew of the ''Mayaguez'' was not on Koh Tang, but had been taken to the Cambodian mainland and were released during the rescue operation. In the course of the operation the Khmer Rouge shot down three

CH-53 The CH-53 Sea Stallion (Sikorsky S-65) is a family of American heavy-lift transport helicopters designed and built by the American manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. The Sea Stallion was originally developed in response to a request from the Unite ...

helicopters on or near Koh Tang and 15 Marines and Air Force crewmen were killed and another three Marines were inadvertently left behind and later executed. An estimated 13-25 Khmer Rouge were killed during the battle.

Capture of the ''Foxy Lady''

On the evening of August 13, 1978 the ''Foxy Lady'', a Chinese sailing junk which had been blown off course while sailing from

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, was discovered taking shelter on the western side of Koh Tang by

gunboats. The gunboats fired on the ''Foxy Lady'' killing Canadian crewman Stuart Glass. The other two crewmen, Englishman John Dewhirst and New Zealander Kerry Hamill dived into the water and were picked up by the Khmer Rouge boats. Dewhirst and Hamill were later transported to S-21 prison in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

where they were tortured and forced to write confessions. Dewhirst was executed in late August and Hamill was executed in October 1978.

References

External links

Koh Tang/Mayaguez Veterans Organization
{{Portal bar, Cambodia Sihanoukville (city) Populated places in Sihanoukville province Important Bird Areas of Cambodia Islands of Cambodia Islands of the Gulf of Thailand