The Mozambique Channel (, , ) is an arm of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

located between the Southeast African countries of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. The channel is about long and across at its narrowest point, and reaches a depth of about off the coast of Mozambique. A warm current, the Mozambique Current, flows in a southward direction in the channel, leading into the Agulhas Current off the east coast of

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

Extent

The

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...

(IHO) defines the limits of the Mozambique Channel as follows: ::''On the North.'' A line from the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

of the River Rovuma () to Ras Habu, the northernmost point of Ile Grande Comore, the northernmost of the Comore (Comoro) Islands, to Cap d'Ambre (Cape Amber), the northern extremity of

(). ::''On the East.'' The west coast of Madagascar. ::''On the South.'' A line from Cap Sainte-Marie, the southern extremity of Madagascar to Ponto do Ouro on the mainland (). ::''On the West.'' The coast of

Islands in the channel

Comoros

* Grande Comore * Mohéli *

Anjouan Anjouan () is an autonomous volcanic island in the Comoro Islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean, part of the Comoros, Union of the Comoros. It is known in Comorian languages, Shikomori as Ndzuani, Ndzuwani or Nzwani, and, until the early twentie ...

France

Region of France France is Administrative divisions of France, divided into eighteen administrative regions (, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are Overseas departments and regions of France, ove ...

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

(claimed by

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

) * Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, district of

French Southern and Antarctic Lands The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (, TAAF) is an overseas territory ( or ) of France. It consists of: * Adélie Land (), the French claim on the continent of Antarctica. * Crozet Islands (), a group in the southern Indian Ocean, south ...

: ** Glorioso Islands (claimed by

and

) ** Juan de Nova Island (claimed by

) ** Europa Island (claimed by

) ** Bassas da India (claimed by

)

Mozambique

* Primeiras and Segundas Archipelago * Ilha do Fogo

History

World War II

''Graf Spee'' Incident

On 15 November 1939, under the command of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Patrick (Paddy) Dove, the British Coastal Tanker ''Africa Shell'' was plying through the Mozambique Channel en-passage from Quelimane to

Lourenço Marques Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

sailing in ballast. During the morning, at a point south-southwest from the lighthouse at Cape Zavora, she was spotted by the German Pocket Battleship , under the command of Captain Hans Langsdorff, and which was embarked upon a commerce raiding

sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warf ...

. ''Graf Spee'' ordered the ''Africa Shell'' to stop by the firing of a shot across her bow. Having stopped the ''Africa Shell,'' a cutter with a boarding party was despatched from ''Graf Spee'' and boarded the tanker, the officer in charge addressing Captain Dove in perfect English with the sentence, ''"Good morning, captain. Sorry; fortunes of war"''. The boarding party ordered the ship's company, save the ''Africa Shell's'' Master, into their lifeboats before stripping the ''Africa Shell'' of all

foodstuff Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

s including a small amount of

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

. The crew were ordered to row for shore, except for Captain Dove who was taken prisoner on board the ''Graf Spee''. Dove was incensed by the interception of his ship, and complained personally to Langsdorff, citing that the ''Africa Shell'' was within Portuguese territorial waters and that the action was in clear violation of

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. With the crew of the ''Africa Shell'' making their way to the shore and with Dove on ''Graf Spee,'' the boarding party set scuttling charges and re-embarked in the motor launch and made their way back to the ''Graf Spee''. Langsdorff and his crew observed the detonation of the charges which blew two holes in the ''Africa Shell's''

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

. Following this ''Graf Spee'' opened fire using some of her secondary armament of SK C/28 guns, sinking ''Africa Shell''.

Battle of Madagascar

In 1942, the Mozambique Channel was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

clashpoint during the Battle of Madagascar.

References

External links

Japanese Submarines at Madagascar and the Mozambique Channel
* {{Authority control Channels of the Indian Ocean Straits of Africa Borders of Mozambique Borders of Madagascar International straits Borders of the Comoros Borders of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands