The Palawan Passage is a natural waterway in the southeastern

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

to the west of the island of

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

in the

Philippine Islands The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It is deep and relatively free of navigational hazards, making it an important shipping route. The entire Palawan Passage lies within the

exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and in waters the

Government of the Philippines The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is Central government, governed as a unitary state under a presidential system, presidential representativ ...

refers to as the ''

West Philippine Sea West Philippine Sea (; or ''Karagatang Kanlurang Pilipinas''; abbreviated as WPS) is the designation by the government of the Philippines to the parts of the South China Sea that are included in the country's exclusive economic zone. The term i ...

''.

Geography

The Palawan Passage is a deep-water channel in the southeastern

lying between the island of

in the

to its east and Dangerous Ground, an area of the South China Sea, to its west. It is centered roughly around . The Palawan Passage is wide.''United States Coast Pilot'', p. 127. Its eastern edge is marked by the curve, which lies from off the west coast of Palawan. The area between the coast of Palawan and the 100-fathom curve is a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

studded with

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s and

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...

s. To the west of the passage lies Dangerous Ground, a poorly surveyed and charted area of the southeastern South China Sea which includes numerous reefs, shoals, and rocks. In contrast to the dangers to

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

in the waters to its east and west, the Palawan Passage offers a deep-water, northeast–southwest shipping channel with only two hazards in its fairway,

Royal Captain Shoal Royal Captain Shoal, also known as Kanduli Shoal (); Mandarin ; , is an atoll in the South China Sea and a part of Spratly Islands. It is located in the vicinity of Northeast Investigator Shoal and Half Moon Shoal, at the eastern edge of the are ...

with its northernmost point at Observation Rock at , and Bombay Shoal with its northeastern extremity at Madagascar Rock at . The narrowest part of Palawan Passage lies between Royal Captain Shoal and the bank off Palawan.

Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

s rarely cross the Palawan Passage, although when they pass to its north they can create strong winds and unsettled weather in the passage.

Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

weather is somewhat unpredictable, but generally the passage enjoys its calmest weather in May and early June.''United States Coast Pilot'', p. 128. In late June and July, weather becomes more unsettled, with periods of seven to ten days of rain, clouds, and

squall A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed lasting minutes, as opposed to a wind gust, which lasts for only seconds. They are usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. Squalls refer to the ...

s alternating with good weather. A strong west-southwesterly wind usually blows along the passage during September and October, with dark clouds and rain common. The weather is variable in November and December, with November particularly prone to strong southwesterly winds. During the

northeast monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscill ...

, between October and December, the passage tends to enjoy calmer weather than the area of the South China Sea to the west of Dangerous Ground.

Currents Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (hy ...

in the Palawan Passage tend to be weak. The Palawan Passage offers a direct route from 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), ...

via the

Sunda Strait The Sunda Strait () is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java island, Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean. Etymology The strait takes its name from the Sunda Kingdom, which ruled the western portion of Ja ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

in the Philippines, as well as an alternative to routes farther west in the South China Sea between Manila,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

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 ...

for ships seeking to avoid some of the rougher weather associated with the northeast monsoon.

History

During the Pacific campaign of

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 ...

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s operated in the Palawan Passage to attack Japanese shipping. On October 23, 1944, the first day of the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf () 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital sh ...

, the U.S. submarines and attacked an

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

task force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...

under the command of

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Takeo Kurita was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Kurita commanded IJN 2nd Fleet, the main Japanese attack force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history. Biography Early life Takeo Kurit ...

as it passed through the Palawan Passage on its way from

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

to the

Sibuyan Sea The Sibuyan Sea is a small sea in the Philippines separating Luzon and the Visayas. It is bounded by the island of Panay to the south, Mindoro to the west, Masbate to the east, and to the north Marinduque and the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon. ...

and

San Bernardino Strait The San Bernardino Strait () is a strait in the Philippines, connecting the Samar Sea with the Philippine Sea. It separates the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon from Samar (island), Samar of Visayas. History During an ill-fated expedition, only one ship ...

. ''Darter''

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

ed the

heavy cruiser A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...

s — ''Kurita''′s

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

— and , sinking ''Atago'' and badly damaging ''Takao'', and ''Dace'' torpedoed and sank the heavy cruiser . ''Takao'' turned back for Brunei, and as ''Darter'' and ''Dace'' shadowed her, ''Darter'' was wrecked without loss of life on Bombay Shoal. ''Takao'' eventually reached

, but was never seaworthy again. In 2011, the

began to refer to the waters of the South China Sea that lie within the

of the

as the

. The entire Palawan Passage lies within the West Philippine Sea.

Cultural site

The

Tabon Caves The Tabon Caves is a cave system located in Lipuun Point, Panitian, Quezon, Palawan in the Philippines. Dubbed as the country's "cradle of civilization", it is a site of archaeological importance due to the number of jar burials and prehistor ...

, a

cave system Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock s ...

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...

on Palawan and the site of prehistoric human remains and

jar burial Jar burial is a human burial custom where the corpse is placed into a large earthenware container and then interred. Jar burials are a repeated pattern at a site or within an archaeological culture. When an anomalous burial is found in which a co ...

s, is located at Lipuun Point between two arms of the Palawan Passage, Malanut Bay to the east and Nakoda Bay to the west.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * * {{South China Sea South China Sea Marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean Seas of Asia