Côn Sơn Island

Its French variant Grande-Condore was well-known during the times of French Indochina. Marco Polo mentioned the island in the description of his 1292 voyage from China to India under the name Sondur and Condur.Sir Henry Yule (ed.), The Book of Ser Marco Polo (London, Murray, 1921), Volume 2, 280–283. In Ptolemy's Geography, they are referred to as the Isles of the Satyrs.Albert Herrmann, "Der Magnus Sinus und Cattigara nach Ptolemaeus" (The Sinus Magnus and Cattigara according to Ptolemy), International Geographical Congress, Comptes Rendus du Congrès International de Géographie, Amsterdam, 1938, Leiden, Brill, 1938, tome II, section IV, p.127. The medieval Arabic/Persian name for Pulo Condor was Sundar Fulat ({{lang|fa|صندر فولات}}, {{transl|fa|Ṣundar Fūlāt}}).Soleyman, سلسلة التواريخ / Silsilat at-Tawârîkh / Chaine des Chroniques, p. 21; in Abū Zayd Ḥasan ibn Yazīd Sīrāfī, Relation des Voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans l'Inde et à la Chine dans le IXe siècle de l'ère chrétienne: Texte arabe… traduction française et d'éclaircissements par M. [Joseph Toussaint] Reinaud, Paris, Imprimerie royale, 1845, Tome II.[https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rv74n59pdjvog2g/AAB9wOXWWBaz3_KnVtkrVWoHa?dl=0 Robert J. King, "Pulo Condor, Isles of the Satyrs", Mapping in Action, Canberra, September 2019]

In {{circa|767}}, the Java (Daba) fleets from Shailendra dynasty were laid a military attacks. The Cambodian inscriptions were generally said the fleets was Malayan, Sumatran, Javanese, or all of them, quickly seized the island. At that time, the island was used by Javanese pirates to conducting numerous military raids on Champa and Chiaou-Chou.{{Cite web |last=Risa |first=Herdahida Putri |date=2019-06-12 |title=Ekspedisi Mataram Kuno ke Luar Jawa |url=https://historia.id/kuno/articles/ekspedisi-mataram-kuno-ke-luar-jawa-PNep8 |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=Historia.id |language=id}}{{Sfn|Lawrence|1951|p=69}}

In 1702, the English East India Company founded a settlement on this island (the English called it 'Pulo Condore' after its Malay name, Pulau Kundur فولاو كوندور) off the south coast of southern Vietnam, and in 1705 the garrison and settlement were destroyed.

In 1787, through the Treaty of Versailles, Nguyễn Ánh (the future Emperor Gia Long) promised to cede Poulo Condor to the French. In exchange Louis XVI promised to help Nguyễn Ánh to regain the throne, by supplying 1,650 troops (1,200 Kaffir troops, 200 artillery men and 250 black soldiers) on four frigates.Chapuis, p 175Kamm, p 86

In 1861, the French colonial government established Côn Đảo Prison on the island to house political prisoners. In 1954, it was turned over to the South Vietnamese government, who continued to use it for the same purpose. Notable prisoners held at Côn Sơn in the 1930s included Phạm Văn Đồng, Nguyễn An Ninh and Lê Đức Thọ.

Not far from the prison is Hàng Dương Cemetery, where some of the prisoners were buried.

During the Vietnam War the prison was used to hold political prisoners and captured Vietcong and People's Army of Vietnam soldiers.

The prison on Côn Sơn Island was closed in 1975 after the Fall of Saigon. The facilities were reopened with improved conditions some years later however, to temporarily incarcerate boat people captured by local coast guards until the late 1980s.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

At the request of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, the U.S. Coast Guard started pre-construction plans for a chain of Loran-C radio stations to serve Southeast Asia 15 January 1966 in support of Operation Tight Reign during the Vietnam War.Larzelere, p 193Scotti, p 91 The actual construction of Station Con Son began during April with the delivery of construction materials by {{USCGC|Nettle|WAK-169|}} and award of construction contracts to Morrison-Knudsen Corp. and Brown and Root Company.Larzelere, p 200 Station Con Son was one of five stations in the Southeast Asia chain and was designated SH-3 Yankee. It consisted of a {{convert|625|foot|m|}} tower, transmitter equipment buildings, fuel tanks, generators and barracks for personnel located on the north end of Con Son Island. The personnel complement for the station was two officers and 23 enlisted men. After commissioning on 2 September 1966 the station began the testing phase of operations and the five station chain was fully operational by 04:00 on 28 October,Scotti, p 94 just nine months after the initial request from the Department of Defense.Johnson, p 337Larzelere, p 203 The station provided, along with its sister stations in the chain, signals that allowed aircraft and ships to receive accurate all-weather positioning data for navigation purposes. During January 1973 the operation of the station was turned over to civilian contractors who were responsible to the United States Coast Guard for all functions of the station. The Coast Guard continued to supply logistical and technical support on an as needed basis.Larzelere, p 270 When the fall of the South Vietnamese government was imminent, Station Con Son was directed to stay on the air until the last possible minute to provide navigation signals to aircraft and ships fleeing South Vietnam. Station Con Son stayed on the air until 1246 local time on 29 April 1975, after which the crew over-sped the generators and damaged critical pieces of electronic gear.Larzelere, p 278

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last=Chapuis|first=Oscar M.|year=1995|title=History of Vietnam:From Hong Bang to Tu Duc|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-0-313-29622-2}}
• {{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Robert Erwin|year=1987|title=Guardians of the Sea: History of the United States Coast Guard, 1915 to the Present|publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis|isbn=978-0-87021-720-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/guardiansofseahi00john}}
• {{cite book|last=Kamm|first=Henry|year=2002|title=Dragon Ascending|publisher=Arcade Books|isbn=978-1-61145-078-1}}
• {{cite book|last =Kelley|first= Michael P.|year=2002|title=Where We Were in Vietnam|publisher=Hellgate Press, Central Point, OR|isbn=978-1-55571-625-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Larzelere|first=Alex|year=1997|title=The Coast Guard at War, Vietnam, 1965–1975|publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis|isbn=978-1-55750-529-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Perlstein|first=Rick|title=Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dM_enWzoghoC&pg=PA515|date=2010|location=New York|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4516-0626-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Scotti|first=Paul C.|year=2000|title=Coast Guard Action in Vietnam:Stories of Those Who Served|publisher=Hellgate Press, Central Point, Oregon|isbn=978-1-55571-528-1}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite book|last=Brown|first=Holmes and Don Luce|year=1973|title=Hostages of War; Saigon's Political Prisoners|publisher=Indochina Mobile Education Project}}
• {{cite book|last=Valentine|first=Douglas|year=2000|title=The Phoenix Program|publisher=Backinprint.com|isbn=978-0-595-00738-7}}
• {{Cite book |last=Lawrence |first=Palmer Briggs |url=https://ia600308.us.archive.org/25/items/1005620/1005620.pdf |title=The ancient Khmer Empire |publisher=American Philosophical Society |year=1951 |location=Philadelphia}}

• [http://www.vietnam-holidays.co.uk/home/des-con-dao.htm The Con Dao Archipelago] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225604/http://www.vietnam-holidays.co.uk/home/des-con-dao.htm |date=2016-03-03 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070419135928/http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/pwork/0511/051116.htm The Tiger Cages of Con Son]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070429123510/http://www.vietnamese-american.org/hoa.html THEN THE AMERICANS CAME – Mrs. Truong My Hoa]
• The Kun Lun Shan islands are shown on sheet 11 of the Mao Kun map [https://www.loc.gov/resource/g7821rm.gct00058/?st=gallery Wu Bei Zhi at the Library of Congress]

{{British overseas territories}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Con Son Island}}

Category:Islands of Vietnam

Category:Vietnam War sites

Category:Landforms of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu province

Category:Islands of the South China Sea

Category:1702 establishments in the British Empire

Category:Former British colonies and protectorates in Asia