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8°41′35″N106°36′34″E / 8.69306°N 106.60944°E /8.69306; 106.60944
Côn Sơn ([kōnʂɤ̄ŋ]cong-suhng), also known asCôn Lôn is the largest island of theCôn Đảo archipelago, off the coast of southernVietnam.[1]
Its formerFrench name,Grande-Condore was popularly used during the times ofFrench Indochina.Marco Polo mentioned the island in the description of his 1292 voyage from China to India under the nameSondur andCondur.[2] InPtolemy'sGeography, they are referred to as theIsles of the Satyrs.[3] The medieval Arabic/Persian name for Pulo Condor was Sundar Fulat (صندر فولات,Ṣundar Fūlāt).[4][5]
Inc. 767, theJava (Daba) fleets fromShailendra dynasty were laid a military attacks. The Cambodian inscriptions were generally said the fleets wasMalayan,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 onChampa and Chiaou-Chou.[6][7]
In 1702, theEnglish East India Company founded a settlement on this island (theEnglish called it 'Pulo Condore' after itsMalay name, Pulau Kundur فولاو كوندور) off the south coast of southern Vietnam, and in 1705 the garrison and settlement were destroyed.
In 1787, through theTreaty of Versailles, Nguyễn Ánh (the future EmperorGia Long) promised to cede Poulo Condor to the French. In exchangeLouis XVI promised to help Nguyễn Ánh to regain the throne, by supplying 1,650 troops (1,200Kaffir troops, 200 artillery men and 250 black soldiers) on fourfrigates.[8][9]
In 1861, the French colonial government establishedCôn Đảo Prison on the island to housepolitical prisoners. In 1954, it was turned over to theSouth Vietnamese government, who continued to use it for the same purpose. Notable prisoners held at Côn Sơn in the 1930s includedPhạm Văn Đồng,Nguyễn An Ninh andLê Đức Thọ.[1]Not far from the prison isHàng Dương Cemetery, where some of the prisoners were buried.
During theVietnam War the prison was used to hold political prisoners and capturedVietcong andPeople's Army of Vietnam soldiers.
The prison on Côn Sơn Island was closed in 1975 after theFall of Saigon. The facilities were reopened with improved conditions some years later however, to temporarily incarcerateboat people captured by local coast guards until the late 1980s.[citation needed]
At the request ofSecretary of DefenseRobert McNamara, theU.S. Coast Guard started pre-construction plans for a chain ofLoran-C radio stations to serve Southeast Asia 15 January 1966 in support ofOperation Tight Reign during the Vietnam War.[10][11] The actual construction of Station Con Son began during April with the delivery of construction materials byUSCGC Nettle (WAK-169) and award of construction contracts toMorrison-Knudsen Corp. andBrown and Root Company.[12] Station Con Son was one of five stations in the Southeast Asia chain and was designated SH-3 Yankee. It consisted of a 625 foot (191 m) tower, transmitter equipment buildings, fuel tanks, generators and barracks for personnel located on the north end of Con Son Island.[1][11] 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,[13] just nine months after the initial request from the Department of Defense.[14][15] 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.[16] 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.[17]