Convict's Bay, Bermuda

Convicts' Bay (better known as Convict Bay) is a bay located in St. George's Harbour on the eastern side of St. George's Town on St. George's Island Bermuda and near to Ordnance Island.

United Kingdom
His Majesty's
Naval Service
of the British Armed Forces
Components
  • Special Forces
History and future
Ships
Personnel
Auxiliary services
Convict Bay
Map of St George's Town and Garrison, including Convict Bay, ca. 1899
Coordinates32°22′49″N 64°40′25″W
TypeRoyal Engineers Yard. Company offices
Site information
OwnerWar Office
Operator British Army
Site history
Built1864
Built forWar Office
In use1864–1957
Garrison information
GarrisonSt. George's Garrison, Bermuda, Bermuda Garrison
OccupantsRoyal Engineers

The bay was part of the a Royal Navy base in Bermuda, which was at St. George's from 1795 through the American War of 1812, pending construction of the Royal Naval Dockyard. It was subsequently part of St. George's Garrison until the 1950s, with HMCS Somers Isles, a Royal Canadian Navy training base, established there during the Second World War.

History

Convicts' Bay was named after the use of the area as a prison. The British administration used obsolete warships as floating prisons, prison hulks, in New York City during the American War of Independence and applied them to use on the island. In 1799, a hulk was towed to Somerset Island, Bermuda and one more by 1824. Several would be used at the Royal Naval Dockyard and one at Convict Bay. Convict Bay was transferred to the Army in the 1860s (along with other Admiralty properties at the East End and in the Central parishes), and the army merged the facility with the adjacent St. George's Garrison, which overlooked it, and used the bay for various purposes (initially as a Royal Engineers yard) until the Second World War. The military detachments housed there were withdrawn to make way for the Royal Canadian Navy's HMCS Somers Isles for the duration of the war. It was part of the War Office and Admiralty lands slated for disposal in the 1950s.

Today

After the departure of the military from Convict Bay and the rest of St. George's Garrison, the area is now a residential neighbourhood. Streets in the area reflect the neighbourhood's past:

  • Convict's Bay Lane
  • Barrack Hill
  • Barrack Street
  • Old Military Road
  • Grenadier Lane
  • Red Coat Lane


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