View source for Macclesfield Bank

{{short description|Underwater atoll in the South China Sea}}
{{redirect|Zhongsha}}
{{Infobox islands
| disputed                   = yes
| name                       = Macclesfield Bank
| type                       = reefs and shoal
| plural                     = yes
| other_names                = Middle Sand Islands<ref>{{cite book |last=Jones |first = Gareth Wyn |year=2002|chapter=Provinces|editor1=Boland-Crewe, Tara |editor2=Lea, David|title=The Territories of the People's Republic of China |location=London|publisher=Europa Publications|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=V3SOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 101] |isbn=978-0-203-40311-2 }}</ref>
| image_name                 = Macclesfield.png
| image_size                 = 250px
| image_caption              = Macclesfield Bank
| location                   = [[South China Sea]]
| coordinates                = {{coord|16|00|N|114|30|E|name=South China Sea Islands center|display=inline,title}}
| total_islands              = 0
| major_islands              = None
| area_km2                   = 6448
| area_footnotes             = {{nbsp}}total, 0 km<sup>2</sup> land surface/islets
| length_km                  = 130
| width_km                   = 70
| elevation_m                = -9.2
| highest_mount              = Unnamed point below sea level
| country                    = [[China|People's Republic of China]]
| country_admin_divisions_title = [[Prefecture-level city]] <br /> [[Provinces of China|Province]]
| country_admin_divisions    = [[Sansha]]<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.mca.gov.cn/article/zwgk/mzyw/201206/20120600325063.shtml |script-title = zh:民政部关于国务院批准设立地级三沙市的公告 |trans-title = Ministry of Civil Affairs Announcement about the State Council Approval of the Establishment of the Prefecture-level City of Sansha |date = 21 June 2012 |author = Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China |author-link = Ministry of Civil Affairs |language = zh-CN |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120625055300/http://www.mca.gov.cn/article/zwgk/mzyw/201206/20120600325063.shtml |archive-date = 25 June 2012 |url-status = dead |access-date = 21 June 2012 }}</ref> <br /> <br /> [[Hainan]]
| country1                   = [[Taiwan|Republic of China (Taiwan)]]
| country1_admin_divisions_title = [[Special municipality (Taiwan)|Municipality]]
| country1_admin_divisions   = [[Kaohsiung]]
| country2                   = 
| population                 = None
}}
[[File:Macclesfield Bank 1920 nautical chart.jpg|thumb|upright=3|A 1920 American nautical chart, based on British surveys - depths in fathoms]]
{{GeoGroupTemplate}}

'''Macclesfield Bank''' is an elongated sunken [[atoll]] of underwater reefs and shoals in the [[South China Sea]]. It lies east of the [[Paracel Islands]], southwest of [[Pratas Island]] and north of the [[Spratly Islands]]. It is about {{convert|130|km|0|abbr=on}} long from southwest to northeast, and about {{convert|70|km|0|abbr=on}} wide at its broadest part. <ref name="EnRoute">{{cite enroute|161|2020|6}}</ref> With an ocean area of {{convert|6448|km²|0|abbr=on}} it is one of the largest atolls in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tordesillas |first=Ellen |date=2014-09-08 |title=Justice Carpio: China's 9-dashed line- grand theft of Global Commons |url=https://verafiles.org/articles/justice-carpio-chinas-9-dashed-line-grand-theft-of-global-commons |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=VERA Files |language=en-US}}</ref> The Macclesfield Bank is part of what [[China]] calls the [[Zhongsha Islands]], which includes a number of geographically separate submarine features, and also refers to a county-level administrative division.

== History ==
Macclesfield banks reportedly were named after British ship named ''Macclesfield'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Chemillier-Gendreau|first=Monique|title=Sovereignty Over the Paracel and Spratly Islands|date=2000|publisher=Kluwer Law International|isbn=9041113819}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=China Sea pilot, Volume 1 |date=2010 |publisher=UKHO - United Kingdom Hydrographic Office |location=Taunton |url=https://www.ukho.gov.uk/PRODUCTSANDSERVICES/PAPERPUBLICATIONS/Pages/NauticalPubs.aspx |edition=8th |access-date=2018-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321094148/https://www.ukho.gov.uk/PRODUCTSANDSERVICES/PAPERPUBLICATIONS/Pages/NauticalPubs.aspx |archive-date=2014-03-21 |url-status=live }}</ref> though there is some ambiguity which vessel this was. By one account, the vessel was the British [[East India Company]] [[East Indiaman]] {{ship||Macclesfield|1699 ship|2}}, which mapped and recorded the shoals in early 1701 on her way back to England from China.<ref>{{cite book |last=Horsburgh |first=James |year=1852 |title=India Directory, Or Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, China, Australia, and the Interjacent Ports of Africa and South America |volume=2 |page=349 |publisher=William H. Allen & Company}}</ref> An alternative origin story attributes the name to an HMS ''Macclesfield'' that reportedly ran aground in the vicinity of these shoals in 1804.<ref>{{cite web|title=Timeline |url=http://www.spratlys.org/history/spratly-islands-history-timeline.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106051041/http://www.spratlys.org/history/spratly-islands-history-timeline.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 January 2008 |work=History of the Spratlys |publisher=www.spratlys.org |access-date=21 March 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?255578|title=HMS Macclesfield (+1804)|website=wrecksite.eu|accessdate=March 17, 2022}}</ref>{{efn|One problem with this attribution is that there is no record of any [[Royal Navy]] vessel named HMS ''Macclesfield''.<ref>{{Cite Colledge2006}}</ref><ref>* {{cite book |first1=Rif |last1=Winfield |title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates |edition=2nd |publisher=Seaforth Publishing|year=2008 |isbn=978-1-86176-246-7}}</ref> Furthermore, there is no record of an East Indiaman named ''Macclesfield'' in 1804.<ref>* {{cite book |last1=Hackman |first1=Rowan |year=2001 |title=Ships of the East India Company |location=Gravesend, Kent |publisher=World Ship Society |isbn=0-905617-96-7}}</ref> Nor is there any record of a Bombay country ship,<ref>{{cite book |last=Bulley |first=Anne |year=2000 |title=The Bombay Country Ships, 1790–1833 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0700712366}}</ref> or a Calcutta country ship,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Phipps|first1=John |year=1840|title=A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time ...|publisher=Scott}}</ref> named ''Macclesfield''.}}

In April 1888 {{HMS|Rambler|1880|6}}, under the command of [[William Usborne Moore]], with Percy Bassett-Smith as Surgeon-Naturalist, mapped the banks. They found a depth of {{convert|40|to|50|fathom|m}} inside the bank, with the rim rising to within {{convert|9|fathom|m}} of the surface. Dredging found live corals, showing that although entirely submerged, the bank was an actively growing reef.<ref name="Bassett-Smith1890">{{cite journal |last1=Bassett-Smith |first1=P.W. |title=Report on the corals from the Tizard and Macclesfield Banks, China Sea |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History |date=1890 |volume=6 |pages=353–374; 485–500 |doi=10.1080/00222939008694050 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/65098}}</ref>

== Geography ==
The broken [[coral reef]] rim of Macclesfield Bank, with a width of up to {{convert|8|km|0|abbr=on}}, has depths of {{convert|11.8|m|0|abbr=on}} at Pygmy Shoal on the northeast end of the bank and depths of 11.6 to {{convert|18|m|0|abbr=on}} elsewhere. Within the lagoon, [[Walker Shoal]] marks the least known depth of {{convert|9.2|m}}. In general, the central [[lagoon]] is very deep, with depths up to {{convert|100|m}}. While the bank is everywhere submerged, with no drying shoals, it is usually visible due to the turbulence it causes, the seas becoming "high and confused" in heavy weather.<ref name=EnRoute/>

The elongated atoll consists of the following shoals, clockwise starting in the northeast, and at the end the six named shoals in the lagoon:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! [[English language|English]]<br>Name ||[[Romanization of Chinese|Romanized]]<br>Name||[[Chinese language|Chinese]]<br>Name ||[[Geographic coordinate system|Coordinates]]||least<br>depth<br />([[fathom]]s)
|-
|Pigmy (Pygmy) Shoal||Biwei Ansha ||比微暗沙||{{coord|16|13|N|114|44|E|name=Pigmy Shoal}}||align="right"|7
|-
|Engeria (Egeria) Bank||Yinji Tan ||隱磯灘||{{coord|16|03|N|114|56|E|name=Engeria Bank}}||align="right"|10
|-
|Howard Shoal||Wuyong Ansha ||武勇暗沙||{{coord|15|52|N|114|47|E|name=Howard Shoal}}||align="right"|10
|-
|Learmonth Shoal||Jimeng Ansha ||濟猛暗沙||{{coord|15|42|N|114|41|E|name=Learmonth Shoal}}||align="right"|9
|-
|Plover Shoal ||Haijiu Ansha ||海鳩暗沙||{{coord|15|36|N|114|28|E|name=Plover Shoal}}||align="right"|10
|-
|Addington Patch||Anding Lianjiao ||安定連礁||{{coord|15|37|N|114|24|E|name=Addington Patch}}||align="right"|10
|-
|Smith Shoal ||Meixi Ansha ||美溪暗沙||{{coord|15|27|N|114|12|E|name=Smith Shoal}}||align="right"|9
|-
|Bassett Shoal||Bude Ansha ||布德暗沙||{{coord|15|27|N|114|10|E|name=Bassett Shoal}}||align="right"|9
|-
|Balfour Shoal||Bofu Ansha ||波洑暗沙 or 波伏暗沙||{{coord|15|27|N|114|00|E|name=Balfour Shoal}}||align="right"|8
|-
|Parry Shoal ||Paibo Ansha ||排波暗沙||{{coord|15|29|N|113|51|E|name=Parry Shoal}}||align="right"|8
|-
|Cawston Shoal||Guodian Ansha ||果淀暗沙||{{coord|15|32|N|113|46|E|name=Cawston Shoal}}||align="right"|10
|-
|Penguin Bank||Paihong Tan ||排洪灘||{{coord|15|38|N|113|43|E|name=Penguin Bank}}||align="right"|9
|-
|Tancred Shoal||Taojing Ansha ||濤靜暗沙||{{coord|15|41|N|113|54|E|name=Tanered Shoal}}||align="right"|10
|-
|Combe Shoal||Kongpai Ansha ||控湃暗沙||{{coord|15|48|N|113|54|E|name=Combe Shoal}}||align="right"|7
|-
|Cathy (Cathay) Shoal||Huaxia Ansha  ||華夏暗沙||{{coord|15|54|N|113|58|E|name=Cathy Shoal}}||align="right"|7
|-
|Siamese Shoal || Simen Ansha || 西門暗沙 || {{coord|15|58|N|114|03|E|name=Siamese Shoal}}||align="right"|9
|-
|Bankok Shoal||Bengu Ansha ||本固暗沙||{{coord|16|00|N|114|06|E|name=Bankok Shoal}}||align="right"|7
|-
|Magpie Shoal||Meibin Ansha ||美濱暗沙||{{coord|16|03|N|114|13|E|name=Magpie Shoal}}||align="right"|8
|-
|Carpenter Shoal||Luban Ansha ||魯班暗沙||{{coord|16|04|N|114|18|E|name=Carpenter Shoal}}||align="right"|8
|-
|Oliver Shoal||Zhongbei Ansha ||中北暗沙||{{coord|16|07|N|114|24|E|name=Oliver Shoal}}||align="right"|7
|-
|Hardy Patches<sup>1</sup>||Shitang Lianjiao ||石塘連礁||{{coord|16|02|N|114|46|E|name=Hardy Patches}}||align="right"|8
|-
|Hand Shoal<sup>1</sup>||Zhizhang Ansha ||指掌暗沙||{{coord|16|00|N|114|39|E|name=Hand Shoal}}||align="right"|9
|-
|Margesson Shoal<sup>1</sup>||Nanfei Ansha ||南扉暗沙||{{coord|15|55|N|114|38|E|name=Margesson Shoal}}||align="right"|8
|-
|[[Walker Shoal]]<sup>1</sup>||Manbu Ansha ||漫步暗沙||{{coord|15|55|N|114|29|E|name=Walker Shoal}}||align="right"|5
|-
|Phillip's Shoal<sup>1</sup>||Lexi Ansha ||樂西暗沙||{{coord|15|52|N|114|25|E|name=Phillip's Shoal}}||align="right"|9
|-
|Payne Shoal<sup>1</sup>||Pingnan Ansha ||屏南暗沙||{{coord|15|52|N|114|34|E|name=Payne Shoal}}||align="right"|8
|}
<sup>1</sup> inside lagoon

== Territorial claims ==
[[File:Karta CN SouthChinaSea.PNG|250px|thumb|[[South China Sea]]]]
Macclesfield Bank is claimed, in whole or in part, by [[China]]<ref name="NYTarticle">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/world/asia/china-criticizes-vietnam-in-dispute-over-islands.html?_r=1|date=June 21, 2012|access-date=June 28, 2012|title=Vietnam Law on Contested Islands Draws China's Ire|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623192608/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/world/asia/china-criticizes-vietnam-in-dispute-over-islands.html?_r=1|archive-date=June 23, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Taiwan]] (Republic of China).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&TNo=&ID=201205010041|date=May 5, 2012|access-date=June 28, 2012|title=Taiwan renews sovereignty claim over South China Sea islands|newspaper=Focus Taiwan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507154628/http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&TNo=&ID=201205010041|archive-date=May 7, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="USStateDept">{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/57674.pdf|date=November 15, 2005|access-date=July 1, 2012|title=Limits in the Seas - No. 127 Taiwan's Maritime Claims|publisher=United States Department of State|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101065954/https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/57674.pdf|archive-date=January 1, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

Jose Zaide, a Filipino diplomat of ambassadorial rank, has written that the Philippines does not claim the Macclesfield Bank.<ref name=mb_zaide>{{cite news|last=Zaide |first=Jose |title=Saan Siya? |url=http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/365375/saan-siya |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130113105304/http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/365375/saan-siya |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 13, 2013 |access-date=31 October 2012 |newspaper=Manila Bulletin |date=July 10, 2012 }}</ref> Moreover, Macclesfield Bank is not within UNCLOS 200 or Philippines EEZ.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southchinasea.org/files/2011/08/eez3_full.jpg|title=Allocation of South China Sea features|publisher=southchinasea.org|access-date=2016-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151217150401/http://www.southchinasea.org/files/2011/08/eez3_full.jpg|archive-date=2015-12-17|url-status=live}}</ref>

As the bank is entirely underwater, some scholars have raised questions regarding the legality of territorial claims upon it with regards to the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]] (UNCLOS).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://csis.org/publication/southeast-asia-corner-18th-and-k-streets-carpe-diem-time-end-strategic-ambiguity-south-c |title=Time to End Strategic Ambiguity in the South China Sea |author=Poling, Gregory |publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies |date=2012-07-05 |access-date=2012-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111748/http://csis.org/publication/southeast-asia-corner-18th-and-k-streets-carpe-diem-time-end-strategic-ambiguity-south-c |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="syh">{{cite book |title=Maritime Boundary Disputes, Settlement Processes, and the Law of the Sea (Publications on Ocean Development) |author1=Seoung-Yong Hong |author2=Jon M. Van Dyke |year=2009 |publisher=Brill |page=149}}</ref><ref name="ckl">{{cite book |title=China's Policy Towards Territorial Disputes: The Case of the South China Sea Islands |author=Chi-kin Lo |year=1989 |publisher=Routledge |page=25}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lo_D_AVFVM0C&q=macclesfield+bank+underwater+illegal&pg=PA12|author=Clive Ralph Symmons|title=Some Problems Relating to the Definition of "insular Formations" in International Law: Islands and Low-tide Elevations|page=12|publisher=[[International Boundaries Research Unit]]|year=1995|isbn=9781897643105}}</ref> However, the Philippines filed claim for another underwater feature, the [[Benham Rise]], in 2008 in compliance with the requirements of UNCLOS and UN officially approved the claim in April 2012.<ref name="BR Claim">{{cite web | title = UN approves PH territorial claim to Benham Rise | date = 28 April 2012 | url = http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/183779/un-approves-ph-territorial-claim-to-benham-rise | access-date = April 28, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120430090248/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/183779/un-approves-ph-territorial-claim-to-benham-rise | archive-date = April 30, 2012 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="UN Decision">[http://www.philstar.com/headlines/716909/un-decide-phl-claim-13-m-hectare-benham-rise UN to decide on Phl claim on 13-M hectare Benham Rise] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816174426/http://www.philstar.com/headlines/716909/un-decide-phl-claim-13-m-hectare-benham-rise |date=2016-08-16 }}, August 16, 2011, Philippine Star.</ref><ref name="UN Approval">[http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/183779/un-approves-ph-territorial-claim-to-benham-rise UN approves PH territorial claim to Benham Rise] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422070354/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/183779/un-approves-ph-territorial-claim-to-benham-rise |date=2016-04-22 }}, April 28, 2012, Philippine Daily Inquirer.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/06/09/1332626/doe-assess-resource-potential-benham-rise|title=DOE to assess resource potential of Benham Rise|date=June 9, 2014|newspaper=The Philippine Star|access-date=June 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817000641/http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/06/09/1332626/doe-assess-resource-potential-benham-rise|archive-date=August 17, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== See also ==
* [[Sansha]]
* [[Scarborough Shoal]]
* [[South China Sea]]

== External links ==
* [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/pollux/pollux.nss.nima.mil/NAV_PUBS/SD/pub161/161sec01.pdf Nautical Information]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040408131150/http://vm.nthu.edu.tw/southsea/english.mid.htm ROC's home page]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121106210603/http://sowf.moi.gov.tw/stat/year/y05-19.xls Taiwanese List]

{{-}}
{{Fisheries and fishing}}
{{Fishing by country}}
{{South China Sea}}
{{Territorial disputes in East and South Asia}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Undersea banks of the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Fishing areas of the South China Sea]]
[[Category:Disputed reefs]]
[[Category:Territorial disputes of China]]
[[Category:Territorial disputes of the Republic of China]]
[[Category:Lists of coordinates]]
[[Category:Zhongsha Islands]]
[[Category:Township-level divisions of Hainan]]
[[Category:Reefs of the South China Sea]]
[[Category:Atolls of the Pacific Ocean]]