Thank you for visiting the Ascension Island page

 We have included an Ascension Island link as Ascension Island is almost in the middle of the South Atlantic it is also a dependency of St. Helena, which lies some 702 miles to the southeast.

Ascension is more well known as it was well recognised  in in 1982 during the Falklands war

 Ascension is only 34 sq. miles it has a volcanic origin, It is a rugged, dry, and barren, most of the surface of Ascension is covered by basalt lava flows and cinder cones but has superb white sandy beaches.

Ascension was first discovered in 1501 by Juan da Nova Castella, a Portuguese sailor. The discovery apparently went unrecorded, and the Island was re-discovered on Ascension Day 1503 by Alfonso d'Albuquerque. Subsequently Ascension was little visited; it was too dry and barren to be of any use to the East Indies fleets. Ascension became strategically significant with the exile of Napoleon to St. Helena; the British were concerned that it could be used in any attempt to rescue Napoleon. Thus a small British naval garrison was established on the Island in October 1815. By Napoleon's death in 1821 Ascension had become a victualling station and sanatorium for ships engaged in the slave trade from the West African coast. In 1823 the garrison was taken over by the Royal Marines and the Island remained a naval possession until 1922 when Ascension became a dependency of St. Helena. In 1942 US Army Engineers built the airfield, but after W.W.II the Island reverted back to the sole use of Cable and Wireless. In 1957 the US presence was re-established on Ascension with the extension of the Eastern Test Range followed by the construction of a NASA tracking station in 1967. In 1966 the BBC constructed a short wave relay station to serve South America and Africa.

Ascension came to an international notice during the Falklands war when it served as a staging post for the British forces en route to and from the Falklands. Ascension has a population of about 1000 and is a communications centre for V T Merlin Communications, Cable and Wireless, Royal Air Force & United States Air Force. A resident Administrator governs Ascension;

Ascension has now formed a Government and has introduced taxation to the Island

 Ascension Island has an airstrip an at present the only possible way to access the Island is on RAF Flights from RAF Brize Norton as a casual visitor, provisional permission has been granted to allow civilian flights in the near future. There is a small amount of accommodation available on the Island. With very limited amount of facilities to offer the average tourist.