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Whiddy Island (Irish: Oileán Faoide) [2] is an island near the head of Bantry Bay in Ireland. It is approximately 5.6 km (3.5 mi) long and 2.4 km (1.5 mi) wide. The topography comprises gently-rolling glacial till, with relatively fertile soil. [3]
The Whiddy Island disaster, also known as the Betelgeuse incident or Betelgeuse disaster, occurred on 8 January 1979, around 1:00 am, when the oil tanker Betelgeuse exploded in Bantry Bay, at the offshore jetty for the oil terminal at Whiddy Island, Ireland.
The Whiddy Island station was located on the eastern side of the island in Bantry Bay. Patrols and convoys for the waters to the southwest of Ireland were furnished by this station. [2] In all, five Curtiss Model H planes were based in Whiddy Island during 1918: BUNO *A1072, A1078, A1084, A3466, A4047, A4048. [3]
Travel on the island involves use of an extensive county road system, or city infrastructure depending on location, all of which act as feeders to the two state highways State Route 525 and State Route 20. Whidbey Island's State Routes 525/20 is the only nationally designated Scenic Byway on an island. It is appropriately named the "Whidbey ...
The main islands in the bay are Bere Island and Whiddy Island. Bere Island is located near the entrance to the bay. On the north side of the island is Berehaven Harbour and Castletown Bearhaven port. The town of Rerrin is the largest settlement on the island. The village of Ballynakilla is also located there.
Sheltering the head of the bay is Whiddy Island, site of a large oil terminal, originally owned by Gulf Oil. On 8 January 1979 the oil tanker Betelgeuse exploded, killing all 42 crew members, as well as seven employees at the terminal. The jetty was seriously damaged, but the storage tanks were not affected.
At the start of United States of America's involvement in the First World War five sites in Ireland; Queenstown, Wexford, Lough Foyle, Whiddy Island and Berehaven [3] were identified to be operated by the United States Navy in support of allied operations against enemy submarines.
The INPC acquired the Whiddy Island Terminal, destroyed in the 1979 Whiddy Island disaster, in 1985, [6] which it repaired and reopened by 1998. [7] The National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) was created in 1995 as a subsidiary of INPC and as of 2020 continues to manage Ireland's strategic oil reserves. [8]