Having the only deep-water harbor between
Mobile Bay and the
Mississippi River, the island served as a vital anchorage for ships bearing explorers, colonists, sailors, soldiers, defenders and invaders. The French, Spanish, British, Confederate and Union flags have all flown over Ship Island.
French explorer
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville charted Ship Island on 10 February 1699, which he used as a base of operations in discovering of the Mississippi River. The island served as a point of immigration to French colonies in the New World. Some immigrants died upon arrival at Ship Island, and their bodies were burned in a
furnace. In 1702, the island was named
Ile aux Vaisseaux and a base for the U.S. Second Regiment (
Louisiana Native Guards led by Colonel Nathan W. Daniels), a unit composed of African-American soldiers. On July 9, 1861, a twenty-minute cannon exchange between Confederates in Fort Twiggs and the screw steamer occurred. In 1862, the fort was renamed
Fort Massachusetts in honor of the Union warship which had seized the abandoned outpost. Construction on Fort Massachusetts was halted in 1866, although the fort was not fully completed. The January 4, 1862, edition of ''
Harper's Weekly'' describes Ship Island: In 1880, the island was designated as the country's first
quarantine station. The fort closed in 1903, and the quarantine station was placed on reserve status in 1916. In 1886, a wooden lighthouse was built to replace the brick lighthouse erected in 1853, which was damaged by waves. During
World War II, the
Coast Guard used the island for anti-submarine beach patrol. In 1942, the Army Air Corps used the quarantine station as a military recreation facility, as did
Keesler Air Force Base in 1955. In 1969,
Hurricane Camille with its tidal surge cut Ship Island into two distinct islands, to form East Ship Island and West Ship Island. The gap was known as the Camille Cut. In 1972, the original 1886 wooden lighthouse was accidentally burned down by campers. In 1998,
Hurricane Georges washed away a mile of East Ship Island's beach. In 1999, Friends of Gulf Islands National Seashore dedicated a commemorative reproduction of the 1886 wooden lighthouse. In August 2005,
Hurricane Katrina almost completely submerged East Ship Island. West Ship Island received most of the developed property damage as Katrina's tidal surge wiped out the visitor and employee facilities on the island, as well as the island's pier and boardwalk. These facilities included offices and sleeping quarters for National Park Service staff, public restrooms and showers, and the public concessions building. Fort Massachusetts received minimal damage and was soon reopened to the public. The pier and boardwalk were rebuilt as well. Temporary restrooms and a small concessions trailer were on the island while new facilities were rebuilt. The reproduction of the 1886 lighthouse was reduced to rubble. In 2008, Ship Island was surveyed just 2 weeks after
Hurricane Ike. Scientists had a difficult time finding the island. The eastern half of the island had completely disappeared, leaving only parts of the western half. It is unknown whether the island was eroded by Hurricane Ike, or if erosion occurred when
Hurricane Gustav hit just 2 weeks earlier. In April 2009, the rebuilding of the island's ranger station, restrooms, visitor center and snack bar washed away by Hurricane Katrina began and was scheduled to be completed in the Fall of 2009. As part of this rehabilitation, parts of Fort Massachusetts damaged by Hurricane Katrina are also being repaired. In June 2010,
containment booms encircled the island in an attempt to protect it from oil leaking from the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In early 2019, the US Army Corps of Engineers completed the project to rejoin the two islands, eliminating Camille Cut. File:ShipCatIslands ASTER 08sep05.jpg|Ship Island (right) before (April 2001, bottom) and after (September 2005, top) Hurricane Katrina. File:On Top of Fort Massachusetts.JPG|On the top of civil war era Fort Massachusetts on Ship Island. File:Ship Island, MS.JPG|Fort Massachusetts. File:Fort Mass.jpg|Entrance to Fort Massachusetts. == Activities ==