Dead Chest Island, British Virgin Islands
| Company type | Uninhabited island |
|---|---|
| Industry | Tourism (scuba diving and snorkeling) |
| Founded | N/A |
| Headquarters | British Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands |
Area served | N/A |
| Products | Scuba diving, snorkeling |
Dead Chest Island is situated approximately half a mile northeast of Deadman's Bay on Peter Island within the British Virgin Islands. The island remains uninhabited, devoid of fresh water sources and trees, and features only minimal vegetation. Historically, it served as a shooting range for the Royal Virgin Islands Police; this function ended after a firing range was established on Tortola following the inauguration of a nearby hotel on Peter Island. Currently, the island is designated as a National Park and is renowned for its excellent scuba diving and snorkeling opportunities.
Blackbeard and Stevenson
A widely circulated but unverified legend suggests that pirate Blackbeard abandoned his crew on Dead Chest Island, leaving each man with just a cutlass and a bottle of rum, resulting in most dying after about a month. This narrative appears to originate from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island along with his composition "Dead Man's Chest," rather than from authentic historical events. Stevenson encountered the term "Dead Man's Chest" in Charles Kingsley's 1871 work At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies, which includes a list of island names such as "The Dead Man’s Chest."
Kingsley observed that English buccaneers often assigned intimidating names to various islands, including "The Dead Man’s Chest" and "Rum Island," though these were less poetic. The song itself is an original creation by Stevenson, without any prior folklore to substantiate it. Although there is a slight discrepancy in names ("Dead Man's Chest" versus "Dead Chest"), their distinctiveness within the Virgin Islands strongly indicates they reference the same location.
In 1994, journalist Quentin van Marle voluntarily isolated himself on the island for 31 days, exceeding Blackbeard's alleged duration and marking the 100th anniversary of Stevenson's passing.
See also
- Little Sisters, a cluster of smaller islands within the British Virgin Islands
- Caja de Muertos