It first came into British possession in 1815 when it was claimed in the name of King George III to prevent the French from using it as a base from which to recapture Napoleon who was in exile on St Helena. The Eastern Telegraph Company first came to the island in 1899 when a cable link was built between Britain and South Africa via St Helena and Ascension. Within a few years the island was established as an important station on long- distance submarine cable routes to South America. The telegraph cable link of 1899 Telegraph cable being pulled ashore at Comfortless Cove, 1899. The 'Exiles' Club at Ascension, photographed in the 1930's.
Giant turtles are indigenous to the island.
Green Mountain as seen from the weather post on Ascension. IN 1922 THE British Naval garrison withdrew from Ascension and the Island came under the control of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. They passed it entirely into the hands of the Eastern Telegraph Company whose employees doubled up with official posts, with, for example, the Manager acting as the island's resident magistrate. During both World Wars, Ascension was vital to communications and operations. In 1942 about 4,000 US servicemen arrived to construct an airstrip for warplanes on their way from America to North Africa.