Port Hamilton (Geomundo Islands) circa 1910-1920. Robert Neff Collection

On February 24, 1893, the British warship, HMS Caroline, sailed along the coast of Korea near Geomundo Islands. On board was 32-year-old Sub-Lieutenant William Stanley Lambert – an officer who was definitely not happy. He had been temporarily assigned to this ship to replace a lieutenant who, “in an evil moment,” had become too ill to go to sea.

For nearly a month, Lambert would sail with HMS Caroline as it traveled to Shanghai, Geomundo Islands, various ports in Japan and then return to Hong Kong. Lambert was no stranger to Korean waters. In fact, amongst the crew, he was probably the first to visit the kingdom – even before it opened to the West – when he was only 12 years old.

His is an interesting history, but Lambert is not the protagonist nor subject of this article, it is his Captain, Charles J. Norcock, and what he viewed on that night.

It was just after 10 p.m., When Captain Norcock witnessed a strange spectacle of lights in the sky about 30 kilometers off the coast of Jeju Island. According to Norcock:

“It was a windy, cold, moonlight night. My first impression was that they were either some fires on shore, apparently higher from the horizon than a ship’s masthead, or some junk’s ‘flare up’ lights........

© The Korea Times