Harbor, a partly
enclosed water area used by vessels that are seeking protection from storms or
accommodation for transferring cargo, taking on fuel, making repairs, or
obtaining supplies.
Types of Harbors. When the partially
enclosed area is protected from storms and waves by the natural configuration
of the land, it is called a natural harbor. Examples of such harbors are
New York, Boston, and San Francisco in the United States; Antwerp, Belgium; Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil; Hong Kong; Tokyo; and Sydney, Australia. Sydney has one of
the most spacious and protected natural harbors in the world.
Many harbors require
protection from the effects of waves. This may be accomplished by building
breakwaters or by creating a protected area inland by dredging an approach
channel and a harbor area. A protected area of this kind is called an artificial
harbor, examples of which are Le Havre, France; Matarani,
Peru; and Buffalo, N.Y.
When a harbor is partly
natural and partly artificial, such as an inlet or a river sheltered on two
sides by headlands and protected on the entrance side by a breakwater, it is
called a seminatural harbor. Cherbourg,
France, has a seminatural harbor.
Harbors are further
classified with respect to their chief use. Thus there are harbors of refuge,
military harbors, and commercial harbors.
A harbor of refuge
is a protected water area used solely as a haven for ships in a storm, or a
part of a commercial harbor with adequate space for a separate anchorage area
that does not interfere with the commercial traffic. The essential features of
a good harbor of refuge are safe access from the sea during bad weather and a
good holding bottom for the ship's anchors. A well-known harbor of refuge is
the mouth of Delaware Bay near Cape May, N. J. Dover, England, has a combined
harbor of refuge and commercial harbor.
A military harbor
is a naval base for servicing naval vessels. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is a
well-known naval base.
A commercial harbor
is one that has docking facilities consisting of piers, wharves, or dolphins at
which ships berth while loading or discharging cargo. Many of the large
commercial harbors in cities are municipal, or government-controlled, harbors
operated by port authorities. New York, Los Angeles, and London harbors are
examples. Some commercial harbors are owned and operated by private industry;
for example, Taconite Harbor, in Minnesota, is operated by an iron-ore mining
company.
History. Practically all ancient
harbors of importance were in the Mediterranean Sea. Most of these harbors were
built of massive masonry and lasted for centuries. The construction of two
harbors or basins, with a connection between them, was very common in ancient
times. The harbors, which were government-controlled, were often used both for
war vessels and for commercial vessels carrying trade between nations.
Harbors were built in the
Mediterranean as early as 3500 B.C. Two of the earliest were Sidon and Tyre, which were constructed by the Phoenicians. By 700 B.C.
the Phoenician colonists had spread over the shores of the Mediterranean,
establishing harbors in Sicily, Sardinia, the northern coast of Africa, and
Spain. Of these, Carthage was the most famous.
In 331 B.C., Alexander the
Great founded the port of Alexandria, which was formed by constructing a mole,
or embankment, to the isle of Pharos to take advantage of the protection
afforded by the island. This embankment was 4,200 feet (1,280 meters) long and
600 feet (183 meters) wide, and contained more than 2 million cubic yards (1.53
million cubic meters) of material. Its construction, by manual labor, was a
monumental task.
The harbors of ancient
Greece were smaller but of interesting design. They were generally circular in
shape. The harbor of Piraeus, about 6 miles (10 km) from Athens, was one of the
chief harbors of ancient Greece. It was destroyed by the Romans in 86 B.C.
The Italian coast has
fewer natural harbors than the Greek coast. As a result, the Romans advanced
the art of constructing artificial harbors with surrounding breakwaters of
solid masonry built in the dry on the sea bottom enclosed by cofferdams. Portus (the port of Rome), Anzio, and Terracina
are examples of Roman harbors with breakwaters.
During the period from the
fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the 18th century the ancient
harbors fell into decay, and no harbor works of any importance were built. Work
on harbors revived at the beginning of the 18th century; by its close, there
were numerous harbor facilities to handle new and larger ships.
Alonzo DeF. Quinn
Author of Design and
Construction of Ports and Marine Structures
Source: "Harbor." Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0193410-00 (accessed August 13, 2007).