 View of Diamond Rock from the west | |
  Diamond Rock | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Martinique |
| Coordinates | 14°26′36″N 61°2′21″W / 14.44333°N 61.03917°W |
| Administration | |
Diamond Rock (French: rocher du Diamant) is a 175-metre-high (574 ft)[1] basalt island located south of "Grande Anse du Diamant" before arriving from the south at Fort-de-France, the main port of the Caribbean island of Martinique. The uninhabited island is about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Pointe Diamant.
The island gets its name from the reflections that its sides cast at certain hours of the day, which evoke images of a precious stone. It is notable for having been commissioned by the British Empire's Royal Navy as HMS Diamond Rock, a "stone frigate" serving from February 1804 until June 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars, when the First French Empire captured the rock in the Battle of Diamond Rock and held it until the British recaptured it in the invasion of Martinique in 1809. Diamond Rock was returned to French control as part of a postwar trade of Martinique in 1815, and it remains part of Martinique.
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