Bombay Castle (South China Sea)
shoal with a lighthouse in the South China Sea
Bombay Castle, also known in Vietnamese: Đá Ba Kè; Mandarin Chinese: 蓬勃堡; pinyin: Péngbó Bǎo;, is a reef with a lighthouse in the Rifleman Bank of the southern Spratly Islands. It is occupied by Vietnam, but also claimed by China (PRC) and Taiwan (ROC).
Location and topography
Bombay Castle consists of a submerged reef located between 07°50′N 111°40′E and 07°56′N 111°42′E (between 7.833°N 111.667°E / 7.833; 111.667 and 7.933°N 111.700°E / 7.933; 111.700) at the northern end of Rifleman Bank. At its shallowest point, it has a depth of 3 metres (9.8 ft) consisting of sand and coral. It is 80 miles (130 km) east of Huyền Trân (Alexandra Bank) and nearly 80 miles (130 km) west of An Bang (Amboyna Cay).
Bombay Castle has a 22.5 metres (74 ft) tall lighthouse on steel pilings that was built in 1995. The lighthouse is two storied, with accommodation for the lighthouse keepers and a dish antenna.
The reef is named after the East Indiaman Bombay Castle.
DK1 rigs
In addition to the lighthouse (DK1/21), three other DK1 rigs ("economic, scientific and technological service stations") have been constructed by Vietnam in this area. The current (2015) cluster has 3 rigs in use.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bombay Castle (South China Sea)” is shoal with a lighthouse in the South China Sea. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bombay, Castle and South, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “shoal with a lighthouse in the South China Sea” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17151732. Authority coordinates are 7.833, 111.667. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1995 and 2015.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Bombay Castle (South China Sea)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Bombay Castle (South China Sea) primary sources, Bombay Castle (South China Sea) archive and Bombay research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Bombay Castle (South China Sea)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.