1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Port Blair

Port Blair, the chief place in the convict settlement of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean, situated on the south-east shore of the South Andaman Island, in 11° 42′ N., 93° E. It derives its name from Lieut. Blair, R.N., who first occupied it in 1789, as a station for the suppression of piracy and the protection of shipwrecked crews. Abandoned on account of sickness in 1796, it was not again occupied until 1856. It possesses one of the best harbours in Asia, while its central position in the Bay of Bengal gives it immense advantage as a place of naval rendezvous. (See Andaman Islands.)