Ship Docked In Charlotte Amalie,U.S. Virgin Islands. Editorial Photo

Charlotte Amalie,located on the island of St. Thomas, is the capital and the largest city of the United States Virgin Islands, founded in 1666 as Taphus meaning `beer house` or `beer hall`. In 1691, the town was renamed to Charlotte Amalie after Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel 1650–1714, queen consort to King Christian V of Denmark-Norway. It has a deep-water harbor that was once a haven for pirates and is now one of the busiest ports of call for cruise ships in the Caribbean, with about 1.5 million/plus cruise ship passengers landing there annually. Protected by Hassel Island, the harbor has docking and fueling facilities, machine shops, and shipyards and was a U.S. submarine base until 1966. The Town has been inhabited for centuries.