The Beagle Channel
Beagle Channel is a strait separating islands of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, in extreme southern South America. It separates Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego from several smaller islands to the south. Its eastern portion is part of the border between Chile and Argentina, but the western part is completely within Chile. Beagle Channel is about 150 miles long and is about three miles wide at its narrowest point. Although it is navigable by large ships, there are safer waters to the south, such as Drake Passage, and to the north, such as the Strait of Magellan. Several small islands near the eastern end were the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Chile and Argentina; by the terms of a 1985 treaty they are now part of Chile. The main settlements on the channel are Puerto Williams, Chile and Ushuaia, Argentina. The Beagle Channel was named after the HMS Beagle, with which naturalist Charles Darwin explored the area in the 19th century. The ship was a Cherokee-class 10 gun brig of the Royal Navy, named after the Beagle breed of dog. She was launched on May 11, 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames, at a cost of £7,803. She took part in celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom in which she was the first ship to sail under the new London Bridge. She was then adapted as a survey ship and took part in three expeditions. On the second survey voyage the young Darwin was on board, and his work would eventually make the Beagle one of the most famous ships in history. Continuing on a southerly course, we will pass the Argentina and Chile border on our starboard side, where the entrance to the Estrecho de Magellans (Magellan Strait) is located. This is named after the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who led the first expedition that sailed around the World (1519-1522). He also named the Pacific Ocean (the calm and peaceful ocean). On our port side, we will later pass the British Falkland Islands.
posted by Hills @ 3:09 PM
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