HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. Later reports say the ship took part in celebrations of the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom, passing under the old London Bridge, and was the first rigged man-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge. There was no immediate need for Beagle, so she "lay in ordinary", moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions.
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan.
The Strait of Magellan, also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The strait is approximately 570 km long and 2 km wide at its narrowest point. In 1520, the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, after whom the strait is named, became the first Europeans to discover it.
Puerto Williams is a city, port and naval base on Navarino Island in Chile, and is also the southernmost populated settlement in the world. It faces the Beagle Channel. It is the capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province, one of four provinces in the Magellan and Chilean Antarctica Region, and administers the communes of Chilean Antarctic Territory and Cabo de Hornos. It has a population of 2,874, including both naval personnel and civilians. Puerto Williams claims the title of world's southernmost city. The settlement was founded in 1953, and was first named Puerto Luisa. The town was later named after John Williams Wilson, a British man who founded Fuerte Bulnes, the first settlement in the Strait of Magellan. It has served primarily as a naval base for Chile. The Chilean Navy runs the Guardiamarina Zañartu Airport and hospital, as well as nearby meteorological stations. Since the late 20th century, the number of navy personnel has decreased in Puerto Williams and the civilian population has increased. In that period, tourism and support of scientific research have contributed to an increase in economic activity.
Victoria or Nao Victoria was a carrack famed as the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the world. Victoria was part of the Spanish expedition to the Moluccas commanded by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe, also known as Puerto del Hambre, is a historic settlement site at Buena Bay on the north shore of the Strait of Magellan approximately 58 km (36 mi) south of Punta Arenas in the Región de Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena, Patagonia, Chile.
Puerto Natales is a city in Chilean Patagonia. It is the capital of both the commune of Natales and the province of Última Esperanza, one of the four provinces that make up the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region in the southernmost part of Chile. Puerto Natales is the only city in the province. It is located 247 km (153 mi) northwest of Punta Arenas. It is the final passenger port of call for the Navimag ferry sailing from Puerto Montt into the Señoret Channel as well as the primary transit point for travellers to Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.
The Chilean Sea is the portion of the Pacific Ocean lying west of the Chilean mainland. The official Chilean usage for Chilean Sea was defined on 30 May 1974 when the Diario oficial de la Republica de Chile published Supreme Decree #346, which declared that "the waters surrounding or touching the shores of the national territory shall be known as Mar Chileno."
Ginés de Mafra was a Spanish mariner who sailed with the Magellan expedition in search of a western passage to Asia. His later account of the voyage is an important supplement to the historical record. In 1536 he served as the chief pilot for Pedro de Alvarado on a voyage to Peru and in 1542 he sailed with Ruy López de Villalobos to the Philippines.
Chile has a large and intricate coastline of 4000 km with myriads of islands, islets, straits, bays, and fjords.
Punta Arenas is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. Although officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, the name was changed back to Punta Arenas in 1938. The city is the largest south of the 46th parallel south and the most populous southernmost city in Chile and the Americas. Due to its location, it is also the coldest coastal city with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Latin America. Punta Arenas is one of the world's most southerly ports and serves as an Antarctic gateway city. Punta Arenas is the world's southernmost city with more than 100,000 inhabitants and claims the title of southernmost city in the world, although this title is also claimed by Ushuaia in Argentina, which lies farther south but is slightly smaller than Punta Arenas.
Mount Tarn is a small mountain located on the southernmost part of the Strait of Magellan, in Brunswick Peninsula, about 70 km south of Punta Arenas, Chile. It is in the southern extreme of continental Chile very close to Cape Froward, surrounded by historic places such as Fort Bulnes and Puerto del Hambre.
Fuerte Bulnes is a Chilean fort located by the Strait of Magellan, 62 km south of Punta Arenas. It was founded in 1843 on a rocky hill at Punta Santa Ana, and named after President Manuel Bulnes Prieto.
Admiral Sir William Houston Stewart, was a senior British naval officer who, after a long, active career, eventually held the office of the Controller of the Royal Navy from 1872 to 1881.
Francisco Hudson Cárdenas was a Chilean naval officer and hydrographer notable for his explorations of Southern Chile and Chilean Patagonia. Hudson sailed on behalf of the Chilean government to Peru and Ecuador several times, and assisted with the immigration of German colonists to Valdivia. He gained notoriety for his exploration of the Maullín River, Roca Remolinos, and the channels of Aysén Region. Hudson was interested in investigating the possible existence of a sailing route through internal waters from the Chiloé Archipelago to the Straits of Magellan, but came to realize that the Isthmus of Ofqui made this impossible. His hydrographic works laid the groundwork for Hans Steffen's exploration of Aysén Region in late 19th century.
John Williams Wilson (1798–1857), also known as Juan Guillermos, was an English-Chilean sailor and politician. Born in Bristol, he entered the newly founded Chilean navy in 1824 and rose to the rank of commander. He was appointed governor of Talcahuano (1849–1855). He supervised construction of Fuerte Bulnes in 1843, which the government intended for a settlement at the Strait of Magellan. Puerto Williams, founded in 1953, was named for the naval commander.
The southern coast of Chile presents a large number of fjords and fjord-like channels from the latitudes of Cape Horn to Reloncaví Estuary. Some fjords and channels are important navigable channels providing access to ports like Punta Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Natales.
The Yelcho was built in 1906 by the Scottish firm Geo. Brown and Co. of Greenock, on the River Clyde for towage and cargo service of the Chilean Sociedad Ganadera e Industrial Yelcho y Palena, Puerto Montt. In 1908 she was sold to the Chilean Navy and ordered to Punta Arenas as a tug and for periodic maintenance and supply of the lighthouses in that region.
The schooner Ancud was the ship sent by Chile in 1843 to claim sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan and establish Fuerte Bulnes, the first Chilean settlement in the strait. It was built for the purpose in the city of San Carlos de Ancud and commanded by John Williams Wilson, a British-born Chilean captain.
The Chilean takeover of the Strait of Magellan began in 1843 when an expedition founded Fuerte Bulnes. In 1848 the settlement of Punta Arenas was established further north in the strait and grew eventually to become the main settlement in the strait, a position it holds to this day. The Chilean settlement of the strait was crucial to establish its sovereignty claims in the area. Argentina complained diplomatically this act in 1847, as part of the East Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and Strait of Magellan Dispute, and once the dispute was settled, formally recognised Chilean sovereignty of the strait in 1881. The Magallanes territory was made a regular Chilean province in 1928.
Replica of nao Victoria.
Replica of nao Victoria, tourists on board.
Aft decks of replica of nao Victoria.
Replica of nao Victoria, Pablo, the first native American to be baptised in Chile.
Replica of nao Victoria, Magellan in its cabin.
Replica of nao Victoria, cook at the stove.
