Brenton Loch (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, Bahia de Ruiz Puente) is an inlet-cum-small

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

. It is one of a handful of

sea lochs ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or " sea inlet" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes called a lochan. Lochs which ...

outside

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is sometimes known as "Brenton Sound". "Loch" is normally pronounced as "lock" in the English rather than Scottish manner, i.e. without a

fricative A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in ...

"ch". The far south of the loch is known as "La Boca" or "The Boca". The loch cuts into

East Falkland East Falkland () is the largest island of the Falkland Islands, Falklands in the South Atlantic, having an area of or 54% of the total area of the Falklands. The island consists of two main land masses, of which the more southerly is known as L ...

and, together with

Choiseul Sound Choiseul Sound ( ) is a stretch of sea in the Falkland Islands. It runs parallel to Eagle Passage and is between Lafonia and the north of East Falkland. Lively Island is in its mouth. At its entrance, on the northern shore, is the Bertha's Be ...

to the east, divides

Lafonia Lafonia is a peninsula forming the southern part of East Falkland, the largest of the Falkland Islands. Geography and geology Shaped like the letter "E", it is joined to the northern part of the island by an isthmus that is almost wide. Wer ...

from the northern half of the island. It lies to the west of the

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

on which Darwin and

Goose Green Goose Green, also known simply as Goose, is a hamlet in Lafonia on East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It lies on Choiseul Sound, on the east side of the island's central isthmus, south-southwest of Darwin. With a population of about 4 ...

are located. At its seaward end, it becomes

Grantham Sound Grantham Sound () is a bay on East Falkland, Falkland Islands, which opens out into the Falkland Sound. At its landward end, it narrows and becomes Brenton Loch (sometimes included as a part of it). Mount Usborne overlooks it. Along with San C ...

. Its name may originate from the fact that many of the inhabitants of Goose Green in the 19th century were Scots.

History

In 1846, Samuel Lafone established a settlement at Hope Place on the southern shores of Brenton Loch, which was mainly populated by

gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, the southern part of Bolivia, and the south of Chilean Patago ...

s. In the 1920s, the sailor Conor O'Brien visited the loch on board his ship ''Saoirse'', in which he circumnavigated. In 1976, pilot Ian Campbell drowned after his Beaver floatplane crashed into the loch. During the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

, HMS ''Arrow'' was anchored in the loch, providing

covering fire In military science, suppressive fire is "fire that degrades the performance of an enemy force below the level needed to fulfill its mission". When used to protect exposed friendly troops advancing on the battlefield, it is commonly called cover ...

for the

Battle of Goose Green The Battle of Goose Green () was fought from 28 to 29 May 1982 by United Kingdom, British and Argentina, Argentine forces during the Falklands War. Located on East Falkland's central isthmus, the settlement of Goose Green was the site of a tac ...

.Goose Green

References

Fjords Inlets of the Falkland Islands {{fjord-stub