Harmony Cove () is a cove entered between

Harmony Point Harmony Point is a point which lies close west of Harmony Cove and forms both the south side of the entrance to Malak Sechko Cove and the western extremity of Guangzhou Peninsula and Nelson Island (South Shetland Islands), Nelson Island, in the S ...

and

The Toe The Toe is a point marking the south side of the entrance to Harmony Cove and the north-west side of the entrance to Varvara Cove on the west side of Nelson Island, in the South Shetland Islands. This descriptive name seems first to appear on a ...

on the west side of Nelson Island, in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

, Antarctica. It was named by American sealers in about 1820 after the sealing vessel ''Harmony'', under Captain Thomas Ray, one of several American sealing vessels headquartered at Harmony Cove during the 1820–21 season. The northwest side of the cove is defined by Inca Point, an isolated

stack Stack may refer to: Places * Stack Island, an island game reserve in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia, in Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group * Blue Stack Mountains, in Co. Donegal, Ireland People * Stack (surname) (including a list of people ...

off the point which is said to bear a striking resemblance to the head of an

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

. The name "Punta Inca" seems first to appear on a 1957 Argentine hydrographic chart. An English form of the name has been approved.

Francisco de Gurruchaga Refuge

Francisco de Gurruchaga Refuge () is an Argentine naval refuge in Antarctica located on Inca Point in Harmony Cove of the Nelson Island in the

. The refuge was inaugurated on December 15, 1954 and is managed by the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...

. At first it was named Refuge Harmony and used during the Argentine Antarctic campaigns of 1954-1955 and 1957–1958. It was named once as Gurruchaga Base, a temporary Antarctic base in the 1997-1998 campaign, then closed and re-used as a refuge. Its name pays homage to

Francisco de Gurruchaga Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comm ...

, who created the first Argentine naval squadron, patriot of the

May Revolution The May Revolution () was a week-long series of events that took place from 18 to 25 May 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, ...

, member of the Great Board of Buenos Aires and of the

Assembly of the Year XIII The Assembly of the Year XIII, () also known as the General Constituent and Sovereign Assembly of the Year 1813 (''Asamblea General Constituyente y Soberana del Año 1813''), was a congress of deputies of the United Provinces of the Río de la P ...

for

Salta Province Salta () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa Province, Formosa, Chaco Province, Chaco, Santiago del Estero Province, Santiago del Es ...

. During its use as a base, a post office was opened using its own stamp. The first chief of the base was the midshipman

Raul Sotelo Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...

, and the Antarctic Task Force vessels that participated in the construction of the refuge were the ARA Chiriguano and the ARA Yámana tugs.

References

Geography of Nelson Island (South Shetland Islands) Coves of the South Shetland Islands {{NelsonIsland-geo-stub

Francisco de Gurruchaga Refuge

See also

References