The roadstead of Brest (''rade de Brest'') is a

roadstead A roadstead (or ''roads'' – the earlier form) is a body of water sheltered from rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.United States Army technical manual, TM 5 ...

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

located in the

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

department in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...

in northwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. The surface area is about 180 km² (70 sq mi). The port of Brest and one of the two French

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

s, Brest Arsenal, are located on its northern edge. It is linked to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

(called the Iroise Sea at this point) by the ''

Goulet de Brest The Goulet de Brest is a 3-km-long strait linking the roadstead of Brest to the Atlantic Ocean. Only 1.8 km wide, the is situated between the Pointe du Petit Minou and the Pointe du Portzic to the north and the îlot des Capucins and the Po ...

'', a strait about 1.8 km wide. Three main rivers drain into the roadstead: the Penfeld (the town of Brest and the first buildings of the naval base were built on its banks), the

Élorn The Élorn (; br, Elorn) is a long river in Brittany, France. Its source is in the monts d'Arrée, north-northeast of Le Tuchenn Kador, and it then runs through several small towns such as Sizun and Landivisiau before flowing out into the road ...

(or river of

Landerneau Landerneau (; br, Landerne, ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the mouth of the Elorn River which divides the Breton provinces of Cornouaille and Léon, east of Brest. The name i ...

) and the

Aulne The Aulne ( br, Aon) is a long river of Brittany in north-western France, flowing down the hills and emptying into the roadstead of Brest, one of the many fjord-like bays just south of Brest. The river is part of the Canal de Nantes à Brest, th ...

(or river of Châteaulin).

Strategic importance

For a number of centuries, Brest has been an important military port. The easily defensible roadstead of Brest therefore has a number of military installations, for example: *Brest arsenal, on the north of the bay; *the submarine base of the Île Longue, to the south-west; *the

École Navale École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

naval college and the Poulmic association of schools at

Lanvéoc Lanvéoc (; br, Lañveog) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. The École Navale, the French naval academy, is located here. Climate Lanvéoc has a oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification ...

; *the naval 'graveyard' for ships at

Landévennec Landévennec (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Geography Landévennec is located on the Crozon peninsula, southeast of Brest.The river Aulne forms a natural boundary to the east. M ...

. One can also find many remains of old military fortifications and other ruins from past centuries, like the forts at Portzic, at pointe des Espagnols, etc.

Islands within the roadstead of Brest

* Plougastel Daoulas ** Île Ronde * Logonna Daoulas ** Île de la Pointe du Château ** Îles du Bindy * Hôpital-Camfrout ** Île de Tibidy *

Rosnoën Rosnoën (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Rosnoën are called in French ''Rosnoënais''. Geography Rosnoën is located southeast of Brest. The village occupies a ...

Île d'Arun The Île d'Arun is an islet in the confluence of the rivers Aulne and Le Faou, at the base of the roadstead of Brest. It is located in the territory of the commune of Rosnoën in Finistère, France, and its highest point above sea level is 11m. ...

** Île de Térénez * Crozon ** Île Longue ** Île du Renard ** Île Trébéron **

Île des Morts Île des Morts (''Island of the Dead'') is a 7-hectare island in the Bay of Roscanvel, to the south-west of the roadstead of Brest, between the Quélern peninsula and Île Longue. It is 26m above sea level at its highest point. History In 1720, ...

** Île Perdue

Rivers flowing into the roadstead of Brest

* Penfeld *

*the river of

Daoulas Daoulas (; br, Daoulaz) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Daoulas are called in French ''Daoulasiens''. Breton language In 2008, 9.82% of primary-school children attende ...

*the river of Faou

Environment

Thanks to its layout, the roadstead harbours a wide diversity of natural habitats and a high level of biodiversity. It also includes many sites of importance for birds, several networks of habitats and underwater corridors and coastal areas of importance. These areas have been greatly affected by the human activities in the north-west, but have justified the classification of around half of the roadstead as a zone in

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

Pollution

The rich ecology of the roadstead has been diminished by the past exploitation of certain resources, and by the presence of a number of pollutants including

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals are generally defined as metals with relatively high density, densities, atomi ...

and

tributyltin Tributyltin (TBT) is an umbrella term for a class of organotin compounds which contain the (C4H9)3 Sn group, with a prominent example being tributyltin oxide. For 40 years TBT was used as a biocide in anti-fouling paint, commonly known as ...

which were used as

biocide A biocide is defined in the European legislation as a chemical substance or microorganism intended to destroy, deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a slig ...

s in

anti-fouling Biofouling or biological fouling is the accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals where it is not wanted on surfaces such as ship and submarine hulls, devices such as water inlets, pipework, grates, ponds, and rivers that ...

bottom paints. These products are now illegal, but they remain present in sediments and certain organisms. The products which have replaced them for small boats (e.g.

Diuron DCMU (3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea) is an algicide and herbicide of the aryl urea class that inhibits photosynthesis. It was introduced by Bayer in 1954 under the trade name of Diuron. History In 1952, chemists at E. I. du Pont d ...

and Irgarol) pose similar problems and have been measured in non-negligible quantities in the roadstead by

Ifremer ) , preceding2 = ''Institut Scientifique et Technique des Pêches Maritimes'' ( en, Scientific and technical institute for marine fisheries) , dissolved = , superseding = , jurisdiction = , headquarters = Brest, France , emplo ...

in 2003-2004.Doc d'Ifremer sur la toxicité du Diuron et de l'Irgarol 1051 sur ''Chaetoceros gracilis'' (diatomée marine)
/ref> The roadstead is also a victim of the after-effects of war, and in particular the waves of pollution from the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

s. Pollutants trapped in submerged or unexploded

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

are expected to aggravate existing pollution with the first large leaks predicted by experts to occur in the years 2000-2010.

Notes and references

External links

Aerial view
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roadstead Of Brest Geography of Brest, France History of Brest, France Brest, roadstead