
Drake Passage
(Antarctica)
British Antarctic Territory
Location: 58° S 65° W
separating Cabo de Hornos (Cape Horn) from the South Shetland Islands, was first traversed in 1615 by Willem Corneliszoon Schouten (1580-1625), Dutch navigator. Riesenberg (1941) recorded the earlier names Drake Sea, after Sir Francis Drake (?1540-96), the English admiral who navigated Magellan Strait in 1578, on his voyage of 1577-80. Drake Passage, defined as 'bounded on the north by the latitude of Cape Horn, on the east by the meridian of 55°W long., and on the south by the South Shetland Islands'.