Puerto Deseado
| Puerto Deseado | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Sights in Puerto Deseado
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 Puerto Deseado
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| Coordinates: 47°45′S 65°55′W / 47.750°S 65.917°WCoordinates: 47°45′S 65°55′W / 47.750°S 65.917°W | |
| Country |
 Argentina
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| Province | Santa Cruz |
| Department | Deseado |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Luis Ampuero (Justicialist Party) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 10,237 |
| Time zone | ART (UTC-3) |
| CPA base | Z9050 |
| Dialing code | +54 297 |
| Climate | BSk |
Puerto Deseado, originally called Port Desire, is a city of about 15,000 inhabitants and a fishing port in Patagonia in Santa Cruz Province of Argentina, on the estuary of the Deseado River.
It was named Port Desire by the privateer Thomas Cavendish in 1586 after the name of his ship, and later became known by the Spanish translation of the name. Today, the straggly town has a couple of pleasant squares, a former railway station and two museums, one with a collection of indigenous artifacts and one at the seafront with relics from the sloop of war Swift which sank in 1770, recovered after its wreck was discovered in the port in 1982. The coast boasts spectacular scenery and colonies of marine wildlife close to the town.
The harbour, nearly 32 km (20 mi) long, was discovered in 1520 by the Spanish expedition commanded by Magellan. Other Spanish expeditions followed, including Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa. On 17 December 1586 the privateer Thomas Cavendish sailed into the estuary on his flagship the Desire of 120 tons, accompanied by the Hugh Gallant of 40 tons and the Content of 60 tons. He named the harbour Port Desire after his ship, and the point of land at the harbour mouth is still known as Punta Cavendish. They met only a few Native Americans, who shot arrows that wounded some of the crew. After ten days Cavendish took his ships on their way, and returned to England in 1588. In 1591 Cavendish set out on another expedition with five ships, himself sailing as admiral on the Leicester Galleon, while the Desire was commanded by captain John Davis. They suffered problems in the winter at the Strait of Magellan so turned north, and on 20 May 1592 the Desire and the Black Pinnace lost touch with other ships and went into Port Desire to wait for Cavendish. He did not turn up, so in August they sailed to the nearby Penguin Island then south, but were caught by a storm and, forced to run before the wind, came on unknown islands, making the first provable sighting of the Falkland Islands .
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Wikipedia