The
Drake Passage or
Mar de Hoces—Sea of
Hoces—is the body of water between the southern tip of
South America at
Cape Horn,
Chile and the
South Shetland Islands of
Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the
Atlantic Ocean with the southeastern part of the
Pacific Ocean and extends into the
Southern Ocean. The passage receives its English language name from the 16th century
English privateer Sir Francis Drake. Drake's only remaining ship, after having passed through the
Strait of Magellan, was blown far South in September 1578. This incident implied an open connection between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.