Roadstead of Brest

Roadstead of Brest
Roadstead of Brest
Rade de Brest (French); Lenn-vor Brest (Breton);
	The southern part of the roadstead of Brest
	Roadstead of Brest Roadstead of Brest
Location	Iroise Sea, Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates	48°20′02″N 4°28′47″W / 48.33389°N 4.47972°W
Type	roadstead
Basin countries	France
Max. length	15 km (9.3 mi)
Max. width	4 km (2.5 mi)
Surface area	180 km2 (69 sq mi)

The roadstead of Brest (

Brest and one of the two French naval bases, Brest Arsenal, are located on its northern edge. It is linked to the Atlantic Ocean (called the Iroise Sea at this point) by the Goulet de Brest, 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 (or river of Landerneau) and the Aulne (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 naval college and the Poulmic association of schools at Lanvéoc
;

the naval 'graveyard' for ships at Landévennec.

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
- Île d'Arun
- Île de Térénez
Crozon

Rivers flowing into the roadstead of Brest

Penfeld
Élorn
the river of Daoulas
Aulne
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,^[1] 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.^[2]

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

Ifremer in 2003-2004.^[3]

The roadstead is also a victim of the after-effects of war, and in particular the waves of pollution from the

munitions

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