page_title: San Bernardino Strait
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: San Bernardino Strait / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Pacific Ocean (Nov. 4, 2006) - USS Essex (LHD 2) passes Mt. Bulusan a volcano located on the southern end of the Island of Luzon as it transits through the San Bernardino Straits after completing a port visit to Subic Bay, Philippines. Essex and 31st MEU were in the Philippines to participate in bilateral exercises, Exercise Talon Vision and Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX 07), with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFR). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael D. Kennedy (RELEASED)
context_page_description: The San Bernardino Strait is a strait in the Philippines, connecting the Samar Sea with the Philippine Sea. It separates the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon island from the island of Samar in the south.
context_section_description: The first reference to the Spanish and the San Bernardino Strait is during the 1543–1545 expedition of Ruy Gomez de Villalobos, who was sent out by the Viceroy of Mexico under orders from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to establish a Spanish colony near the Portuguese-occupied Spice Islands of Moluccas.
  During this ill-fated expedition, one ship alone, the little San Juan de Letran with a skeleton crew of only 20 men, logged more than 5,000 kilometres in Philippine waters, including those of the San Bernardino Strait, and the San Juanico Strait between Samar and Leyte.
  The San Juan also completely circumnavigated the island of Mindanao, then tried to reach Mexico but was blown back to the Marianas by a storm in the North Pacific.  It made its way back to the Filipinas (as Samar and Leyte had been named by Villalobos), and on January 3, 1544 ran aground in the treacherous currents of the San Bernardino Strait "just as dozens of Spanish vessels were to do for the next three centuries".
  In order to guide ships traversing along the strait, the Capul Island Lighthouse was built from 1863 to 1896 under Francisco Perez Muñoz, following the designs of Guillermo Brockman in 1892. It was given a historical marker by the National Historical Commission on October 24, 2018.
caption: USS Essex passes Mount Bulusan as it transits through the San Bernardino Strait.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "061104-N-5067K-055  San Bernardino Straits, Republic of the Philippines (Nov. 4, 2006) -- USS Essex (LHD 2) passes Mt. Bulusan a volcano located on the southern end of the Island of Luzon as it transits through the San Bernardino Straits after completing a port visit to Subic Bay, Philippines.  Essex and 31st MEU were in the Philippines to participate in bilateral exercises, Exercise Talon Vision (TV 07) and Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX 07), with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFR). Essex is the Navy\u2019s only forward deployed amphibious assault ship and is the flagship for the Essex Amphibious Ready Group based in Sasebo, Japan. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class Michael D. Kennedy)", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D2H", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2006:11:06 07:55:38", "Image ExifOffset": "964", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1582", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3543", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "22", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:11:04 09:32:50", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:11:04 09:32:50", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-1", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "43/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Fine weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "42", "EXIF SubSecTime": "48", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "48", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "48", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2464", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1632", "EXIF RelatedSoundFile": "", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "63", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Soft", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}