San Bernardino Strait

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 from Samar of Visayas.

History
During an ill-fated expedition, only one Spanish ship, the small 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 the islands of Samar and Leyte.William Henry Scott (1985). Cracks in the parchment curtain and other essays in Philippine history. New Day Publishers. , p 49–52. 

The San Juan also completely circumnavigated the large 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".
To guide ships traversing along the strait, the Capul Island Lighthouse was built from 1893 to 1896 under Francisco Perez Muñoz, from designs made by Guillermo Brockman.

References

Category:Straits of the Philippines
Category:Bicol Region