The Île Ronde (literally ''Round Island''; ) is a French islet to the south west of Pointe de l’Armorique, in the

roadstead of Brest The roadstead of Brest (, ; ) is a roadstead or bay located in the Finistère Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. The surface area is about 180 km² (70 sq mi). The po ...

, within the territory of the commune of

Plougastel-Daoulas Plougastel-Daoulas (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department, located in the administrative region of Brittany, northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Plougastel-Daoulas are called ''plougastels'' in French. Breton language Th ...

. Its highest point is 24 m. Facing Île Ronde, on the pointe de l’Armorique, is the

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

de la pointe de l’Armorique, built in 1775 for the defense of Brest.

''Ducs D'Albe''

In the sea, to the east of Île Ronde, are two

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

s, concrete cubes built by the German occupiers during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

at a place where the water is 16 m deep. They were intended to host the German battleship '' Bismarck'', but she was sunk in May 1941 before she could reach Brest and never used them. It seems these caissons were not intensively used. The proximity of the channel separating Île Ronde from the pointe de l’Armorique gives rise to severe sea currents, making docking manoeuvres at this point difficult. Today unused, these concrete cubes have become inaccessible for humans and thus have become a haven for flora and fauna, including nests for

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in Temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is stron ...

s."Les Ducs d'Albe"
''Plongépave''.

Notes and references

Fortifications of Brest, France Ronde Landforms of Finistère {{Finistère-geo-stub