Kennedy Channel

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Kennedy Channel (Danish: Kennedy Kanalen; 80°55′N 66°30′W) is an Arctic sea passage between Greenland and Canada's most northerly island, Ellesmere Island.

It forms part of Nares Strait, linking Kane Basin with Hall Basin. From the south, its beginning is marked by Capes Lawrence and Jackson; its junction with Hall Basin is marked by Capes Baird and Morton. It is about 130 kilometres in length, between 24 to 32 kilometres in width and averages water depths between 180 to 340 metres.

It was named by Elisha Kane around 1854 during his second Arctic voyage in search of the lost Franklin expedition. It is not entirely clear, however, for which Kennedy he named the channel. Kane may have had his fellow explorer William Kennedy in mind, whom he had met a few years previously while both were involved in earlier searches for Franklin's expedition. However, most historians believe it was named for John Pendleton Kennedy, the United States Secretary of the Navy during 1852 to 1853, under whose direction Kane's second Arctic voyage took place.

[edit] References

• National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Sailing Directions Enroute: Pub 181 Greenland and Iceland (Enroute), 2002.