The Bussol Strait ( Russian: ''Proliv Bussol''), known in Japan as the , is a wide strait that separates the islands of

Broutona Broutona (russian: о.Броутона; Japanese 武魯頓島; Buroton-tō) is an uninhabited volcanic island located near the northern end of the southern Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Its name is der ...

and

Chirpoy Chyornye Bratya (russian: Чёрные Братья, lit. ''Black Brothers''; ja, 知理保以島, Chiripoi-to) is a pair of uninhabited volcanic islands between Simushir and Urup in the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest ...

to the west from

Simushir Simushir (russian: Симушир, ja, 新知島, translit=Shimushiru-tō, ain, シムシㇼ, translit=Simusir), meaning ''Large Island'' in Ainu, is an uninhabited volcanic island near the center of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okho ...

to the east. It is nearly 58 km (about 36 mi) wide, making it the largest channel in the

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

.National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. (2014). ''Sailing Directions (Enroute): East Coast of Russia''. U.S. Government, Springfield, Virginia. It is named after the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

'' Boussole''.

History

The strait was a popular route in the 1840s for

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

whaleships entering and exiting the

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

on their way to and from cruises for

right whales Right whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus ''Eubalaena'': the North Atlantic right whale (''E. glacialis''), the North Pacific right whale (''E. japonica'') and the Southern right whale (''E. australis''). They are class ...

. It was rarely used from the 1850s to the 1870s when ships primarily cruised to the north for

bowhead whale The bowhead whale (''Balaena mysticetus'') is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and the only living representative of the genus ''Balaena''. They are the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters, ...

s, using the more convenient

Fourth Kuril Strait The Fourth Kuril Strait () is a very deep strait separating the islands of Onekotan and Paramushir in the Kuril Islands, Russia. It is 46.7 km (about 29 mi) wide. It was formerly known as the Amphitrite Strait. The flood tidal current in the strait ...

further north instead. Among the few to use it during that period was the ship ''Susan'' (349 tons), of

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

, which was stove by ice and sank in the strait on the night of 27-28 April 1853 while attempting to enter the Sea of Okhotsk. Two men were lost, one drowning and the other perishing on the ice. The remaining twenty-five crew members crowded into two

whaleboat A whaleboat is a type of open boat that was used for catching whales, or a boat of similar design that retained the name when used for a different purpose. Some whaleboats were used from whaling ships. Other whaleboats would operate from the sh ...

s and reached Urup on the afternoon of 29 April. Here they spent eight days before being rescued by the barque ''Black Warrior'', of New London. Two other whaleships were also lost in the strait. Early on the morning of 14 May 1855 the ships ''Enterprise'' (291 tons), under Captain Stephen G. Russell, and ''King Fisher'' (425 tons), under Captain Martin Palmer, both of

New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...

, were wrecked on a

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

on the northeast end of Urup within a quarter mile of each other while attempting to enter the Sea of Okhotsk via Bussol Strait. All hands were saved after spending three days ashore Urup by the

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

ship ''Joseph Hayden'' and the New London ship ''Montezuma''. The two ships were sold at auction to the first and second mates of the ''Montezuma'', respectively, but little was saved of the cargo.''Whalemen's Shipping List and Merchants' Transcript'', November 27, 1855, Vol. XIII, No. 39, p. 306. With the revival of cruises for right whales in the southern part of the sea in the 1880s ships began to use it again. It was utilized as late as 1902.''Charles W. Morgan'', of New Bedford, Aug. 23, Sep. 27, 1902, GBWL.

References

Simushir Straits of the Kuril Islands {{SakhalinOblast-geo-stub