Behm Canal is a natural channel in the

Alexander Archipelago The Alexander Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Александра) is a long archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal m ...

, in the southeastern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. About long, Behm Canal separates

Revillagigedo Island Revillagigedo Island ( es, Isla Revillagigedo, , , locally Revilla, ) is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. Running about 89 km (50 mi) north-s ...

from the mainland. From the

Clarence Strait Clarence Strait, originally Duke of Clarence Strait,Statement of f ...

, Behm Canal extends north and northeast, through the Behm Narrows and by the mouth of the

Unuk River The Unuk River is a river in the U.S. state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Behm Canal, northeast of Ketchikan, Alaska. From its headwaters in a heavily glaciated area in ...

, then south to

Revillagigedo Channel Revillagigedo Channel (, , locally Revilla, ) is an ocean channel in the Alexander Archipelago of the U.S. state of Alaska. Extending 56 km (35 mi) northwest from the Dixon Entrance, it lies between the mainland to the east, Revillagige ...

. The Behm Canal was charted and named by George Vancouver in 1793, in honor of Magnus von Behm, who was the governor of

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and west ...

in 1779 when Captain James Cook's ships, with Vancouver among the crew, arrived at Petropavlovsk shortly after Cook was killed in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. It was Behm who carried the news of Cook's death to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The canal is used by the Southeast Alaska Acoustic Measurement Facility (SEAFAC) as an acoustic testing site for

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

submarines. New Eddystone Rock is a craggy, much-photographed basalt island in Behm Canal.

References

Straits of Alaska Bodies of water of Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska {{KetchikanGatewayAK-geo-stub