Chatham Strait face; Xhaak, Center. The southern part of the strait was named Ensenada del Principe in 1775 by Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra. In 1786 La Perouse gave it the name Tschirikow Bay, and in 1789 the fur trader James Colnett named it Christian Sound. Other early fur traders called it Menzies Strait. It received its present name in 1794 when George Vancouver named it Chatham Strait in honor of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. Chatham Sound, farther south in British Columbia, was named by Vancouver for his son John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, whose brother William
Chatham Sound Chatham Sound Chatham Sound is a sound on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, bordering on Alaska, United States. It is located between Dundas and Stephens Islands and the Tsimpsean Peninsula near Prince Rupert. It is part of the Inside Passage and extends from Portland Inlet in the north to Porcher Island in the south. It may have been named in 1788 by British Captain Charles Duncan after John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, who was First Lord of the Admiralty at that time. Chatham Sound is a semi-enclosed basin with an area of about . It is connected