Denmark Strait , which exploded with the loss of all but three of its 1,418 crew; was seriously damaged in the engagement. "Bismarck" entered the Atlantic through the Strait, but damage sustained in the battle—combined with British aircraft search-and-destroy missions—led to its sinking three days later. Denmark Strait The Denmark Strait () or Greenland Strait (, 'Greenland Sound') is an oceanic strait between Greenland (to its northwest) and Iceland (to its southeast). The Norwegian island of Jan Mayen lies northeast of the strait. The strait connects the Greenland Sea, an extension of the Arctic Ocean, to the Irminger Sea, a part of
Shelikof Strait variances of up to 40 feet (12 meters). The strait is named after Grigory Shelikhov (1747–1795), also spelled "Shelikof", the Russian fur trader who founded the first Russian settlement in what is now Alaska at Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island in 1784. The United States Navy seaplane tender USS "Shelikof", in commission from 1944 to 1947 and from 1952 to 1954, was named for Shelikof Strait. Shelikof Strait Shelikof Strait () is a strait on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Alaska between the Alaska mainland to the west and Kodiak and Afognak islands to the east.