Kennedy Channel

It was named by Elisha Kane around 1854 during his second Arctic voyage in search of the lost Franklin expedition.

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.

It contains Hans Island, with an ownership shared between Canada and Denmark, because it is located close to the middle between the two coastlines, but about 1,000 meters closer to Greenland's coast.

Hannah Island is located at the mouth of the Bessel Fjord, northeast of Cape Bryan.