Southeast Alaska is home to six narrows, including the Wrangell Narrows. The Narrows are formed by a 35-kilometer-long waterway between Mitkof Island and Kupreanof Island in Southeast Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago. Petersburg sits at the Narrows’ northernmost point. Both Frederick Sound and Sumner Strait can be accessed from the Narrows.
Wrangell Narrows is a 22-mile strait that connects the southeast side of Frederick Sound to Sumner Strait in the center of Southeast Alaska, and it is rife with dangers to navigation. Because of its snaking form and potential navigational dangers, it is marked by around sixty lights and buoys. In 1838, G. Lindenberg honored Admiral Baron Ferdinand Petrovich von Wrangell by naming the strait “Proliv Vrangelya”. Wrangell Strait continues to be used as a translation, and Wrangell Narrows is the name given to the channel’s narrowest center section. When the U.S. Department of Commerce updated chart 8170 in 1919, they renamed Wrangell Strait to Wrangell Narrows.
In addition to fishing boats, ferries on the Alaska Marine Highway also use the channel. Due to its modest depth and small width, it is avoided by the largest cruise liners and other cargo ships. Because this is the only safe “Inside Passage” at this latitude, these larger ships must navigate in “outside” waters.
