Denmark Strait

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Location map

The Denmark Strait (Danish: Danmarksstrædet, Icelandic: Grænlandssund, the latter meaning Greenland Strait) is a strait between Greenland (northwest) and Iceland (southeast). The Norwegian island of Jan Mayen is located northeast of the strait.

It connects the Greenland Sea, an extension of the Arctic Ocean, to the Atlantic Ocean and is 300 miles (480 km) long and 180 miles (290 km) wide at its narrowest. The narrow depth is 625 feet (191 meters) deep. The cold East Greenland Current passes through the strait and carries icebergs south into the north Atlantic Ocean. It hosts important fishing grounds.

During World War II, the Battle of the Denmark Strait took place on May 24, 1941. The German battleship Bismarck sank the British battlecruiser HMS Hood, which exploded with great loss of life, and seriously damaged the battleship Prince of Wales. Bismarck succeeded in entering the Atlantic through the Strait, but damage sustained in the battle prevented it from carrying out its intended destruction of British convoys.

See also

• GIUK gap

Coordinates: 67°46′N 23°48′W / 67.767°N 23.8°W / 67.767; -23.8