Description
Extends southwest for 10 miles from the mouth of Russell Fiord to Point Latouche, at the head of Yakutat Bay, St. Elias Mts. 3 miles wide.
History
Named "Puerto del Desengano", Spanish for "bay of disenchantment", by Captain Alessandro Malaspina in 1792 (Galiano, 1802), upon finding that the bay did not provide a hoped-for passage to the Atlantic. He sailed up the bay as far as Haenke Island, before discovering the passage blocked by ice. Also called "Bahia de las Bancas" by Captain Malaspina in reference to the ice (U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS), 1883, p. 210).