Victoria Strait is a strait in northern Canada that lies in Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

 off the mainland in the Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...

. It is between Victoria Island to the west and King William Island

King William Island

King William Island is an island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut and forms part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In area it is between and making it the 61st largest island in the world and Canada's 15th largest island...

 to the east. From the north the strait links the M'Clintock Channel

M'Clintock Channel

M'Clintock Channel is located in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. The channel, an arm of the Arctic Ocean, divides Victoria Island from Prince of Wales Island. This channel is named after Sir Francis Leopold McClintock, in Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy, famous for his Canadian Arctic...

 and the Larsen Sound

Larsen Sound

Larsen Sound is an Arctic waterway in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada.It is located south of Prince of Wales Island, west of the Boothia Peninsula, north of King William Island and east of Gateshead Island...

 with the Queen Maud Gulf

Queen Maud Gulf

Queen Maud Gulf lies between the northern coast of the mainland and the southeastern corner of Victoria Island in Nunavut, Canada. At its western end lies Cambridge Bay, leading to Dease Strait; to the east lies Simpson Strait; and to the north, Victoria Strait.It was named by the Norwegian...

 to the south. The strait is about 100 mi (160.9 km) long and anywhere from 50 mile wide.

The strait is wide, with almost no islands, save for the rather large Royal Geographical Society Island

Royal Geographical Society Island

Royal Geographical Society Island is an island in Victoria Strait, within the Queen Maud Gulf, in the north Canadian territory of Nunavut.It has an area of ....

 near the Queen Maud Gulf at the extreme south of the strait. The strait has never been comprehensively surveyed, however charted portions indicate several patches where the water is only 30 foot of depth. Ships drawing up to 30 feet (9.1 m) have navigated the strait, but it is made very difficult by the ice. Most of the year the strait is covered with rough, heavy ice. Much of this is polar ice which has flowed down the McClintock Channel from the Viscount Melville Sound

Viscount Melville Sound

Viscount Melville Sound is an arm of the Arctic Ocean in Kitikmeot, Nunavut, Canada. Forming part of the Parry Channel, it separates Victoria Island and Prince of Wales Island from the Queen Elizabeth Islands. East of the sound lies Lancaster Sound, leading into Baffin Bay; westward lies the...

. Large-scale breakup of the ice in the strait begins by late July and continues in to late September when it begins to freeze again.

Near the entrance of Victoria Strait was where HMS Terror

HMS Terror (1813)

HMS Terror was a bomb vessel designed by Sir Henry Peake and constructed by the Royal Navy in the Davy shipyard in Topsham, Devon. The ship, variously listed as being of either 326 or 340 tons, carried two mortars, one and one .-War service:...

 and HMS Erebus

HMS Erebus (1826)

HMS Erebus was a Hecla-class bomb vessel designed by Sir Henry Peake and constructed by the Royal Navy in Pembroke dockyard, Wales in 1826. The vessel was named after the dark region in Hades of Greek mythology called Erebus...

 became trapped during John Franklin

John Franklin

Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...

's expedition

Franklin's lost expedition

Franklin's lost expedition was a doomed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845. A Royal Navy officer and experienced explorer, Franklin had served on three previous Arctic expeditions, the latter two as commanding officer...

 and were abandoned in 1848. Due to the hazards of the strait, a longer route was used which went around King William Island. This route was easier despite having an even shallower bottom. In 1967, the Victoria Strait was used for the first time by an icebreaker

Icebreaker

An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...

, the John A. Macdonald, when travelling to the western Arctic to assist shipping. It was crossed again by the same icebreaker in 1975, and later in 1976 by the icebreakers CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent

CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent

CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent is a Canadian Coast Guard Heavy Arctic Icebreaker.Named after the twelfth Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Louis St. Laurent, PC CC QC LLD DCL LLL BA. The vessel is classed a "Heavy Arctic Icebreaker" and is the largest icebreaker and flagship of the CCG. It...

 and CCGS J.E. Bernier.