Old Bahama Channel
{{Short description|Strait between Cuba and the Bahamas}}{{Infobox body of water
| name = Old Bahama Channel
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| image = The World almanac and encyclopedia (1899) (14760819811).jpg
| alt = Beige paper with a hand drawn map of Cuba. The Atlantic Ocean is labelled to the north, the Gulf of Mexico to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the south. Old Bahama Channel is labelled between above some small outlying islands off Cuba's northern coastline.
| caption = 1899 map with Old Bahama Channel−Canal Viejo de Bahama.
| image_bathymetry = Bahamabank-2.jpg
| alt_bathymetry = Aerial view of The Bahamas with Cuba to the South. Old Bahama Channel is labeled between Cuba and the Bahamian island of Andros.
| caption_bathymetry = Straits and canals around the Bahamas Islands.
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| coordinates = {{coord|22|46|02|N|78|24|01|W|type:waterbody_scale:2500000|name=Nicholas Channel|display=it}}
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| basin_countries = Cuba
Bahamas
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| pushpin_map = Bahamas#Cuba#Caribbean
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The Old Bahama Channel ({{langx|es|Canal Viejo de Bahama}}) is a strait of the Caribbean region, between Cuba and the Bahamas.
Geography
The strait/channel is located off the Atlantic coast of north-central and northeastern mainland and the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago of Cuba, and south of the Great Bahama Bank of the Bahamas. It is approximately {{convert|100|mi|km|0|sp=us}} long and 14 miles (22.5 km) wide at its narrowest place. It divides the northernmost bank of the Caribbean islands into two nearly equal parts. To the north and northeast is the Great Bahama Bank and the Bahama Islands; and to the south the bank on which the island of Cuba rests.
The Old Bahama Channel is connected at its north-western extremity end to the Florida Straits by two arms, enclosing Cay Sal Bank, of which the northern is called Santaren Channel and the southern Nicholas Channel. It is considered as terminating on the east between Cape Maysi in Cuba, and Inagua island in the Bahamas. However, it can also be considered to include the deep sea which separates the minor banks north of Haiti from this island, so that it extends to the Mona Passage, or the strait between the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.
The narrowest portion of the Old Bahama Channel is between 22° and 23° North latitude, where its width rarely exceeds {{convert|12|mi|km}}.{{Citation
|title= Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
|author= Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain)
|year=1833
|publisher= C. Knight }}{{Obsolete source|reason: old data and source (1833)|date=May 2022}}
History
In the 1500s, Alonso Valiente was one of the discoverers of the Old Bahama Channel.{{cite web
|url=http://www.alcaldesvcentenario.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121&Itemid=115
|language=es
|title=Asociación Alcaldes. V Centenario
|trans-title=Informaciones de interés cultural, Medina de las Torres
|work=Medina de las Torres
|publisher=Asociación Alcaldes
|access-date=7 February 2018
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724231800/http://www.alcaldesvcentenario.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121&Itemid=115
|archive-date=24 July 2011
|url-status=dead
}}
The Spanish colonial trade routes in the Spanish West Indies originally favored the Old Bahama Channel, then shifted to the Straits of Florida—New Bahama Channel, as it was a safer alternative.
In the Old Bahama Channel, ship captains had to pick their way through the low-lying cays and shoals of the southern Bahama Banks.{{cite book|title=The West India Pilot. Vol. II. The Caribbean Sea, from Barbados to Cuba; with the Bahama and Bermuda Islands, and Florida Strait|year=1887|publisher=Great Britain, Hydrographic Dept|isbn=127944343X|pages=487–8|author=Great Britain, Hydrographic Dept|edition=4th|editor=Captain Edward Barnett}} A Royal Navy vessel, the 44-gun {{HMS|Chesterfield|1745|6}}, was wrecked in the Channel in 1762.{{cite book | last = Winfield| first = Rif|title = British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates | page=171|publisher = Seaforth| year = 2007|isbn=9781844157006}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Category:Straits of the Caribbean
Category:International straits
Category:Bodies of water of Cuba
Category:Bodies of water of the Bahamas
Category:Geography of Camagüey Province
Category:Geography of Ciego de Ávila Province
Category:Geography of Cienfuegos Province
Category:Geography of Guantánamo Province
Category:Geography of Holguín Province