View source for Admiralty Inlet

{{Short description|Strait in the U.S. state of Washington}}
{{about|an inlet in Washington state|the inlet in Canada|Admiralty Inlet (Nunavut)}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:IMG 0221 Adm.JPG|thumb|Admiralty Inlet From Whidbey Island]] -->
[[File:AdmiraltyInlet Map.png|thumb|Admiralty Inlet]]
[[File:Low tide on Whidbey Island.JPG|right|thumb|Admiralty Inlet seen at low tide from [[Whidbey Island]]]]
[[File:Port Townsend and Admiralty Inlet.jpg|thumb|[[Port Townsend]], Admiralty Inlet and Port Townsend Bay]]
'''Admiralty Inlet''' is a [[strait]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Washington (state)|Washington]] connecting the eastern end of the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]] to [[Puget Sound]]. It lies between [[Whidbey Island]] and the northeastern part of the [[Olympic Peninsula]].

==Boundaries==
It is generally considered to be the northern part of Puget Sound's Main Basin. Its northern boundary is defined as a line running between [[Point Wilson Lighthouse|Point Wilson]] and [[Point Partridge]], and it extends south to the southern end of [[Whidbey Island]] and [[Point No Point]] on the [[Kitsap Peninsula]], where it joins the Central Basin of Puget Sound's Main Basin. Admiralty Inlet's area is {{convert|437|km2|sqmi}}, with a volume of {{convert|15200|m3|cuft}}. Its shoreline is {{convert|171|km|mi}} in length. Its mean depth is {{convert|35|m|ft}}.<ref name=sotn>[https://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/2001/kcr762/PDFELEMENTS/SONR03.pdf Features Of Puget Sound Region: Oceanography And Physical Processes], Chapter 3 of the [https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/environment/watersheds/central-puget-sound/nearshore-environments/reconnaissance-assessment.aspx], King County Department of Natural Resources, Seattle, Washington, 2001.</ref> Though only {{convert|6|km|mi}} wide at the narrowest point (between the [[Point Wilson Lighthouse|Point Wilson]] and [[Admiralty Head Lighthouse|Admiralty Head]] lighthouses), it is through this passage that nearly all the seawater flows into and from [[Puget Sound]] during daily [[tide|tidal]] variations. Tidal currents can reach six [[knot (unit)|knot]]s in the area northeast of Point Wilson.

All sea vessels must pass through Admiralty Inlet to enter or leave Puget Sound, except those small enough to use [[Deception Pass]] or [[Swinomish Channel]]. This fact led to the selection of [[Port Townsend, Washington|Port Townsend]] on the Quimper Peninsula as the official port of entry for the Puget Sound region during the early days of commerce in the area. It also led to the federal decision in the late 1890s to construct [[Fort Worden]], [[Fort Casey]], and [[Fort Flagler]] around Admiralty Inlet as a "Triangle of Fire" for the protection of Puget Sound from a hostile fleet.

The first Europeans to find and map Admiralty Inlet were the Spanish of the 1790 expedition of [[Manuel Quimper]]. It was Quimper's pilot, [[Juan Carrasco (explorer)|Juan Carrasco]], who sighted the inlet. Thinking it was a bay he named it ''Ensenada de Caamaño'', after the Spanish naval officer [[Jacinto Caamaño]].<ref name=hayes>{{cite book |last= Hayes |first= Derek |title= Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest: Maps of exploration and Discovery |year= 1999 |publisher= Sasquatch Books |isbn= 1-57061-215-3 |pages= 70}}</ref> Two years later Admiralty Inlet was given its present name by [[George Vancouver]], after his ultimate commanders, the [[British Admiralty|Board of Admiralty]]. The Spanish name was later given to [[Camano Island]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Phillips |first= James W. |title= Washington State Place Names |url= https://archive.org/details/washingtonstatep00phil |url-access= registration |year= 1971 |publisher= University of Washington Press |isbn= 0-295-95158-3}}</ref>

==Present day==

Today a great deal of maritime freight traffic passes through Admiralty Inlet to the major shipping ports at [[Seattle]] and [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]], and of [[United States Navy]] vessels to the Naval facilities in Puget Sound. The [[Keystone, Island County, Washington|Keystone]]-[[Port Townsend, Washington|Port Townsend]] run of the [[Washington State Ferries]] crosses the inlet and serves as a link for [[State Route 20 (Washington)|State Route 20]].

A [[tidal power]] project was canceled due to costs of monitoring wildlife.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orcaconservancy.org/2016/09/19/not-green-energy-projects-get-green-light/|title=Not all Green Energy Projects get the 'green' light…|work=Orca Conservancy|accessdate=14 October 2016}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Admiralty Inlet|short=x}}

{{Washington}}
{{Puget Sound}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|48|09|44.44|N|122|43|28.55|W|display=title}}

[[Category:Bodies of water of Island County, Washington]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Jefferson County, Washington]]
[[Category:Straits of Kitsap County, Washington]]
[[Category:Straits of Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Puget Sound]]

{{IslandCountyWA-geo-stub}}
{{KitsapCountyWA-geo-stub}}