Bell Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago

Alexander Archipelago

The Alexander Archipelago is a long archipelago, or group of islands, of North America off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, which are the tops of the submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Deep channels and fjords separate the...

 in Southeast Alaska

Alaska Panhandle

Southeast Alaska, sometimes referred to as the Alaska Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, which lies west of the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United...

, U.S.A

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) long, lying in Behm Canal

Behm Canal

Behm Canal is a channel in the Alexander Archipelago, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Alaska.About long, Behm Canal separates Revillagigedo Island from the mainland...

, north of Revillagigedo Island

Revillagigedo Island

Revillagigedo Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. Running about 89 km north-south and 48 km east-west, it is 2,754.835 km² in area, making it the 12th largest island in the United...

. George Vancouver

George Vancouver

Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...

 first visited the island on August 12, 1793, in the evening dining on its south coast. He suspected that it was an island, but this wasn't proven until later in the same month, when Joseph Whidbey

Joseph Whidbey

Joseph Whidbey was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–1795, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first European to discover and chart Admiralty Island in the Alexander Archipelago in 1794.Little is recorded of...

, master of the HMS Discovery

HMS Discovery (1789)

HMS Discovery was a Royal Navy ship launched in 1789 and best known as the lead ship in George Vancouver's exploration of the west coast of North America in his famous 1791-1795 expedition. She was converted to a bomb vessel in 1798 and participated in the Battle of Copenhagen. Thereafter she...

, charted its entire coastline. Vancouver later named it "Bell's Island" after one of his crew, a Midshipman Bell.