Denham Bay is a large bay which stretches along the entire east coast of Raoul Island

Raoul Island

Anvil-shaped Raoul Island , the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, , has been the source of vigorous volcanic activity during the past several thousand years that was dominated by dacitic explosive eruptions.The area of the island, including fringing islets and rocks...

 in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's Kermadec Islands

Kermadec Islands

The Kermadec Islands are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga...

 chain, from Hutchison Bluff in the north to Smith Bluff in the south. The bay gave its name to the Denham caldera

Caldera

A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...

, which was formed some 2200 years ago by a massive volcanic eruption.

Denham Bay was named for Capt Henry Mangles Denham

Henry Mangles Denham

Vice Admiral Sir Henry Mangles Denham, CMG was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station.-Early career:...

of the HMS Herald, who charted the island in July 1854, and for his son Fleetwood James Denham, who died from a tropical fever at the age of sixteen, and was buried near the beach at the head of Denham Bay, alongside the small number of graves from early settlers on the island.