Washington Strait is a passage 3 miles (4.8 km) wide between Fredriksen

Fredriksen Island

Fredriksen Island is an island 2.5 nautical miles long and 0.5 nautical miles wide, lying 0.5 nautical miles southeast of Powell Island in the South Orkney Islands. Discovered by Captain Nathaniel Palmer and Captain George Powell on the occasion of their joint cruise in December 1821...

 and Powell Island

Powell Island

Powell Island is a narrow island long and wide, lying between Coronation and Laurie Islands in the central part of the South Orkney Islands. Discovered on the occasion of the joint cruise by Capt. George Powell and Capt. Nathaniel Palmer in December 1821. It was correctly charted, though unnamed,...

s on the west and Laurie Island

Laurie Island

Laurie Island is an island in the Antarctic Circle, the second largest of the South Orkney Islands. The island is claimed by both Argentina as part of Argentine Antarctica, and the United Kingdom as part of the British Antarctic Territory...

 and several smaller islands on the east, in the South Orkney Islands

South Orkney Islands

The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. They have a total area of about ....

. Discovered in December 1821 on the occasion of the joint cruise by Captain George Powell, a British sealer in the sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 Dove, and Captain Nathaniel Palmer

Nathaniel Palmer

Nathaniel Brown Palmer was an American seal hunter, explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer. He was born in Stonington, Connecticut.-Sealing career and Antarctic exploration:...

, an American sealer in the sloop James Monroe. Supposedly, it was named for George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

, first President of the United States

United States

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

.