Port Royal Sound

Port Royal Sound, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, between St. Helena and Parris islands to the north and Hilton Head Island to the south, in S S.C.; it receives the Broad River. The sound was named in 1562 by French explorer Jean Ribaut, founder of a short-lived Huguenot settlement on Parris Island. In Nov., 1861, during the Civil War, Union Comdr. Samuel F. Du Pont reduced the forts guarding the sound, and the area remained in Union hands for the rest of the war, becoming a major naval base.