PORT PHILLIP BAY

inlet of Bass Strait on the south-central coast of Victoria, Australia, extending approximately 30 miles (50 km) north-south and 25 miles (40 km) east-west. Its entrance, known as "the Rip" (1.75 miles wide), between Points Lonsdale to the west and Nepean to the east, leads into a navigation channel 3,600 feet (1,100 m) wide and 45 feet (14 m) deep, with access northward to Hobson Bay (Port Melbourne) and westward to Corio Bay (the harbour of Geelong). Rivers entering the bay include the Little, Werribee, and Yarra. It was visited in 1802 by Lieutenant John Murray of the Royal Navy, who named it Port King to honour Captain P.G. King, then governor; it was later renamed for Captain Arthur Phillip, first governor of New South Wales.