Vahsel Bay [SEP] continent
Vahsel Bay
Vahsel Bay () is a bay about 7 miles wide in the western part of the Luitpold Coast, Antarctica.
This bay receives the flow of the Schweitzer Glacier and Lerchenfeld Glacier. It was discovered by the German Antarctic Expedition of 1911–1912, led by Wilhelm Filchner. Upon discovery Filchner named the bay for Captain Richard Vahsel of the expedition ship "Deutschland", who died during the course of the expedition, reputedly of Syphilis. Filchner later renamed the bay "Herzog Ernst Bucht" after large portions of
aware that others were in the field pursuing this objective.
On 11 December 1911, a German expedition under Wilhelm Filchner had sailed from South Georgia, intending to penetrate deep into the Weddell Sea and establishing a base from which he would cross the continent to the Ross Sea. In late 1912 Filchner returned to South Georgia, having failed to land and set up his base. However, his reports of possible landing sites in Vahsel Bay, at around 78° latitude, were noted by Shackleton, and incorporated into his developing