Arms of the British Antarctic Territory

Cape Herschel

(Hughes Bay)

British Antarctic Territory

Location: 64° 3' 58" S 61° 1' 59" W
NE entrance point of Hughes Bay, dividing Davis Coast from Danco Coast, was roughly charted by Foster in January-February 1829, when the name Mount Herschel was applied to the later named Mount Pénaud (q.v.) to ESE of the cape, after Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871), British astronomer and member of the Royal Society Committee which prepared instructions for the voyage of Foster's ship HMS Chanticleer, 1828-31; son of Sir F.W. Herschel (Herschel Heights, q.v.); further charted by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, 24 January 1898, when the name Cap von Sterneck was applied to Sterneck Island (q.v.) to S of the cape; further charted by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition in 1902 and erroneously called Kap von Steineck [sic]; erroneously called Cap Charles (Charles Point, q.v.) by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1908-10. Following air photography by the Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition, 1956-57, and further study of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition records showing that the name of Sterneck was originally applied to Sterneck Island, the name of Herschel was transferred to the present feature.