This bay receives the flow of the Schweitzer Glacier and Lerchenfeld Glacier. It was discovered by the German Antarctica 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. Filchner later renamed the bay Herzog Ernst Bucht after large portions of the surrounding ice broke away forming a much larger bay, but later explorers have retained the name Vahsel Bay.
