Cole Peninsula is a peninsula, 15 miles long in an east-west direction and 8 miles wide, lying between Cabinet Inlet

Cabinet Inlet

Cabinet Inlet is an ice-filled inlet, long in a northwest–southeast direction, and some wide at its entrance between Cape Alexander and Cape Robinson, along the east coast of Graham Land. It was charted by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and photographed from the air by the Ronne...

 and Mill Inlet

Mill Inlet

Mill Inlet is an ice-filled inlet which recedes 8 miles in a northwest direction and is some 20 miles wide at its entrance between Cape Robinson and Monnier Point, along the east coast of Graham Land. It was charted by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1947 and named for Hugh Robert Mill...

 on the east coast of Graham Land

Graham Land

Graham Land is that portion of the Antarctic Peninsula which lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and the US Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names, in...

, just east of Thuronyi Bluff

Thuronyi Bluff

Thuronyi Bluff is a prominent escarpment on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, which faces the Larsen Ice Shelf and the Weddell Sea and lies immediately south of the Antarctic Circle. It is located above Mill Inlet in British Antarctic Territory at the base of the Cole Peninsula, between...

 and immediately north of the Antarctic Circle

Antarctic Circle

The Antarctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs south of the Equator.-Description:...

. The peninsula is surrounded by the Larsen Ice Shelf

Larsen Ice Shelf

The Larsen Ice Shelf is a long, fringing ice shelf in the northwest part of the Weddell Sea, extending along the east coast of Antarctic Peninsula from Cape Longing to the area just southward of Hearst Island...

, which is part of the Weddell Sea

Weddell Sea

The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha Coast, Queen Maud Land. To the east of Cape Norvegia is...

.

This promontory is ice-covered except for several rocky spurs which radiate from Mount Hayes

Mount Hayes

Mount Hayes is the highest mountain in the eastern Alaska Range. Despite not being a fourteener, it is one of the largest peaks in the United States in terms of rise above local terrain. For example, the Northeast Face rises 8,000 feet in approximately 2 miles...

. It was first sighted and photographed from the air in 1940 by members of East Base of the US Antarctic Service (USAS). During 1947 it was charted by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) and photographed from the air by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition

Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition

The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition was an expedition from 1947-1948 which researched the area surrounding the head of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica.-Background:...

 (RARE) under Finn Ronne

Finn Ronne

Finn Ronne was a U.S. Antarctic explorer.-Background:Finn Ronne was born in Horten, in Vestfold county, Norway. His father, Martin Rønne , was a polar explorer and served in Roald Amundsen's successful expedition to the South Pole...

.

Cole Peninsula was named by Ronne for Rep. W. Sterling Cole

W. Sterling Cole

William Sterling Cole was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.Cole was born in Painted Post, New York. He graduated from Colgate University in 1925 and Albany Law School in 1929. He was elected to Congress in 1934 and served from January 3, 1935 until...

 of New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, member of the House Naval Affairs Committee, which assisted in obtaining Congressional support resulting in procurement of a ship for use by the Ronne expedition.