A new Hutchins Lion
The HSOBA (Hutchins School Old Boys’ Association) was proud recently to unveil another Hutchins Lion. Lieutenant Commander Louis C D Bernacchi was a distinguished Old Boy with many accomplishments; a physicist, astronomer and Antarctic expeditioner. He joined Carstens Borchgrevink's Southern Cross expedition (1898–1900). The expedition was the first to spend the winter on the Antarctic continent and the first to sledge towards the South Pole. He wrote a book about the expedition – To the south polar regions: expedition of 1898-1900 – published in 1900. He was a physicist on the Discovery expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott (1901–1904). Following the trip, he was awarded the Royal Geographical Society and King's Antarctic Medal as well as the Légion d'honneur.
During World War I, he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, the Admiralty and the United States Navy. In 1919, he received both an Order of the British Empire and the United States Navy Cross.
Louis Bernacchi remained active in scientific organisations, most notably the Royal Geographical Society, and wrote a number of books on the Antarctic. Two landmarks in Antarctica are named after him: Bernacchi Head, on Franklin Island and Bernacchi Bay, on the coast of Victoria. In 2002, the-then Premier of Tasmania, Jim Bacon, unveiled sculptures of Louis Bernacchi and fellow explorers at Sullivans Cove.