Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) was educated at Dulwich College London in the1880, then joined the mercantile marine service in 1890 and became a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve in 1901. He joined Capt Robert Scott’s British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–4) as 3rd lieutenant on the Discovery and took part, with Scott and Edward Wilson, in the sledge journey over the Ross Ice Shelf when latitude 82°S was reached. His health suffered, so he was sent home on the supply ship Morning in March 1903.
Watching the Endurance go down from a safe distance
1915, Britannica
15th Dec 1915, Ocean Camp
Cool Antarctica
Frank Hurley (L) and Sir Ernest Shackleton (R)
shared tent at Patience Camp, Weddell Sea
Cool Antarctica
In Jan 1908 he returned to Antarctica as leader of the British Antarctic Expedition (1907–9) on the Nimrod. The expedition, prevented by ice from reaching the intended base site in Edward VII Peninsula, wintered on Ross Island in McMurdo Sound. Nonetheless Shackleton’s sledging party reached within 180 km of the South Pole. Victoria Land plateau was claimed for the British crown and the expedition was responsible for the first ascent of Mt Erebus. The sledging party returned to the base camp in late Feb 1909, discovering the Nimrod had set sail 2 days earlier. Shackleton and his party set fire to the camp to signal the ship, which received the signal and returned to the camp after a few days to retrieve them. At home, Shackleton was knighted.
In Aug 1914 the British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition left Britain under Shackleton’s leadership. He planned to cross Antarctica from a base on the Weddell Sea to McMurdo Sound, via the South Pole, but the expedition ship Endurance was trapped in coastal ice and drifted for 10 months before being crushed in the pack-ice. The expedition men then drifted on ice floes for another 5 months and finally escaped in boats to Elephant Island in the Shetland Islands, living off seals, penguins and dogs.
Shackleton and 5 others sailed 1,300 km to South Georgia in a whale boat for 16-days across dangerous ocean, before landing safely; there they made the first crossing of the island to seek aid. Four months later, after leading separate relief expeditions, Shackleton succeeded in rescuing his crew from Elephant Island. Note that not one of Shackleton’s crew of the Endurance died!
From the tip of South America to Antarctica
BBC, 2019
Shackleton attempted a fourth Antarctic expedition aboard the Quest in 1921, intending to circum-navigate the continent, but he soon died from exhaustion. Appropriately Sir Ernest Shackleton was buried in the Grytviken cemetery on South Georgia Island.
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The project to find Shackleton’s lost ship was run by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, using a South African icebreaker Agulhas II. The Endurance, that was crushed by sea-ice and sank in 1915, has been miraculously found at the bottom of the Weddell Sea. The sinking forced Shackleton and his men to make a gutsy escape on foot and in small boats. Even though it has been sitting in 3km of Antarctic water for 106 years, Endurance still looks largely intact.
The Endurance was trapped in sea-ice for months before sinking in 1915 in the Weddell Sea. For a fortnight the subs investigated various target areas until uncovering the wreck site, at a depth of 3,008m. The wreck itself, including its artefacts, is a designated monument under the International Antarctic Treaty and must not be disturbed.
The Endurance found
all equipment seems intact
NBC News
Conclusion
Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set out to make the first land crossing of Antarctica, but he abandoned the quest when the expedition ship, Endurance, was trapped and then holed by sea-ice. Survival was miraculous. Now finding the ship, in Weddell Sea which is permanently covered in thick sea-ice, was even more miraculous.