The Story of the Endurance
• After Amundsen’s conquest of the South Pole in 1911, the next exploit was to undertake the great Antarctic crossing. It was Sir Ernest Shackleton who organised the expedition; his plan was to cross Antarctica from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea, going through the South Pole. Shackleton estimated that the crossing would take him 120 days. But they were many more...
• On 8 August 1914, Shackleton and his 27 men set sail from the English harbour of Plymouth. In September they reached the coast of South Georgia Island. The area was covered with ice and they advanced very slowly.
• The ice became increasingly thicker, and on 15 January 1915, the Endurance got completely trapped in the middle of the Weddell Sea. Temperatures fell to -23º C. Shackleton and his men prepared themselves to spend the Antarctic winter on the ship.
• On 27 October 1915, the Endurance had to be abandoned as it was dangerously heeled and being crushed by the pressure from the ice. Days later, the ship sunk. It had withstood the elements for 281 days.
• After unloading some provisions, the dogs and three boats, the 28 men set up camp on the ice half a mile away from the remains of the Endurance. They called it Ocean Camp. On 20 December, they decided to struck camp and head for Paulet Island.
• Dragging the three boats rescued from the Endurance over the ice made the journey extremely hard and slow. Shackleton decided that they would climb onto a large ice floe and wait for the sea currents to take them northwards. On 31 December 1915 they crossed the line of the Antarctic Circle.
• On 8 August 1914, Shackleton and his 27 men set sail from the English harbour of Plymouth. In September they reached the coast of South Georgia Island. The area was covered with ice and they advanced very slowly.
• Frank Wild, one of Shackleton’s right-hand men, organised life on the ice floe. They turned the boats upside down to use them as dwellings. They hunted seals and penguins. They sang choral songs, celebrated birthdays and read the Encyclopaedia Britannica. They had to keep their morale high
• In April 1916, the ice floe began to split and they decided to throw themselves into the three boats (James Caird, Stancomb Wills and Dudley Docker) and drift. They eventually reached Elephant Island on the north side of the Antarctic peninsula. It was 16 months since they last stepped on solid ground and during that time they had covered at least 3,500 kilometres.
• But the problems were far from over. They were isolated on a deserted island, and could not get any help. Shackleton decided to head for South Georgia Island, 800 miles away, on the James Caird, a 6.7 metre long and 1.8 metre wide whaling sailboat. On the north side of that island there was a Norwegian whaling station.
• Shackleton was accompanied on his journey by Worsley, the commander of the Endurance, Crean, the second officer, MacNeish, the carpenter, and two sailors: MacCarthy and Vincent. They had to dodge icebergs and fight against the terrible conditions of one of the most feared seas in the world.
• On 10 May, after several failed attempts, they disembarked safely on a beach of the south coast of South Georgia Island. The landscape awaiting them was awe-inspiring: frozen peaks and glaciers. And right behind it stood Stromness Bay and the whaling station. They were about 25 miles from salvation.
• McNeish and Vincent were too weak to undertake the remaining part of the journey, and Shackleton left them in MacCarthy’s care. On 15 May 1916, Shackleton, Worsley and Crean set off for Stromness Bay, crossing frozen mountains and glaciers. On the next day they heard the siren of the Norwegian whaling factory.
• With their haggard faces, thick beards and ragged clothes, they asked to see the manager (Mr Sorlle), who immediately received them. “Don’t you know me? My name is Shackleton”, he told him.
• Worsley immediately headed south to pick up the three men left behind. Shackleton, for his part, borrowed the whaler Southern Sky and set off two days later for Elephant Island with Crean and Worsley, determined to rescue the rest of his men.
• The ice made them back down to the Falklands, where the Uruguayan government lent them a trawler. They failed again. Helped by some British residents, Shackleton chartered the schooner Emma from Punta Arenas, but that attempt did not succeed either.
• At last, on 30 August 1916, Shackleton managed to reach Elephant Island aboard the Chilean tug Yelcho. From the deck he counted the men gathered on the beach and cried out to Wild: “Are you all well?” Wild answered: “All safe, boss, all well”.
• During the 634 days of the ordeal, Shackleton had not lost a single man. Shackleton’s adventure is possibly the most remarkable among those lived in the Poles. Although it did not bring any material profits or significant scientific advances, the survival of all the crew is a tremendous victory in itself, achieved thanks to two fundamental principles: teamwork and fighting spirit.
Photographs: Copyright © Frank Hurley and Royal Geographical Society.
