New Search for Shackleton's 'Endurance'

[Guest fountainhall]

The BBC website has a piece today about an expedition to locate the wreck of explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship The Endurance which got stuck in Antarctic ice in 1914, drifted and was slowly crushed over the ensuing 10 months, before finally sinking.

 

Shackleton, in one of the most extraordinary feats of personal bravery and leadership of the 20^th century – if not the most extraordinary – spent weeks getting his crew across the breaking Antarctic ice. In three open life boats, he led his men through terrible seas to the uninhabited and barren Elephant island. Realising that rescue was impossible since no other soul would know where they were, he then took five crew members and one of the boats to sail 800 miles in equally rough seas, much of the time weaving through icebergs. Their open boat, the James Caird, was just seven meters long and two meters wide. After 16 days they reached the tiny island of South Georgia. Unfortunately, their leaking boat and strong currents meant they had to land on the wrong side. They then had to spend two more days trekking over its mountainous terrain without rest or sleep to the whaling station where they were finally able to summon help. 106 days after leaving Elephant Island, Shackleton finally returned to Elephant Island. All his crew were alive, and all returned safely to the UK.

 

One of the most amazing things about the Expedition and its extraordinary story is that there was a photographer aboard. Many of Australian James Hurley’s photos survived the sea crossings and give a stunning visual insight into what happened. Two of the most astonishing are of the icebound Endurance at night, a feat which required twenty flashes in quick succession.

 

 

Some of the photos are in this YouTube clip (turn the sound off – the music is dreadful!)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD8uR644osk

 

History Channel made an excellent movie titled "Shackleton: The Greatest Survival Story of All Time" starring Kenneth Brannagh, and there have been many books written of the adventure, some by the crew. One of the best, in my view, is Caroline Alexander’s “The Endurance” written to accompany an American Museum of Natural History Exhibition in 1999 and published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-19692704

[Rogie]

Shame on me, my knowledge of Shackleton's expedition and its aftermath is almost zero. In this day and age when the news is filled with stories of greed and corruption and petty squabbles, it's good to reflect on mankind's innate qualities. Similar qualities were on display during the Olympics and Paralympics, and in accounts of people coping with natural disasters.

[Guest fountainhall]

Pick up one of the recommended books (most are in paperback) and you'll be completely riveted by the story. It is totally gripping - and virtually unbelievable!

 

Sadly, by the time he returned to England in 1917, Europe was in the throes of war, and his exploits and courage were relegated to second hand news. He was also hugely in debt. When he died in 1922, he was still owing £40,000 (£1.6 million today) as a result of the failure of his Expedition.

 

Also interesting, I think, is that for several decades afterwards, the popular British hero was Captain Robert Scott of the Antarctic who had died in the ice along with his four team members after failing to become the first to reach the South Pole (the Norwegian Amundsen had pipped him to the post)! Something about the British admiration for 'gallant attempts which end in failure', I suppose. By mid-century, though, Scott's failings began to become more obvious, whereas Shackleton's courage and determination to get his men home would thereafter bring him fame at last.

[kokopelli]

As a youth I did read of the expeditions of both Shackelton and Scott and found them intriguing. There were also similar expeditions leading to tragedy in the Arctic regions. One was a failed expedition by an American, George Washington DeLong about 1881 and described in an excellent book, Hell on Ice, published about 1938 and still available.

Another of these type of expeditions was led by Sir John Franklin, a Royal Naval officer, in 1845. Years later the icy graves of some of his sailors were temporarily exhumed in 1981 in an attempt to discover the cause of their deaths which was likely lead poisoning from canned food. The photo is of John Hartnell, age 26 at time of his death. Photo taken about 130 years later.

[kokopelli]

I finally got around to watching the video posted by FH. At the end of this video there were additional clips of other videos including one about the Franklin expedition and the sailors who were "Frozen in Time". There was an excellent documentary on TV about this subject some years ago if one could ever find a copy of it.