THE ENDURANCE EXPEDITION OF ERNEST SHACKLETON

 ANTARCTICA 1914-1916 

20 PHOTOGRAPHS

ALL PHOTOS WILL BE NUMBERED ON REVERSE AND LOCATION/DATE 

WILL BE PROVIDED WHERE KNOWN 

Sir Ernest Shackleton is best remembered for embarking on a voyage between 1914 and 1916 aboard the Endurance in an attempt to cross the Antarctic.  Endurance sailed, with her crew of 27 but without Shackleton, from Plymouth on 6^th August 1914, and set a course for Buenos Aires in Argentina under the captaincy of Frank Worsley. Shackleton stayed behind to finalise the details for the expedition and took a steamer to Buenos Aires to join his ship.

They left Argentina on 26 October 1914 and sailed to Grytviken on South Georgia, arriving on 5^th November.  Two days after leaving South Georgia they encountered pack ice and their speed was dramatically reduced.  By 15 January 1915 they were within 200 miles of Vahsel Bay in the Weddell Sea but a gale developed and they were hindered further.

On 18^th January they entered more pack ice and Endurance soon became stuck. Conditions worsened and Endurance became icebound in every direction

In early May the Antarctic winter set in and on 14^th July Endurance was swept by a south-westerly gale and temperatures were recorded of -36C.  During July she drifted 160 miles to the north and on 1^st August a wave lifted the Endurance and heeled her over to port and into water, the first time she had been afloat for 6 months.  But it wasn’t until 16^th October that Shackleton ordered steam to be raised and they steamed into a lead of open water. Two days later ice closed in once again causing considerable damage to the ship.

Shackleton gave orders to abandon ship on 27^th October. Supplies were landed and the crew set up camp 2 miles from the wreck of Endurance.  On 21 November Endurance sank.

The crew remained camped until April 1916 when they set off in three boats salvaged from Endurance and eventually landed on the remote Elephant Island.  On 24^th April Shackleton, Worsley and four other members of the crew set off in one of the ships boats in an attempt to reach South Georgia.

Miraculously, after 16 days at sea they reached their destination on May 8^th. They then had the task of trekking across the island to reach the whaling station, where they arrived on May 20^th. With the help of Norwegian whalers, Shackleton set off on his rescue mission to Elephant Island.  On his arrival on 30^th August he was delighted to see all of the crew he had left behind were still alive.

Whilst the trans-Antarctic trip was not achieved, Shackleton had accomplished a feat perhaps even more impressive. The ability to save and protect his men, living on ice sheets for months, sailing in a small boat for sixteen days across an ocean and trekking across an island to organise a rescue

In 1921 he once again he set off to accomplish his Antarctic dream aboard his ship the Quest. When they arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Shackleton suffered a suspected heart attack.  He refused medical examination and sailed for South Georgia, arriving there on January 4^th 1922.  The following morning he suffered another heart attack, this time fatal.

At the request of his wife Emily, Ernest Shackleton was buried at Grytviken on South Georgia

The wreck of Endurance was discovered on 5^th March 2022 in the Weddell Sea at a depth of 9,869 feet (1645 fathoms).  The discoverers on board the research vessel said that the wreck was in a remarkably good condition, and that they had filmed and photographed it extensively. The name Endurance on the stern remains clearly legible