By Scott A. Grant
mail@floridanewsline.com
Marine archaeologists recently discovered the wreck of the “Endurance” off the coast of Antarctica, at the bottom of the Weddell Sea. How that ship got there and what happened to its crew is one of the greatest stories ever told.
Ernest Shackleton was one of several early nineteenth century adventurer-explorers seeking to “discover” the South Pole. In 1908, Shackleton got closer than anyone had so far. He made it within 97 miles of the coveted pole.
Unfortunately for Shackleton, in 1911, the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Shackleton’s fellow Brit, Robert Falcon Scott, engaged in an epic race to be first to the pole. Amundsen brought all the right people and all the right stuff. He easily made it there first, returning safely. Scott brought the wrong people and wrong stuff. Scott and his party faltered on their return and eventually died atop the Beardmore Glacier. The final entry in his journal began with the chilling words “Had we lived…”
What is an Antarctic explorer to do once the Pole has been discovered? Shackleton came up with the idea of leading an expedition that would march across the continent. Shackleton raised money for the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and acquired a ship, the “Endurance.” In late 1914, shortly after the beginning of World War I, Shackleton and 27 crew members set out.
It was a particularly cold summer at the South Pole and as the “Endurance” approached Antarctica it became stuck in the ice. The ice swelled, as ice tends to do, ultimately crushing the “Endurance” and sending her to the bottom. Shackleton and his men, now trapped on the ice, began to march toward the open sea, dragging their three lifeboats behind them. They made less than a mile per day, but soon realized that the currents in the Weddell Sea were moving counterclockwise pushing the ice out to sea near an archipelago off the Antarctic coast.
They decided to camp on the ice and let nature do its work. And so, they floated northwest on the melting ice until it became too unstable. They loaded everything into their three lifeboats and rowed hard toward Elephant Island. Captain Frank Worsley got them there and for the first time in months, the crew of the Endurance set foot on dry land. But they were far from safe. No one was coming to their rescue. No one even knew they were there.
Shackleton had the largest of the lifeboats, the James Caird, fitted with a sail and decking. Together with Worsley and four others he set out to sail 800 miles across the most dangerous ocean in the world to the whaling station on South Georgia Island off the coast of Argentina. Getting to South Georgia was a little like finding a needle in a haystack. Along the way, they were hit by a monstrous rogue wave, but the Caird somehow stayed afloat. After 17 days at sea in the tiny boat, they made landfall on South Georgia Island.
But they were on the wrong side. Rather than risk the sea again, Shackleton determined to hike across the island and its 3,000-foot-high central ridge. Three members of the party were too weak to continue. Shackleton left them in a cave and set out to cross the island with Worsley and one other. As they approached the top of the mountain, both Shackleton and Worsley had the distinct impression that a fourth, unseen figure, was traveling with them. As they crested the summit, they realized to their dismay that the descent was going to be more difficult than the ascent.
They were exhausted. It was getting dark. The situation was desperate. So, they made the decision to place their lives in the hands of providence and slide down a large glacier on their butts, not knowing what awaited them at the bottom. The next morning, they walked into the Norwegian whaling station. Shackleton had torn his pants on the slide down the mountain. He apologized profusely for arriving at the manager’s house in ripped pants.
The three crewmen on the far side of the island were quickly rescued. Those stranded in Antarctica would have to wait three more months. Shackleton begged and borrowed the service of three ships; none of them made it through the ice. Finally, on his fourth attempt aboard the Chilean tugboat “Yelcho,” the waters cleared. As the heavy fog lifted, the 21 stranded crewmen saw something they had given up hope of ever seeing: a rescue ship.
Shackleton brought home all 27 members of his expedition. Miraculously, no one died. Five years later, Shackleton made another attempt. He died of a heart attack on South Georgia Island. He is buried there.
Scott A. Grant is a local historian and author. By day, he is president of fiduciary asset manager, Standfast Asset Management.
