Remembering the Endurance

ERNEST Shackleton is probably best known for the Endurance Expedition of 1914.

Officially known as the

‘Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition’, Shackleton’s most famous adventure began on December 5 1914 and aimed to complete a land crossing of Antarctica, a journey of some 1,800 miles.

Two ships were involved in the expedition,

‘The Endurance’ which carried Shackleton and the main body of explorers, and the Aurora, ferrying a second team to the opposite side of the continent.

This team were responsible for laying vital supply lines necessary for Shackleton and his team to complete their mission.

The Endurance’s voyage was a difficult one. In the Weddell Sea, the ship ran into heavy ice which slowed their progress. The weather and particularly the ice, continued to get worse.
On January 19 1915, The Endurance was frozen fast in the ice floe. By the February, it was clear that Shackleton would have to wait for the ice to clear in the spring, and he gave the order to convert The Endurance to a winter station.

During the Antactic’s cold winter months the ice floe moved Endurance and her crew slowly northwards. Spring arrived in September and the ice began to melt. Shackleton hoped that once the Endurance broke free, the expedition could continue towards Vashel Bay. However, the thawing ice put an enormous amount of pressure on the hull of the ship and it began to leak.

By the end of October, the Endurance was taking on large amounts of water and had to be abandoned. Shackleton ordered his crew to set up a camp on the ice floe in the hope that they would drift towards Paulet Island, some 250 miles away.

After two hard months on the ice, it became clear that this plan wasn’t working. Shackleton ordered the crew to move to another ice floe, where they set up a more permanent camp which Shackleton aptly named,

‘Patience Camp’.

By St Patrick’s Day 1916, the crew were within 60 miles of Paulet Island. Due to impassable ice, they were unable to reach it and were forced to remain on the floe.
On April 9 1916, the ice floe broke in two. Shackleton ordered the crew into the lifeboats to make their way for the nearest land.

Five long days followed on the dangerous sea before the crew reached the safety of Elephant Island. They had overcome seemingly unbeatable odds to survive, travelling an almost unbelievable 346 miles on the ice from where the Endurance went down.

Though safely back on dry land, Elephant Island was far from civilisation.
Shackleton’s next concern was to ensure his crew were safely rescued. Showing enormous courage, Shackleton decided to launch one of the Endurance’s small lifeboats and risk a journey of 720 nautical miles to find help at South Georgia.

He chose a five-man team to accompany him on the high risk voyage, which set out on April 24, 1916. Shackleton christened the lifeboat

‘James Caird’ after the expedition’s chief sponsor.
By May 8, the James Caird was within sight of South Georgia, but a passing hurricane made it impossible to land until the following day. After making possibly the first land crossing of South

Georgia in history, Shackleton now attempted to organise the rescue of his men.
The first three attempts were hampered by ice but with the support of the British and the Chilean Governments, Shackleton eventually reached Elephant Island on August 30 1916 and evacuated all 22 men.