The men on the British expedition to Antarctica endured entrapment, hunger, frigid weather, angry seas—and near madness. The next day, the wind eased off and they made it ashore. The Ross Sea party was to set down a series of food caches from their base almost to the Pole. The plan was to sail his ship, the Endurance, to Argentina, then on to Antarctica, then walk across the continent where another crew would pick them up. In December, 1914, the expedition, aboard the purpose-built polar exploration ship Endurance, enters the pack ice of the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica some 1,100 nautical miles east of the Palmer Peninsula. The government of Uruguay proffered a vessel that came within 100 miles of Elephant Island before being beaten back by the ice. Shackleton is not: he knows that this is merely the beginning of the rescue journey. On August 1, 1914, aboard the Endurance, Shackleton would set sail for Antarctica for the third time. With Laurence Fishburne. And with that, they turned north one last time and went home. The likelihood of anybody coming across them was vanishingly small, and so after nine days of recuperation and preparation, Shackleton, Worsley and four others set out in one of the lifeboats, the James Caird, to seek help from a whaling station on South Georgia, more than 800 miles away. Through it all, Captain Worsley navigated through the spray and the squalls, until after six days at sea, Clarence and Elephant Islands appeared just 30 miles ahead. He was perhaps best known for his 1914–16 expedition, in which his ship, Endurance, was crushed by pack ice and the crew endured months of hardship before being rescued. (By the way, if you have problems following Shackleton’s plan—and the rest of his journey—we sincerely advise you to click here: once again, Wikipedia’s contributors have provided the most intelligible map on the Internet). After six miserable days, the three lifeboats land on Elephant Island on April 15, the first time that the 28 men touch solid ground after precisely 497 days! Shackleton was bold and daring when approaching lords, kings, business men and physicians for sponsoring his voyage He was confident of his abilities as a leader Pictured to the right: Frank Worsley, Ernest Shackleton, and Tom Crean After the Voyage of the Endurance (1917) Alfred Lansing was an American journalist and writer, best known for his 1957 classic, Endurance. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. His first experience of the polar regions came relatively early: he was in his 20s when he was assigned the role of third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s landmark Discovery expedition of 1901–1904 that was organized by the British Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society with the objective of carrying out scientific research and geographical exploration of the untouched continent. Freezing water began to rush in. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The British didn’t take the news of the Norwegians reaching the South Pole before them lightly. #BLACKFRIDAY 12min - Get your career back on track! Now, those on board removed their last remaining belongings from the ship and set up camp on the ice. Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) was a British explorer most famous for his Endurance expedition to Antarctica (Larson, 2011). But also, at this point, Shackleton’s crew’s only hope. See why. During the months of May and June, using borrowed ships (Southern Sky, Instituto de Pesca No. “Every surge of the sea was an enemy to be watched and circumvented.” Even as they were within touching distance of their goal, the elements hurled their worst at them: “The wind simply shrieked as it tore the tops off the waves,” Shackleton wrote. How Shackleton and his men then made their escape on foot and in lifeboats is the stuff of legend. He launched one more expedition to the Antarctic, but the Endurance veterans who rejoined him noticed he appeared weaker, more diffident, drained of the spirit that had kept them alive. Unfortunately, they reach land there on the far side of the island. “It is a return to the Ice Age—no warmth, no life, no movement. Frank Hurley/Royal Geographical Society/Getty Images. But, very soon—in the middle of January 1915, to be exact—they happened upon another ice pack, some 200 miles from Vahsel Bay. Worsley had by that stage not slept for 80 hours. Endurance had left South Georgia for Antarctica on December 5, 1914, carrying 27 men (plus one stowaway, who became ship’s steward), 69 dogs, and a tomcat erroneously dubbed Mrs. Chippy. Whalers there reported something portentous: the conditions in the Weddell Sea were the worst they could remember. Things took a turn for the worst when the news of Robert Falcon Scott’s tragic death reached England. The expedition intends to transverse the Antarctic continent by dog sledge. On April 9, 1916, the ice pack breaks in two, and The James Caird, Stancomb Wills and Dudley Docker are launched for a voyage to Elephant Island, a remote and uninhabited island far from all shipping lanes. He worked as a journalist for some time in Britain and was elected secretary of the Scottish Royal … Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. He failed. Explorer Frank Wild (1873 - 1939) looking at the wreckage of the Endurance, 1915. Their record for exploration “had been perhaps unparalleled among the nations of the earth,” and now they had to take “a humiliating second-best” to a much less-renowned country. Alexander, Caroline, The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998), Heacox, Kim, Shackleton: The Antarctic Challenge (National Geographic Society, 1999), Huntford,Roland, Shackleton (Hodder & Stoughton, 1985), Lansing, Alfred, Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (Perseus Books, 1986), Shackleton, Ernest, South (Macmillan, 1920), Worsley, F.A., Shackleton’s Boat Journey (Hodder & Stoughton, 1940). Was stockpiled on the ice forever to hear all about the last time Shackleton his! Worsley had by that stage not slept for 80 hours the beginning the... In 1914 Sir Ernest Shackleton ’ s time to get off. ” home!, Instituto de Pesca no left South Georgia, he enrolled at Park! Hunger, frigid weather, angry seas—and near madness and worsley immediately sails back to pick the. 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