Adventure Travel

Here we take a look at one explorer who became famous for the many efforts he made rather than reaching the end goal, which he never did achieve.

Renewed interest in his epic adventures has been reignited recently following the discovery of his sunken ship the ‘Endurance’ which was found at the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean recently, years after many searches to find it failed.

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was born in 1874 in Ireland and died the other end of the world in 1922 in Grytviken, South Georgia.

Shackleton is best known as a polar explorer taking 4 expeditions down to the Antarctica. The Trans-Antarctic (Endurance) Expedition in (1914–16) never reached the Antarctic but became famous for its incredible story of perseverance and survival.

An experienced maritime sailor, his expeditions to the South Pole are legendary. In 1901 he was 3rd Lieutenant on-board Capt. Robert Falcon Scott’s British National Antarctic (Discovery) Expedition and together with Scott and Edward Wilson, he took a sledge journey across the Ross Ice Shelf reaching the furthest southern point anyone had ever travelled.

In 1908 he returned to Antarctica as leader of the British Antarctic (Nimrod) Expedition. Another sledging attempt led by Shackleton reached within 97 nautical miles (180km) of the South Pole, followed by another attempt that reached the south magnetic pole. The expedition saw the 1st ascent of Mount Erebus. Upon returning to England, Shackleton was knighted and was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.

In 1914 Shakleton captained the British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The journey would cross Antarctica from a base on the Weddell Sea to McMurdo Sound, via the South Pole. However the ship, the ‘Endurance’ became trapped in ice off the Caird coast and drifted for 10 months before being crushed in the pack ice.

The crew of the expedition then drifted on ice floes for 5 months and finally escaped in boats to Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands, living off seal meat, penguins, and their dogs. Shackleton and 5 others sailed 800 miles (1,300km) to the island of South Georgia in a whale boat, which took 16-days across a dangerous stretch of ocean. Shackleton was then able to get help and over the next 4 months he was able to rescue the remaining crew, all still alive on Elephant Island.

Such an experience did not deter Shakleton’s desire to reach the South Pole. He returned to England and served in the British Army during World War I, but was off to explore again in 1921 in a 4th attempt to reach his prized goal; the South Pole. The ship ‘Quest’ was home for the Shackleton-Rowett Antarctic Expedition, but it was not to be. Shackleton died in Grytviken, South Georgia on the outward journey.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

by Caroline-Artemis Laspas

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

This indeed helped put South Georgia on the map and today, the South Georgia Museum exists to protect, document and promote the cultural and natural history and heritage of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It aims to make its history and heritage accessible to the visiting public and the rest of the world via the internet through online exhibitions and education programmes.

Also on the remote island, which only has approx. 20 non-permanent inhabitants is the equally interesting Grytviken Church. A simple wooden structure and home to the whaler’s library, it has many plaques and memorials relating to both Sir Ernest Shackleton and the station founder Captain Carl Anton Larson.

The church is still used for its original purpose, especially at Christmas, but has also been used to store food, as well as on occasion become a concert hall and cinema.

Shackleton’s funeral service was held in the church before he was buried in the cemetery close by.

With the ‘Endurance’ discovered at the bottom of the Weddell Sea a depth of 3,008m last month, 107 years after it sank, it appears to be in the same condition as when it sank. Under the International Antarctic Treaty, the wreck is a designated monument and must not be disturbed in anyway, therefore no artefacts can be removed.

However, for certain, now found, further in-depth dives will take place to find more details of this voyage which has captured the imagination for so many years.