107 years after it sank, scientists discover the wreck of Anglo-Irish Polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance off the coast of Antarctica, according to the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust.
The lost vessel, which sank in the Antarctic Sea in 1915, was crashed by impenetrable sea ice. Explorer Shackleton and his crew managed to escape on foot and in tiny boats, leaving behind one of the biggest maritime mysteries of modern times.
A month after the 100th anniversary of Sir Ernest’s death, an international group of marine archaeologists and scientists mounted by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and History Hit sat off from Cape Town, South Africa on a mission to locate the ship leading to the discovery.
The expedition located the wreck of the vessel 3,008 meters below the surface of the Weddell Sea, roughly four miles south of the position initially noted by the ship’s Captain Frank Worsley when the ship sank. The area, described by Shackleton as “The worst portion of the worst sea in the world”, is located in the Southern Ocean near the northern coast of Antarctica, south of the Falkland Islands.
Dr. John Shears, veteran polar geographer, and the mission’s leader described the discovery as “An incredible achievement”, in a statement to BBC News, adding “We have successfully completed the world’s most difficult shipwreck search, battling constantly shifting sea-ice, blizzards, and temperatures dropping down to -18C. We have achieved what many people said was impossible.” According to Dr. John, the team “Has made polar history with the discovery of Endurance, and successfully completed the world’s most challenging shipwreck search.”
The fortunate event constitutes success and a step forward for the scientific community. Dr. John asserts that the discovery has “Undertaken important scientific research in a part of the world that directly affects the global climate and environment”. He adds “We have also conducted an unprecedented educational outreach program, with live broadcasting from onboard, allowing new generations from around the world to engage with Endurance22 and become inspired by the amazing stories of polar exploration, and what human beings can achieve and the obstacles they can overcome when they work together.” In this sense, the researcher wishes people would be moved by “What human beings can achieve and the obstacles they can overcome when they work together”.
Footages retrieved from the site by the expedition group show that the vessel has remained in good condition, as much as when captured by Shackleton’s filmmaker, Frank Hurley, in 1915. The timbers are mostly intact, the masts are down, the hull is mainly undamaged, and you can read the name Endurance, visibly on the stern.
Marine archaeologist Mensun Bound and director of the exploration explained that “without any exaggeration, this is the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen – by far”.
Explaining why the vessel remained intact, Dan Snow, a British historian, and broadcaster who is part of the expedition, clarified that the “The Weddell Sea’s cold temperatures of the world have played a key role in preserving the ship. “It is super cold. It’s probably just below zero … no wood-eating microbes and microorganisms” destructing the ship, he added.
In a tweet post, the historian notes “The wreck is coherent, in an astonishing state of preservation. The Antarctic seabed does not have any wood-eating micro-organisms, the water has the clarity of distilled water. We were able to film the wreck in super-high definition. The results are magical.”
Sir Ernest and his crew started their journey from the UK in 1914, reaching Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound to achieve the first land crossing of Antarctica the next year on a mission known as the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Due to the severe conditions, Endurance got stuck amid dense ice and failed to reach land pushing the 28 men on board, including Shackleton, to ultimately abandon the quest after being stuck for around 10 months.
The expedition ship to locate Endurance boarded a team of 64 including scientists, historians, and filmmakers, plus a crew of 46. An anonymous donor financed the expedition with a budget of $10m.
The first week of January 2022, the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust announced the resumption of the quest for Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance after several previous failures.
For Bound, the ship’s discovery offers a new occasion “for people to re-explore the whole Shackleton saga.”
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