(DailyExpertNews) — More than a century after it sank off the coast of Antarctica, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship HMS Endurance has been located, apparently intact and in good condition.
The discovery was a collaboration between the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and History Hit, the content platform co-founded by historian Dan Snow.
“This is by far the most beautiful wooden shipwreck I’ve ever seen. It stands upright, proud of the seabed, intact and in a superb state of preservation,” Mensun Bound, director of exploration, said in a statement.
He added: “This is a milestone in polar history.”
Who was Shackleton?
The Irish-British explorer Shackleton had long been obsessed with the South Pole, undertaking a total of four expeditions to the White Continent.
Endurance set sail from the United Kingdom in 1914 and reached the McMurdo Sound in Antarctica the following year on a voyage called the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
The Endurance22 sailed from South Africa to the Weddell Sea.
Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and James Blake
However, the extreme conditions caused the ship to get stuck between thick, impenetrable ice in the Weddell Sea. The 28 men on board, including Shackleton himself, left the Endurance and set up rudimentary camp facilities aboard ice floes drifting north.
Finally, the team reached uninhabited Elephant Island, after which some – including Shackleton – volunteered to board a lifeboat and headed for South Georgia Island, eventually crossing it on foot to reach Stromness whaling station, then manned by Norwegians, and organize a rescue of the men left behind on Elephant Island.
Although the expedition was a failure, the team’s survival and eventual rescue months later, without any loss of life, was seen as a triumph of their tenacity and Shackleton’s incredible leadership skills.
After another expedition later in life, Shackleton died on South Georgia Island in 1947 and is buried there.
How was Endurance found?
After being abandoned, Endurance eventually sank in the Weddell Sea, where she has remained ever since.
The resting place is about four miles south of where Captain Frank Worsley, a New Zealander at the helm of the ship, had thought it was.
The discovery team departed from Cape Town on the South African polar research and logistics vessel SA Agulhas II. Fittingly, they named their ship — and mission — Endurance22.
The crew of Endurance22 used specially made underwater search vessels to locate the wreckage.
Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and Nick Birtwistle
On board was a mixed group of scientists, historians and filmmakers capturing footage for an upcoming National Geographic documentary about the journey to locate Endurance.
Once they got close to where they thought the shipwreck was, explorers used Sabertooth hybrid underwater search vehicles made by Saab to locate her.
What happens now?
Instead, it will stay where it is and be studied, mapped and photographed there.
The Endurance22 is named in honor of the original Endurance, with the current year at the end.
Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and Nick Birtwistle
While Shackleton’s name and biography are still famous around the world, the Endurance22 mission is as focused on the future as it is on the past.
dr. John Shears, the Expedition Leader, said: “We also conducted an unprecedented educational outreach program, broadcasting live from on board, enabling new generations from around the world to participate in Endurance22 and be inspired by the amazing stories of polar exploration, and what people can achieve and the obstacles they can overcome when they work together.”
