Remains of Shackleton's ship, The Endurance, were recently found under 10,000 feet of water off the coast of Antartica. Two news articles regarding that are copied below.
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Shackleton’s Lost Ship Endurance Found 107 Years After Sinking Off Antarctica
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| The deck of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, found at a depth of 3,008 metres.Source: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust/National Geographic/PAPress Association |
March 9, 2022, 6:25 AM EST
The wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance has been found 107 years after it became trapped in sea ice and sank off the coast of Antarctica.
The wooden ship had not been seen since it went down in the Weddell Sea in 1915, and in February the Endurance22 Expedition set off from Cape Town, South Africa, a month after the 100th anniversary of Sir Ernest's death on a mission to locate it.
The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust said Endurance was found at a depth of 3,008 metres and approximately four miles south of the position originally recorded by the ship's captain Frank Worsley.
The expedition's director of exploration said footage of Endurance showed it to be intact and "by far the finest wooden shipwreck" he has seen. Mensun Bound said: "We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance.
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| The bow of the Endurance. Source: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust/National Geographic/PA |
"It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see 'Endurance' arced across the stern, directly below the taffrail.
"This is a milestone in polar history."
Dr John Shears, the expedition leader, said his team, which was accompanied by historian Dan Snow, had made "polar history" by completing what he called "the world's most challenging shipwreck search".
He said: "In addition, we have undertaken important scientific research in a part of the world that directly affects the global climate and environment.
"We have also conducted an unprecedented educational outreach programme, with live broadcasting from on board, 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."
Sir Ernest and his crew set out to achieve the first land crossing of Antarctica but Endurance did not reach land and became trapped in dense pack ice, forcing the 28 men on board to eventually abandon ship.
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Lost in 1915, Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance
found off coast of Antarctica
“The preservation is beyond imagination,” said Mensun Bound, the director of exploration at the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust.
March 9, 2022, 6:32 AM EST
By Chantal Da Silva
Over a century after it sank to the depths of the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica, the lost ship of Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton, has been found.
In 1915 the Endurance was trapped by dense pack ice, forcing Shackleton and his crew to make a stunning escape.
Now, 107 years later, the wooden vessel has been located and “it is virtually intact,” said Mensun Bound, the director of exploration at the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust which organized the expedition to find it.
“The preservation is beyond imagination,” Bound told NBC News by phone on Wednesday, adding that the ship’s name could still be seen emblazoned across the stern.
Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship which has not been seen since it was crushed by the ice and sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915.Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust / National Geographic
“It’s beautiful,” he said. He added that he had “never ever seen a wreck as bold and beautiful as this,” in the 30 years he had spent working on shipwrecks. “It just doesn’t get any better,” he said.
The Weddell Sea's cold temperatures of the would have played a key role in preserving the ship, said Dan Snow, a British historian whose content platform History Hit partnered with the expedition team to document the discovery.
“It is super cold. It’s probably just below zero,” he said. This meant there were “no wood-eating microbes and microorganisms” damaging the vessel, he added.
The ship's discovery comes 100 years after Shackleton's death in 1922.
Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set out to achieve the first land crossing of Antarctica and together with his crew, the explorer embarked on his journey in late 1914, shortly after the outbreak of World War I.
Endurance did not reach land and became trapped in dense pack ice, and after they were stuck in the ice for 10 months, the 28 men on board were forced to eventually abandon ship. They escaped in lifeboats and on foot.
Captain Frank Worsley marked down the coordinates where it sank and the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust said that these played a key role in their discovery of the vessel.
The ship was located at a depth of almost 10,000ft in the Weddell Sea and found within the area the team had initially set out based on Worsley's coordinates.
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| Efforts were made to free Endurance from the polar ice in February 1915, but were ultimately unsuccessful.Frank Hurley / Scott Polar Research Institute / Getty Images file |
They made their discovery weeks after launching the expedition in early February.
The wreck will be protected as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty, ensuring that while it is being surveyed and filmed, it will not be disturbed.
The trust had previously said that an important goal of its expedition was to “bring the story of Shackleton, his ship and the members of his team to new and younger audiences.”
And now, Bound said, the ship’s discovery presents a fresh opportunity “for people to re-explore the whole Shackleton saga.”
The wreck will be protected as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty, ensuring that while it is being surveyed and filmed, it will not be disturbed.
The trust had previously said that an important goal of its expedition was to “bring the story of Shackleton, his ship and the members of his team to new and younger audiences.”
And now, Bound said, the ship’s discovery presents a fresh opportunity “for people to re-explore the whole Shackleton saga.”
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