The wreckage of Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s long-lost ship, has been found off the coast of Antarctica. The ship’s whereabouts were discovered by the Endurance22 expedition, 107 years after Endurance originally sank.
Scientists working on Endurance22 say the wreck is in “a brilliant state of preservation”, with the name of the ship still clearly visible across her submerged stern. Dr John Shears, who led Endurance22, said it was an example of “what human beings can achieve”.
Endurance22 set off from Cape Town for the waters of Antarctica a month ago, and the rediscovery of the wreck ends decades of uncertainty. But what is Endurance22 - and what’s going to happen to the wreck of Endurance now it’s finally been found?
What is Endurance22?
Endurance22 is a scientific expedition aiming to locate, survey and capture imagery of the wreck of Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship which was lost in 1915. The team announced this week that it had located the wreckage.
Finding the wreck of Endurance has not been an easy endeavour, given the conditions the team have had to work in. They have had to navigate their way through thick sea ice, as well as working in freezing temperatures.
A team of 64 people have taken part in the Endurance22 expedition aboard the South African ice-breaker, SA Agulhas II. The expedition has reportedly cost around $10 million (£7.6 million), with the money having been provided by an anonymous donor.
Who was Ernest Shackleton?
Sir Ernest Shackleton was an explorer famous for his expeditions to Antarctica. He was leading the expedition during which Endurance was lost, in the winter of 1915.
Shackleton took part in three major Antarctic expeditions: the Discovery expedition of 1901-4 alongside Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the Nimrod expedition of 1907-9 and the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-17.
After the Nimrod expedition, Shackleton became a British national hero and celebrity. He embarked to the Antarctic again in 1914, only for this expedition to end in failure as his ship, Endurance, got into difficulty and was lost.
In the winter of 1915, the ship became trapped in pack ice, which eventually crushed it before Shackleton’s party could land onshore. However, Shackleton and his crew survived the loss of the ship and he eventually made it back to England in May 1917.
Shackleton would embark on a final Antarctic expedition after that, setting off from England in September 1921. However, he would not make it to Antarctica itself - instead, he died in South Georgia, in the southern Atlantic Ocean, in January 1922.
What is Endurance?
Endurance was the ship Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew sailed on during their ill-fated 1914-17 expedition to Antarctica. The vessel, a three-masted barquentine, was crushed by pack ice and lost in the winter of 1915.
Its exact whereabouts were unknown until the Endurance22 team located the wreckage of the vessel, 107 years later and in the centenary year of Shackleton’s death. A previous effort to find the wreckage three years ago was unsuccessful.
Where did Endurance sink?
Endurance sank in the Weddell Sea in Antarctica in the winter of 1915. Until its rediscovery by the Endurance22 expedition, the vessel’s wreckage had not been seen since.
The wreckage was discovered at a depth of 3,008 metres, around four miles south of where it was reported to have been lost by Frank Worsley, Endurance’s captain in 1915. It was found on Saturday (March 5th), 100 years to the day since Shackleton was buried.
What’s going to happen to the wreck of Endurance?
The newly-discovered wreck of Endurance will be left exactly where it is, thousands of metres below the surface in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. It is a protected monument under the Antarctic Treaty and is now home to a wide array of marine life, and therefore cannot be moved.
Scientists working on the Endurance22 mission have, however, been able to capture extensive imagery of the wreck and ascertain a detailed understanding of its condition. They say it is in remarkably good condition.
“This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen,” said Mensun Bound, director of exploration for Endurance 22. “It is upright, well proud [clear] of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation.”
His verdict was echoed by historian Dan Snow, who accompanied the Endurance22 crew on their expedition. He tweeted that the wreck was “coherent, in an astonishing state of preservation”, adding that the Endurance22 team had no “wish to tamper with it”.
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