CaptUSA
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Wow!
Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s Lost Ship, Found in Antarctica After 107 Years
Wreck was discovered well preserved in the freezing waters; ‘It felt like time travel’
https://www.wsj.com/articles/endurance-ernest-shackletons-lost-ship-found-after-107-years-11646821921
One of the greatest maritime mysteries of modern times was solved when a team of explorers said they had discovered the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, which disappeared under Antarctic sea ice in 1915.
An international team of marine archaeologists and scientists located the wreck 3,000 meters under the Weddell Sea, approximately four miles south of the position originally recorded when Endurance sank.
Videos show the ship, which was discovered on March 5, had been well preserved in the freezing waters, with its name clearly visible across the stern.
“This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation,” said Mensun Bound, the exploration director of the Endurance22 expedition.
The hunt for Endurance was undertaken by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust on the polar research and logistics vessel the S.A. Agulhas II, which set sail from Cape Town earlier this year and used submersibles to locate the ship.
The wreck is protected as a historic site and monument under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty.
“The water was as clear as distilled water, with a visibility of 30 meters at least. It felt like time travel,” said historian Dan Snow, who was part of the exploration.
The story of Shackleton and Endurance has gone down in Antarctic exploration legend. The Endurance had set sail from Plymouth, England, in August 1914, just as Europe was entering the maelstrom of World War I. The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was to be led by Shackleton and would be the first attempt to cross the Antarctic continent by foot. However, shortly after leaving South Georgia at the end of 1914, the Endurance was caught in pack ice.
After months spent in makeshift camps on the ice floes drifting northwards, Shackleton and his 27 crew members boarded lifeboats to reach the uninhabited Elephant Island. Shackleton and five others then made an 800-mile open-boat journey to reach South Georgia. From there, the men were eventually able to mount a rescue. Despite being stranded with little food and shelter, all survived. <They got stuck in the ice in January 1915, the ice crushed the ship in October, they travelled across the ice and open waters for months, and saved themselves finally rescuing everyone on August 30, 1916!!>
The 2022 exploration also conducted scientific research on the effects of climate change, including weather conditions of the Weddell Sea and studies of sea ice thickness. “We have undertaken important scientific research in a part of the world that directly affects the global climate and environment,” said Dr. John Shears, the expedition leader.
If you've never read Alfred Lansing's book on the topic, I can't recommend it enough. It will blow your mind! (wiki version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition)
Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s Lost Ship, Found in Antarctica After 107 Years
Wreck was discovered well preserved in the freezing waters; ‘It felt like time travel’
https://www.wsj.com/articles/endurance-ernest-shackletons-lost-ship-found-after-107-years-11646821921
One of the greatest maritime mysteries of modern times was solved when a team of explorers said they had discovered the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, which disappeared under Antarctic sea ice in 1915.
An international team of marine archaeologists and scientists located the wreck 3,000 meters under the Weddell Sea, approximately four miles south of the position originally recorded when Endurance sank.
Videos show the ship, which was discovered on March 5, had been well preserved in the freezing waters, with its name clearly visible across the stern.
“This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation,” said Mensun Bound, the exploration director of the Endurance22 expedition.
The hunt for Endurance was undertaken by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust on the polar research and logistics vessel the S.A. Agulhas II, which set sail from Cape Town earlier this year and used submersibles to locate the ship.
The wreck is protected as a historic site and monument under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty.
“The water was as clear as distilled water, with a visibility of 30 meters at least. It felt like time travel,” said historian Dan Snow, who was part of the exploration.
The story of Shackleton and Endurance has gone down in Antarctic exploration legend. The Endurance had set sail from Plymouth, England, in August 1914, just as Europe was entering the maelstrom of World War I. The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was to be led by Shackleton and would be the first attempt to cross the Antarctic continent by foot. However, shortly after leaving South Georgia at the end of 1914, the Endurance was caught in pack ice.
After months spent in makeshift camps on the ice floes drifting northwards, Shackleton and his 27 crew members boarded lifeboats to reach the uninhabited Elephant Island. Shackleton and five others then made an 800-mile open-boat journey to reach South Georgia. From there, the men were eventually able to mount a rescue. Despite being stranded with little food and shelter, all survived. <They got stuck in the ice in January 1915, the ice crushed the ship in October, they travelled across the ice and open waters for months, and saved themselves finally rescuing everyone on August 30, 1916!!>
The 2022 exploration also conducted scientific research on the effects of climate change, including weather conditions of the Weddell Sea and studies of sea ice thickness. “We have undertaken important scientific research in a part of the world that directly affects the global climate and environment,” said Dr. John Shears, the expedition leader.
If you've never read Alfred Lansing's book on the topic, I can't recommend it enough. It will blow your mind! (wiki version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition)
