I've always been interested in great stories of exploration, survival and struggle against the odds. So naturally, the story of Shackleton's Voyage to Antarctica captivates me. The main story started just over 100 years ago just before the outbreak of WW1. And a major subplot just ended earlier this week, on the outbreak of what maybe people feel could be WW3, with the rediscovery of the lost ship.
Rediscovery of the Endurance
The Endurance is trapped in the Antarctic sea ice (source: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales)
News of the rediscovery of the Endurance was released just a few days ago. It was found about 107 years after it sunk in the Weddell Sea, close to where the people who abandoned it said it would be. As you can imagine, finding a ship 3000m under, in extreme conditions and under what is usually frozen sea ice, is easier said than done. You can read about it and see some cool images here.
Even with modern 21st century underwater drones, sonar, GPS and icebreakers, it's not an easy task. Several serious attempts to find the ship ended in failure. Just the other week, I read an article that the S.A. Agulhas II, A South African polar exploration vessel was back out searching for it during the 2022 summer season (south hemisphere summer). The article was rather skeptical due to the difficulties involved and outlined the challenges.
Source, Image © Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust / National Geographic
Needless to say, I was shocked that they found it without more drama and especially in such remarkable condition. Well done!
Here is the actual Endurance22 exploration website.
The Rediscovery of the Endurance was probably one of the most amazing shipwreck finds in a while. It doesn't beat the Titanic being found 35 years ago, but it's definitely the biggest Antarctic find I can think of. From the pictures, it looks like it is in remarkable condition. There will be a lot more stories coming and I can't wait.
In the meantime, let's look at some of the polar exploration stories.
South, by Sir Ernest Shackleton
Ever since reading South which is a collection of journals written by the heroic captain of the Endurance and his epic tale of survival and leadership on that fateful voyage, I've been obsessed with arctic and antarctic expeditions. To me, it's the pinnacle of exploration. I can't imagine the struggles they went through.
Shackleton's expedition wasn't the first. It was a trans-antarctic expedition and happened a couple of years after the Norwegians, led by Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole. So his expedition wasn't even a race, it was purely about pushing limits and breaking new records.
The story begins in England when they are outfitting a ship for polar exploration. It then sails to South Georgia which is a whaling island East of the Falklands. From there they sail south into to the Weddell Sea. And from what I remember they already sailed further south than anyone in history. So they were already pushing serious limits before the real story even began.
After being trapped in ice for a year while planning to cross to the South Pole, the ship sunk and they had to abandon it. They dragged and sailed lifeboats hundreds of kilometres to a place called Elephant Island near the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula and hoped to be rescued by whalers who occasionally visited.
As they were running out of food, the captain then decided to take another epic journey from there to South Georgia where the whalers could always be found. Then after crossing over 1000km of the ocean in a small wooden lifeboat, they landed on the wrong side of the island and had to cross 100 or so kilometres of frozen mountains and glaciers to reach the whaling station. Crazy!
Fortunately, they made it back to Elephant Island to rescue the crew they left behind and there were minimal casualties in what could have been like other explorations where every man was lost.
Against The Ice
More recently, and just before learning about the rediscovery of the Endurance, I watched this historical documentary drama movie on Netflix. It's called Against the Ice and is about the exploration of Greenland by the Dutch in the early 1900s. I wasn't aware of that story, so it was extra interesting for me. The main actor is the same guy who plays Jamie Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones. Unlike Game of Thrones, I didn't find myself being forced to watch it till the end.
Basically, they go to Greenland to try to prove that it is one island and not two. Some infamous American explorer Perry said it was 2 islands as he tried to claim everything for America (he also probably lied about beating the Norwegians to the north pole). Anyway, the captain was a hero, but not quite as heroic as Shackleton. He took dogs across a glacier and basically spent 2 years surviving up there. It was epic and a good watch, nonetheless.
Finding Lost Polar Ships
Perhaps more famous than the southern antarctic expeditions were the northern arctic expeditions. The arctic has been inhabited by humans for at least 3000 years, but probably longer if you include the ice age and Eurasia. The North American arctic has been explored by Europeans since the age of the Vikings 1000 years ago. Compare that with serious explorations of the antarctic which only started around 200 years ago.
The reason the arctic has been explored longer is 2-fold, 1 it was closer to Europe and large population centers and two, there is a lot more commercial interest. Most expeditions to the arctic were in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. Interestingly this passage may soon be commercially viable due to climate change, but that's another topic.
Back to the topic of lost ships, perhaps the most famous arctic ships lost while searching for the elusive passage was the Terror the Erebus in 2014 from Franklin's lost expedition. These were bother rediscovered not so long ago in Canada in 2014 and 2016. Being in water only 20m or so deep, they were actually both visible from the surface and it's amazing they were hidden for so long considering some locals even saw them and the Terror was found in Terror Bay (they thought the ship was 100km north of the bay named after the ship before the ship was found there, lol).
Before you laugh too much, people were searching for these ships for around 200 years. The Terror fought in America in the war of 1812 at the Battle of Baltimore (perhaps in part inspiration for the American Anthem) and the Erebus was built not long after. Actually, one of the ships HMS Investigator got lost searching for them and in turn, was only found in 2010.
I watched the Terror which is a historical drama based on the story with some supernatural events and loads of other documentaries. However, I expect something better sooner or later with the archeological explorations.
In any case, the Canadian Arctic is a treasure trove of sunken ships that went down while searching for a quicker route from Europe to China. Being Canadian myself, I've taken some interest.