Ernest Shackelton against a backdrop of sailors playing soccer on ice with their ship in distance

Ernest Shackleton in 1914; Crew members play soccer on ice near the Endurance in 1915.

Frank Hurley/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images (Endurance); Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo (Shackleton)

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WORLD HISTORY

Surviving The Endurance

In 1915, a voyage to Antarctica turned into a desperate struggle for survival. The true story of Ernest Shackleton and his crew has become one of history’s greatest tales of adventure.

As You Read, Think About: What problems did Ernest Shackleton and his crew encounter? How did they solve those problems?

Map showing the path the Endurance ship took from England to Argentina to Antarctica

Jim McMahon/Mapman®

For nine long months, Ernest Shackleton and his 28 crew members had faced disaster. Their ship, the Endurance, had been frozen in place in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea since January 1915. As the sea ice tightened its grip, the Endurance creaked and groaned under the pressure. On October 27, the force became too much. Boards snapped and water rushed in. The men had no choice but to abandon ship.

Camped on an ice floe nearby, they watched as the Endurance slipped under the surface a few weeks later. With it went Shackleton’s dream of leading the first expedition to cross Earth’s southernmost continent by foot

Even so, the explorer miraculously led his stranded crew to safety. And recently, their saga received a remarkable update. This past March, researchers found the long-lost Endurancenearly 2 miles under the ocean’s surface

The discovery has added a new chapter to one of the most fascinating tales of survival in history.

Antarctica at a Glance

TOTAL LAND AREA: about 5.4 million square miles (almost 1.5 times the size of the U.S.)

TERRAIN: about 99% thick ice sheet; 1% rock

POPULATION: no native residents; about 1,100 researchers in winter, 5,000 in summer

A Hazardous Journey

Black & white image of crew members eating dinner at a long table

University of Cambridge/Getty Images

The crew eats aboard the ship in June 1915.

For centuries, Antarcticasurrounded by thick sea ice and with winter temperatures dipping below -70 degrees Fahrenheitwas almost totally unexplored. Beginning in the late 19th century, however, fascination with the frozen landscape started to grow. Adventurers made repeated attempts to reach the continenta period called the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

One such adventurer was Shackleton, who had served in Britain’s Royal Navy. By 1910, he had already taken part in two Antarctic expeditions and had trekked within about 100 miles of the South Pole, Earth’s southernmost point. For his third effort, on the Endurance, Shackleton spent nearly two years raising money and recruiting crew members. He knew the mission would be hazardous, with long hours of darkness in the bitter cold and no promise of a safe return

Shackleton and his crew set out from London, England, on August 1, 1914. As the Endurance approached Antarctica, the journey became increasingly difficult. For weeks, the crew slowly wove the ship through cracks in the frozen Weddell Sea. Then, on January 18, 1915, the Endurance could move no more. The ship was, as one crew member later put it, “frozen, like an almond in the middle of a chocolate bar.”

Enlargeable black & white image of sailors creating a path through the ice for their ship

University of Cambridge/Getty Images

The crew tries to free the Endurance from the ice in February 1915.

Mere Survival

The crew hunkered down for the polar winter, a period of almost total darkness lasting about six months. Seeking to keep the men hopeful and mentally fit, Shackleton gave them daily tasks, such as hunting seals and penguins for food or collecting research specimens.

When they had to abandon the Endurance in October, the men took food and equipment with them. Each man kept just 2 pounds of his own possessions. They set up shelter on an ice floe. Then, 25 days lateron November 21they watched the Endurance disappear into the sea

Now without a ship, the objective for the expedition changedfrom exploration to survival.

Enlargeable black & white image of crew members pulling a ship on icy ground

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The men pull a lifeboat across the snow after losing the Endurance.

Reaching Land

Getting to safety would not be easy. “They were castaways in one of the most savage regions of the world, drifting they knew not where, without hope of rescue,” wrote historian Alfred Lansing

In December, Shackleton and his men moved to a sturdier ice floe. But the situation grew more dire as food dwindled and extreme hunger set in. Eventually, the men were forced to shoot and eat their sled dogs.

By April 1916, the floe under their camp was becoming unstable. One day, the ice split beneath their feet. Shackleton ordered the crew into their three lifeboats, and they set out for the open ocean.

The men spent six long days battling a violent sea, bailing water out of the boats as waves crashed over them. Finally, on April 15, 1916, they arrived at the uninhabited Elephant Island. For the first time in 497 days, they stood on land.

Enlargeable black & white image of stranded crew members on icy ground waving towards sky for help

PA Images via Getty Images

The remaining men on Elephant Island are rescued in August 1916.

A Risky Rescue

Worried that his crew would not survive a second polar winter, Shackleton was determined to get another ship. On April 24, he and five other men took the strongest of the three lifeboats, the James Caird, and set out for a whaling station on South Georgia Islandmore than 800 miles away.

It was another harrowing passage. “We felt our boat lifted and flung forward like a cork,” Shackleton wrote about one incident. Their clothes were continually soaked through, their skin threatened with frostbite.

The spirit of Shackleton and his crew endures.

They reached South Georgia Island in 16 days. But ice and bad weather delayed their return. Finally, on August 30, 1916, Shackleton arrived at Elephant Island with a ship big enough to rescue the rest of his men. They had all survived

I have done it,” Shackleton wrote to his wife, Emily. “Not a life lost and we have been through Hell.” 

The Search for a Sunken Ship
Watch a video about the 1915 loss—and 2022 discovery—of Ernest Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance.

Finding the Endurance

Shackleton died less than six years later, in January 1922, as he was embarking on a fourth Antarctic trip. A century later, two autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs)—small robotic submarinesspotted the Endurance on the seafloor

Tim Jacob was part of the expedition, known as Endurance22. He watched from the surface as the AUVs began to transmit images.

It looked to me like the ship had sunk the day before,” Jacob says. “It’s sitting very upright and beautiful on the bottom of the Weddell Sea. I was just completely glued to the screen.”

Enlargeable image of a corroding ship wreckage underwater

Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

A submarine took this photo of the Endurance in 2022.

What will become of the Endurance? Under the international Antarctic Treaty, the wreck is considered a historical monument and must not be disturbed. But experts and students will be able to study scans of the ship. A documentary is also planned

Like the ship itself, the spirit of Shackleton and his crew endures, Jacob says

The goal of that expedition was to do something that had never been done before; it was to expand humans’ understanding of their world and learn more about this region that is still very shrouded in mystery,” he explains. “And I, on a daily basis, felt a connection to that mission even 107 years later.” 

—additional reporting by Alex Winnick

SKILL SPOTLIGHTAnalyzing Primary Sources

What do you notice about the photos of the crew? What tools are they using? What is the area around the boats like? How do these details help you understand the problems Shackleton’s crew faced

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