Endurance, the ship that carried Sir Ernest Shackleton on his legendary expedition to Antarctica has been rediscovered exactly 100 years after the explorer’s funeral. Endurance has been lost since the wreck that forced Shackleton and his crew to abandon it in 1915; now it has been found on the floor of the Weddell Sea in an excellent state of preservation, ending a lengthy search and exceeding the expectations of its discoverers.
Shackleton’s ship found
There can be no doubt about the famed ship’s identity, as the name “Endurance” is clearly spelled out along the stern of the vessel.
Marine archaeologist Mensun Bound told the BBC that the Endurance is ” the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen – by far.”
The excellent condition in which the ship was found has everything to do with its location; the Endurance rests almost 10,000ft under the surface in frigid Antarctic waters.
Various aquatic life forms have attached themselves to the wreck, but organisms that could feed on the wooden hull are not present in the Antarctic.
There is said to be no major damage to the Endurance other than what it received in the wreck which forced Shackleton and the crew to abandon it.
It’s likely to stay in that excellent condition for a long time, as even if scavengers could reach the floor of the Weddell Sea, the wreck is protected by international treaties as a historic site in the Antarctic.
Endurance will remain undisturbed
Instead of disrupting anything on the wreck, researchers were able to document it with photographs and scans which will be used to create an accurate 3D model.
Endurance was meant to help Shackleton complete the first land crossing of Antarctica; when the ship became trapped in pack ice survival became the goal of the expedition.
The ship was eventually crushed by the ice and sank to its present location, but all of the 27-man crew made it off safely with the ship’s three lifeboats.
Shackleton and a small party then set off on an extremely hazardous voyage on one of the lifeboats to reach South Georgia Island and organize a rescue.
Miraculously, the entire crew survived in an environment which could otherwise have meant almost certain death after the loss of the Endurance.
Despite the expedition’s failure, Shackleton’s feat cemented his status as a legendary explorer, and there has been no shortage of interest in finding his lost ship.