Ernest Shackleton and his Imperial-Trans Arctic Expedition

Ernest Shackleton was a British Explorer who made several trips to the South Pole. He is credited with reaching the furthest south longitude in the world. He is most famous however for his Imperial-Trans Arctic Expedition. The goal of this expedition was to sail to Antartica, and cross the continent. There were two ships involved in this expedition. They were the Endurance and the Aurora. The expedition was funded mainly by private donations. The trek across the continent would be carried out by Shackleton and six of his men. The estimated distance was 1,800 miles. Before leaving on the expedition, Shackleton received 5,000 applications from men wanting to come with him. Through rigorous interviews, he was able to whittle this number down, to fifty-six. The expedition finally launched in 1914. Despite the outbreak of World War I, Winston Churchill allowed the expedition to proceed. After departing New Zealand, all was going well, until the crew reached the Weddell Sea, where they encountered ice. Endurance eventually became frozen in an "ice floe." Shackleton ordered all the men off the ship, and ordered that she be converted to a winter station. By the time the ice began to break, the pressure began causing holes to form in the ship's hull. The ship eventually sunk. For the next two months, November and December, Shackleton and his men were stranded on an "ice floe." Their goal was to get the floe to float to nearby Elephant Island. Once they reached Elephant Island, they found one of their life boats, and used it to sail to South Georgia, to get help at a whaling station there. Shackleton realized that they only had a maximum of four weeks to reach the island. If it took longer then that, they were done for. They launched the boat, known as the James Caird, on April 24, 1916. It took fifteen days for them to reach South Georgia. Once they reached the island they were assisted, by the Chilean government, in rescuing the rest of their men from Elephant Island. The Aurora and her crew had drifted out to sea, and eventually made it back safely to New Zealand. Whats most impressive about this expedition, is that no man, who was on Endurance, was lost. They were even able to set up a few supply depots, before things went bad. This expedition, while it did not accomplish everything that was intended, was still very impressive, and was an extreme feat of nautical genius.

Map of the Imperial-Trans Arctic Expedition

Endurance trapped in the ice floe.

Shackleton and his men launching the James Caird off Elephant Island.

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