Ernest Shackleton was a British explorer of the Antarctic in the early 1900′s. He is best remembered for his expedition from 1914-1916 in the HMS Endurance. During this journey, his ship got stuck in the ice near the Antarctic continent. He and his 27 men then survived 19 months before they were rescued. Shackleton organized the rescue personally after he made an 800 mile open-ocean journey in a life-boat to the inhabitated island of South Georgia. He then returned on the rescue mission to the desolate Elephant Island where he had left the majority of his crew under the care of his Executive Officer.
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish explorer who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. His first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery Expedition, 1901-04, from which he was sent home early on health grounds. Determined to make amends for this perceived personal failure, he returned to Antarctica in 1907 as leader of the Nimrod Expedition. In January 1909 he and three companions made a southern march which established a record Farthest South latitude at 88°23′S, 97 geographical miles (114 statute miles, 190 km) from the South Pole, by far the closest convergence in exploration history up to that time. For this achievement, Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII on his return home.
After the race to the South Pole ended in 1912 with Roald Amundsen’s conquest, Shackleton turned his attention to what he said was the one remaining great object of Antarctic journeying?the crossing of the continent from sea to sea, via the pole. To this end he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914?17. Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance, was trapped in pack ice and slowly crushed, before the shore parties could be landed. There followed a sequence of exploits, and an ultimate escape with no lives lost, that would eventually assure Shackleton’s heroic status, although this was not immediately evident. In 1921 he went back to the Antarctic with the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, intending to carry out a programme of scientific and survey activities. Before the expedition could begin this work Shackleton died of a heart attack while his ship, Quest, was moored in South Georgia. At his wife’s request he was buried there.
Away from his expeditions, Shackleton’s life was generally restless and unfulfilled. In his search for rapid pathways to wealth and security he launched many business ventures and other money-making schemes, none of which prospered. His financial affairs were generally muddled; when he died he was heavily in debt. On his death he was lauded in the press, but was thereafter largely forgotten, while the heroic reputation of his rival Scott was sustained for many decades. At the end of the 20th century Shackleton was “rediscovered”, and rapidly became a cult figure, a role model for leadership as one who, in extreme circumstances, kept his team together to accomplish a survival story which polar historian Stephanie Barczewski describes as “incredible”.
Timeline
December 5, 1914 – Ernest Shackleton and 27 crewmen depart the South Atlantic island of South Georgia on the HMS Endurance. They planned to make the first overland trek of Antarctic continent.
January 18, 1915 – The ice floe traps the Endurance within view of their intended landing site.
October 27, 1915 – The Endurance is crushed by ice movement and the ship sinks. All crewmembers survive. They move to the ice to live in tents and under overturned life boats.
April 9, 1916 – 3 lifeboats, carrying all 28 men, depart the ice floe for Elephant Island – an uninhabited South Atlantic island.
April 24, 1916 – The James Caird, a 23′ lifeboat, sets sail from Elephant Island to South Georgia with Shackleton and 5 crew members aboard to seek rescue. This will be an 800 mile, open-ocean journey.
May 10, 1916 – The James Caird lands on South Georgia Island at an uninhabited spot directly opposite the whaling station where they had intended to land.
May 20, 1916 – Shackleton and 2 crew members complete a 36-hour trek over mountains and ice from their landing point to the whaling station.
August 30, 1916 – Shackleton returns to Elephant Island with the help of the Chilean government to rescue all men left behind.
EVERYONE survived this ordeal.
(Credit to Squidoo and Wikipedia)
