The venture had various aims, some of which were scientific and motivated by the Royal Society’s involvement, whilst other goals were simply exploratory. Edward Adrian Wilson on the Discovery Expedition, 2nd November 1902 Referred to as the Discovery Expedition, named after the ship, Scott and his team embarked on their voyage on 6th August 1901 with much support from King Edward VIII.Įrnest Henry Shackleton, Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Dr. The journey involved a challenging trek to the South Pole and was a joint venture with the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society. In 1901, he joined his first expedition to the Antarctic, led by the esteemed British naval officer Robert Falcon Scott. His time in the Navy proved to be an enlightening experience for an adventurous young man like Shackleton as he was able to explore and expand his horizons, ultimately spurring him on to achieve greater goals. By the age of eighteen he had already achieved the rank of First Mate and only six years later was a certified Master Mariner. Intent on following his own path, at the age of sixteen he joined the Merchant Navy, subverting his father’s wishes for him to attend medical school. His family soon uprooted and moved to London where Shackleton grew up. Shackleton’s early life began in February 1874, born in County Kildare in Ireland, the second of ten children. His ability to survive and keep the rest of his crew safe whilst stranded for two years still remains a remarkable story celebrating his heroism and leadership. In August 1914, against a backdrop of war in Europe, Shackleton embarked on an expedition to the Antarctic which almost cost him his life. He produced a film about the crossing called The Last 36.Sir Ernest Shackleton, the intrepid explorer, is best remembered for embarking on a fateful voyage aboard the Endurance in a bid to cross the Antarctic.Īn Anglo-Irish adventurer, he became a pivotal figure in the era later characterised as the “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration”, thanks to the laudable and ambitious efforts of Shackleton and others like him. In 2015, to honour the centenary of Shackleton’s crossing of South Georgia, James took part in the Trust’s inaugural Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ to retrace the epic crossing made by Shackleton, Worsley and Crean to raise the alarm and get help for the crew of the Endurance. In January 2007 he visited Shackleton’s Nimrod hut at Cape Royds in Antarctica to launch the Trust’s Antarctic Youth Ambassador programme in partnership with Blake Trust and Antarctica New Zealand and was involved in the work to uncover Shackleton’s whisky. Through the Trust, James has a special connection to Sir Ernest Shackleton’s legacy and the story of the Endurance. Trust alumnus James Blake was Director of Photography on the Endurance22 Expedition and was controlling the camera when the iconic footage of Endurance were captured. In March 2022, the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust’s Endurance 22 Expedition successfully located the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship Endurance. Shackleton, Worsley and Crean crossed the rugged, virgin interior of the island in one push and descended to safety to civilisation at Stromness Whaling Station to raise the alarm.īack from the dead after 18 months, Shackleton’s story became legend. The final chapter was an epic traverse of South Georgia Island. This journey has been described quite simply as the greatest small boat journey of all time. From there Shackleton, Endurance Captain Frank Worsley and a team of four set out on a life boat across the roughest ocean in the world over 800 miles to reach South Georgia. On 21 November 1915 she finally succumbed to the pressure of the sea ice and sank into the depths of the Weddell Sea.įollowing camps on the ice floes over nearly six months Shackleton and the crew took to the life boats and through rough conditions made their way to Elephant Island. What followed was the world’s greatest adventure story.Īfter leaving South Georgia Island and heading deep into the Weddell Sea Endurance was stuck in the ice for 10 months over the dark Antarctic winter until she could handle the pressure no more. From nearly 5,000 applications, Shackleton hand-picked a team of 56. From the moment that he went public with his plans, he was inundated with keen applicants.
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