SCIENTISTS have found and filmed the ship of famed Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton 107 years after it sank.
But what happened to the doomed vessel Endurance and its crew, and where did the boat sink?
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What happened to Ernest Shackleton’s ship?
The lost ship of the Anglo-Irish explorer had not been seen since it sank in the Weddell Sea on November 21, 1915.
Sir Ernest had set out to make the first land crossing of Antarctica aboard Endurance, a three-masted barquentine measuring 144 ft.
However, the ship was trapped in sea ice off the coast of Antarctica where it remained stationary in freezing temperatures for 10 months.
Eventually, Ernest and his crew had to abandon the quest when ice pushing and pinching the hull finally holed the ship.
“She’s going, boys,” came the cry. “It’s time to get off.”
Miraculously, the brave explorer managed to get his men to safety on foot and on small lifeboats.
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Last month, the Endurance22 Expedition set off from Cape Town in South Africa on a mission to find the vessel – one month after the 100th anniversary of Sir Ernest’s death.
And Endurance was finally spotted on Saturday at a depth of 3,008 metres and some four miles south of the position recorded by the ship’s Captain Frank Worsley, according to the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust.
Even though the wreck has been sitting in water for more than a century, the expedition’s director of exploration said Endurance was “by far the finest wooden shipwreck” he has ever seen.
Mensun Bound, who has now fulfilled a dream ambition in his near 50-year career, said: “We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance.
Historian and TV host Dan Snow said of the find: “The wreck is coherent, in an astonishing state of preservation.
“The Antarctic seabed does not have any wood-eating microorganisms, the water has the clarity of distilled water.
“We were able to film the wreck in super high definition. The results are magical.”
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Where did Endurance sink?
Endurance had left the island of South Georgia for Antarctica on December 5, 1914, carrying 27 men plus a stowaway and 69 dogs.
The goal of reaching the South Pole was to establish a base on Antarctica’s Weddell Sea coast, south of the Falkland Islands.
From there, the crew would carry out the first crossing of the continent on foot, ultimately ending up at the Ross Sea, south of New Zealand.
Endurance battled through a thousand miles of pack ice over a six-week period but became trapped within a day’s sail of her destination.
She eventually sank 3,000 metres to the bottom of the Weddell Sea.
The ship was found by scientists approximately four miles south of the position originally recorded by Captain Worsley.
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Who was Earnest Shackleton?
Sir Ernest was an Anglo-Irish explorer who made three attempts to reach the South Pole, most famously aboard Endurance.
He served in the British army during World War I.
Boring in 1874, Sir Ernest first joined an expedition to the Antarctic in 1901 but was sent home early due to bad health.
Devoted to creating a legacy, he led a Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914 – his third attempt to make it to the South Pole.
Disaster struck when he and his crew were trapped although they all miraculously survived the ordeal.
Sir Ernest eventually rescued the crew after they reached Elephant Island having drifted on sheets of ice for months.
He died aged 37 upon the outset of a fourth expedition from South Georgia in January 1922.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
