After Amundsen and then Scott reached the South Pole Ernest Shackleton decided that he would have to do more than simply repeat what had already been done so he devised a plan to cross the Antarctic continent from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea.
It was an ambitious plan and Shackleton was fortunate to secure some wealthy backers.
Shackleton buys Endurance
Dudley Docker donated £10,000, Sir James Caird donated £24,000 and Janet Stancombe-Wills, a large but undisclosed sum. Two ships were required for the expedition.
Luckily, Shackleton was able to purchase the Aurora from Douglas Mawson for only £3,200 and was even more fortunate that a newly built ship became available. This was the Polaris, recently built for Adrien de Gerlache to carry wealthy tourists to the Arctic and which Shackleton was able to purchase for the knockdown price of £12,860 after the Arctic tourism business failed.
Naming and design
Shackleton’s first act was to rename the ship Endurance after his family motto Fortitudine Vincimus, or, 'by endurance we conquer'.
Endurance was small for an expedition ship, but she was very strongly built. She was rigged for sail but as she was fitted with a 350 hp engine she was essentially a steam ship.
Three of Endurance’s lifeboats were named after his generous benefactors and the James Caird in particular, was to achieve lasting fame.
Frank Hurley's photos of Endurance
Accompanying the expedition was the Frank Hurley, a professional photographer from Australia. His photographic record of the Endurance expedition is exceptional. He took many iconic photographs of the Endurance as she entered and became trapped in the pack-ice of the Weddell Sea.
This photograph from our Collections shows her at her best, in full sail.
Ill-fated final voyage of Endurance
The story of the Endurance is well known. She became trapped in the pack-ice of the Weddell Sea before Shackleton could even begin his trans-Antarctic journey and this, 'finest of wooden polar vessels'1 was gradually crushed by the ice until she sank to the bottom.
After abandoning the stricken ship Shackleton and his men made their way to Elephant Island and from there, Shackleton, Tom Crean, Frank Worsley and two others sailed the James Caird 1300 km (800 miles) to South Georgia to get help. Eventually all the men of the Weddell Sea Party were rescued, but for the men of the Ross Sea Party it was a different story.
[1] Bryan, Rorke. Ordeal by ice: ships of the Antarctic. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing, 2011, p. 278.
Further readings
Bryan, Rorke. Ordeal by ice: ships of the Antarctic. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing, 2011.
Murphy, Shane (et al.) South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition 1914-1917: the photographs of Frank Hurley. London: Ted Smart, 2001.
Hurley, Frank. Argonauts of the South. New York; London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1925.