Searching for Shackleton

Endurance Final Sinking.jpgA BBC report last week introduced the story of an exhibition to Antarctica planned for 2019, which will have a secondary aim to try to find the wreck of Shackleton's ship: 'Endurance'.

The ship sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915, close to the current Larsen 'C' ice shelf, and in almost two miles of water.

The result of this was one of (if not the) greatest survival stories in human history with a stay on Elephant Island, and then the journey to South Georgia in the James Caird, followed by a crossing of the island.

The expedition will set off on a ship called the SA Agulhas II.

It is led by Professor Dowdeswell from the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI)



In its archives are documents related to Endurance skipper, Frank Worsley. It is he, with sextant and chronometer, who calculated the vessel's sinking position on 21 November 1915 as 68°39'30.0" South and 52°26'30.0" West.

This is roughly 100-150 nautical miles east of Larsen C.
Image courtesy of the Royal Geographical Society - http://indigo.ie/~jshack/Other%20Ernest%20Pages/endurance.html

Public Domain, Link

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