It has been more than a century since explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance was lost to the Antarctic ice, but scientists have discovered the sunken wreckage.
The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust says the ship lies about 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) under the surface of the Weddell Sea, 6.4 kilometers (four miles) south of where its captain, Frank Worsley, recorded its location in 1915.
A search expedition set off last month from South Africa to find the wrecked ship, which sank in November 1915.
During the Endurance22 expedition, the director of exploration Mensun Bound said footage revealed that the ship was in remarkably good condition. He said, “This is by far the finest wooden wreck I’ve ever seen.” The ship is intact, upright, well-proud (clear) of the seafloor, and in a magnificent state of preservation. There’s even a mark that reads “Endurance” across the stern, directly below the taffrail.
Shackleton failed in his attempt to cross Antarctica via the South Pole in 1914-16 – he never made it to the continent. His heroic attempt to reach help at a South Atlantic whaling station and rescue his men can be considered a courageous act of endurance. The men all survived and were rescued months later.
Shackleton died in 1922, one hundred years before the expedition to find his ship.
Dan Snow, a British historian, and broadcaster who was with the expedition, tweeted that Endurance was discovered on Saturday, 100 years after the death of Shackleton. The wreck was not touched. Nothing was retrieved from it. Its position was confirmed with the latest tools. It is protected by the Antarctic Treaty. We did not wish to tamper with it.
