Mar 10, 2022 12:40:00

The legendary Ernest Shackleton Endurance, abandoned in Antarctica in 1915, is finally discovered almost intact

by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

The legendary wooden ship '

Endurance ', which was wrecked in the ice of the Antarctic Ocean more than 100 years ago, was discovered from the seabed at a depth of about 3000 m, keeping its original shape at that time. 'This is the best wooden shipwreck I've seen,' said Menson Bound, head of the expedition.

Endurance is Found --Endurance22
https://endurance22.org/endurance-is-found

Shackleton's ship 'Endurance' found beneath Antarctic ice, 100 years on | Reuters
https://jp.reuters.com/article/us-antarctica-shipwreck/shackletons-ship-endurance-found-beneath-antarctic-ice-100-years-on-idUSKBN2L60TG

Endurance: Explorer Shackleton's ship found after a century | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/ernest-shackleton-endurance-ship-found-antarctic-4906562ce1c9d27ec472f628709073a8

Shackleton's Famous Antarctic Shipwreck Finally Discovered in The World's'Worst Sea'
https://www.sciencealert.com/shackleton-s-famous-ship-has-been-on-the-antarctic-floor-a-century-after-sinking

The Endurance is a ship of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition sent by the United Kingdom in 1914. The expedition, led by British explorer Ernest Shackleton , aimed to cross Antarctica for the first time in history, from the Weddell Sea on the Atlantic side of Antarctica to the Ross Sea on the Pacific side.

However, in January 1915, before the landing in Antarctica, the Endurance route was blocked by ice in the Weddell Sea, and the expedition was trapped in a ship for several months. Shackleton then decided to abandon the ship in October as the hull was damaged by ice pressure, and reportedly sank completely under the ice on November 21st.

The expedition, which lost the ship, survived on seals and penguins as food, and continued to camp on ice and travel by lifeboat to land on Elephant Island in the Antarctic Ocean. Due to the distance from the original route and the lack of routes for other vessels in the vicinity, Shackleton decided to sail 1500 km to South Georgia Island and seek help from a whaling base. A selection of six people boarded the James Caird , a small boat, crossed the raging waters to South Georgia Island for help. The 22 remaining on Elephant Island survived for four months in harsh conditions, and all crew members were successfully rescued in August 1916 by Shackleton and others who came to the rescue on a ship borrowed from the Chilean Navy.

Shackleton's harsh drifts and miraculous survival plays have been the subject of numerous books and video works, and the wrecked Endurance is also widely known.

Endurance Drifting (Shincho Bunko) | Alfred Lansing, Lansing, Alfred, Mitsunobu, Yamamoto | Books | Mail Order | Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4102222219/gigazine-22

Endurance ── How did the strongest leader Shaklton and his friends survive (Phoenix series) | Alfred Lansing | Books | Mail order | Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4775941267/gigazine-22

Attempts to discover such an Endurance have been made before, but so far they have been unsuccessful. Therefore, the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust organized a research team called ' Endurance22 ' and conducted a survey in 2022, just 100 years after Shackleton's death. An underwater drone was sent from SA Agulhas II , an icebreaker owned by the South African Environment Agency, to search the area estimated by considering climate change, weather patterns, and ice movement. It is reported that the sunken Endurance was found at a remote sea level of 3008 m.

This is the picture of the Endurance that was actually taken. Besides the structure of the deck and the rudder wheel (rudder) remain as it is ...

by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

You can see that the whole is in a fairly good state of preservation, such as the golden letters 'ENDURANCE' on the stern.

by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

More than a century after the sinking, the wooden boats are preserved in such good condition because of the bacteria that rot the wooden boats because they sank to the bottom of the sea where the water temperature in the Antarctic is very low and the sunlight hardly reaches. It is thought that the cause is that it is difficult for small animals to breed. 'We are overwhelmed by the luck of discovering and taking pictures of the Endurance, which is the best wooden shipwreck we have ever seen,' said Bound, head of the expedition. The Reims is upright, as if proud of the ocean floor, intact and in excellent condition. '

by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

The Endurance is protected as a historic building under the Antarctic Treaty , and although it is permitted to photograph and scan the ship, it is prohibited to touch the hull or take out actual samples. That is.