Research Paper – Shackleton’s Expedition on The Endurance

The Triumphs of Shackleton’s Expedition in Antarctica

            Many explorers experienced an abundance of victories and defeats on their journeys. One of those explorers was Earnest Shackleton, who, in 1914, set a goal to cross the width of the Antarctic continent on foot. Although, even though the expedition quickly took a turn for the worst, essentially turning it into a rescue mission, Shackleton and his men triumphed by returning from Antarctica with everyone alive, even after being stranded for 4 months.

            Antarctica’s weather conditions were the main concern to the sailors in Shackleton’s expedition. The temperatures could reach -100 degrees Fahrenheit on the worst days. The winters in Antarctica also are the longest on Earth due to its geographical location. The ocean waters froze completely solid, preventing travelling by boat (Armstrong 1). Conditions there were most unbearable; the landscape was deserted and frozen (2). There are a few islands that Shackleton made rest stops at on his way through the Antarctic Circle. Georgia Island, for example, became a key point for Shackleton because he stays there for months later while trying to acquire a rescue ship for his men after his boat, the Endurance, sank (12).

            Before Earnest Shackleton could go on his expedition, he had to recruit new crew members. Among his choices were Frank Wild, an experienced sailor who sailed with Earnest before and spent six years in the Arctic Circle, and Tom Crean, an also experienced sailor who accompanied Shackleton on a previous expedition (Armstrong 7). He also picked another sailor by the name of William Bakewell, who, unknowingly to the other crew members, helped his friend Percy Blackborrow stow away on the ship since he was not selected to accompany Shackleton on the expedition (11).

            After setting sail weeks earlier, Shackleton and his men were finally getting close to Antarctica when disaster struck; the boat became stuck in the ice. Ice flows began to cover over the ship, so Shackleton ordered every man off of the ship in an evacuation. Eventually, the ship could no longer take the stress of the pressing ice, so its beams broke, the hull split open and the Endurance sank under the frozen water (Andrist 122). With their ship gone, the men then camped on the ice with the sled dogs (123).

            With his men stranded on the ice, Shackleton decided to take a small rescue party to South Georgia Island by a small boat to attempt to find help. But inadvertently to Shackleton, it would take him 18 weeks to arrive at South Georgia Island (Armstrong 107). After about 4 months, Shackleton returns to the men he had to leave behind in Antarctica to rescue them on a Chilean rescue ship. All 28 men on the expedition survived, although the stowaway Percy Blackborrow lost both his feet. Eventually, Shackleton arrived back in Chile with all of his men perfectly alive and in partially good health, with some exceptions (123).

            The miracle performed by Earnest Shackleton in 1915 is truly a triumph for him and his men. After being stranded in Antarctica for 4 months, he came back for them and rescued every man he had working for him, as he promised them the day he left. They were all very courageous for what they did, surviving the test of time without losing hope of rescue. “By endurance we conquer”, Shackleton’s family’s motto, is the perfect explanation of how the men survived their stay in Antarctica: endurance (Armstrong 7).