Ernest Shackleton

16 Stories

Crew's Final Movements Frozen in Time on Endurance

3D scan reveals remarkable detail of the wreck, including scattered dishes and a lost boot

(Newser) - As Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's flagship, Endurance, was lost to ice in 1915, the expedition's photographer grabbed a flare gun and fired it as a tribute to the ship which served as the crew's home. In his diary, Frank Hurley recalled that he then set the...

Shackleton's Endurance Gets a Widened 'Protection Perimeter'

The no-go area around famous shipwreck in Weddell Sea is now almost 5,000 feet

(Newser) - Keep the Endurance safe, at all costs. That's the spirit behind the newly set up conservation management plan (CMP) for the sunken Ernest Shackleton ship idling nearly 10,000 feet below the surface of the Southern Ocean's Weddell Sea. Now, that initiative includes an extended "protection perimeter,...

Wreck That Ended the 'Heroic Age of Exploration' Is Found
Long-Lost Shackleton
Vessel Is Found
Jun 12, 2024 12:00 PM CDT

Long-Lost Shackleton Vessel Is Found

Quest, the last ship helmed by the adventurer, is discovered off Canada's east coast

(Newser) - Though not as famous as Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, one of the most sought-after shipwrecks in the world before its 2022 discovery , the sunken ship on which the Antarctic explorer made his final voyage has now been discovered, too. Quest, on which Shackleton suffered a fatal heart attack while trying...

'Hundreds' of Dead Seals Block Antarctic Explorer's Grave

Virus has taken a heavy toll on South Georgia's wildlife

(Newser) - Passengers who'd hoped to walk with penguins on a cruise around the Antarctic Peninsula and the island of South Georgia weren't allowed to go ashore, but they witnessed distressing scenes of animals that had been killed by a bird flu outbreak in the region. Passenger Astrid Saunders tells...

'We Have Made Polar History': The Endurance Is Found

Incredibly well-preserved shipwreck discovered some 10K feet down in Weddell Sea

(Newser) - Ernest Shackleton wrote that his ship the Endurance sank in "the worst portion of the worst sea" in 1915. Now, more than a century later, its wreckage has been found some four miles from where the ship's captain believed it went down. "We have made polar history...

Search Is On for the 'Most Unreachable Wreck'

Team heads to Weddell Sea to find Ernest Shackleton's 'Endurance'

(Newser) - Ernest Shackleton set off for Antarctica in 1914, hoping to be the first person to cross the frozen continent . He didn't even get to try. In early 1915, his ship Endurance became stuck in pack ice in the Weddell Sea, about 100 miles from Vahsel Bay, before sinking to...

They Tried to Find Lost Ship, Lost Something of Their Own

Expedition in the Weddell Sea is called off

(Newser) - A team of Antarctic researchers at the start of the week began its search for one of the most famous lost ships in history—and lost a sub in the process. The search for the shipwreck of Ernest Shackleton's Endurance in the Weddell Sea was called off on Thursday,...

Antarctic Mission Zeroes In on Famous Doomed Ship

Researchers hope this week to find Ernest Shackleton's sunken Endurance

(Newser) - A team of Antarctic researchers sets off on Monday to find one of the most famous shipwrecks in history. The only thing that stands in their way is about 75 miles of ice nearly 10 feet thick in places, reports the Guardian . If they can break through, however, the researchers...

He Improbably Survived. Now, a Hunt for the Ship That Didn't

Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance is thought to be in 10K feet of water off Antarctica

(Newser) - Sir Ernest Shackleton's doomed ship slumbers beneath nearly 10,000 feet of water—and a group of scientists now hopes to find it. The BBC reports on the planned January 2019 mission, whose true intention is to study the Antarctic's Larsen C Ice Shelf. But its position near...

Explorer Turned Back, but Decision Came Too Late
Explorer Turned Back,
but Decision Came Too Late
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 11, 2018 3:34 PM CST

Explorer Turned Back, but Decision Came Too Late

'New Yorker' looks at Henry Worsley's epic Antarctic feat and its tragic end

(Newser) - After 71 days and more than 900 miles, British explorer Henry Worsley finally made the agonizing decision to end his epic journey through the Antarctic in early 2016. The decision, however, came too late, and the 55-year-old died of organ failure after being airlifted out. Incredibly, he was just 30...

Explorer Attempts Antarctic Feat, Dies 30 Miles Short

Henry Worsley suffers organ failure 71 days into epic journey

(Newser) - An explorer trying to complete a historic trek across Antarctica covered 913 miles over 71 days on his own—only to die 30 miles short of his goal, reports the Guardian . Henry Worsley, a 55-year-old former British army officer, died of "complete organ failure" after being airlifted out, says...

Rare Photos Found From 1915 Antarctic Expedition

Negatives are discovered frozen in hut's darkroom

(Newser) - Ghostly images of a nearly 100-year-old Antarctic expedition have been rescued from a block of ice and processed for the first time, Guardia reports. They date back to 1915, when an advance team for Sir Ernest Shackleton called the Ross Sea Party arrived to set up supply depots for the...

Explorers Re-Create Epic Journey From Antarctic

Storms strand men on icy island 12 hours, but still manage to finish

(Newser) - Two explorers managed to finish their re-creation today of Ernest Shackleton's famous survival journey from the Antarctic to South Georgia Island—but only after a blizzard stranded them on a high, icy plateau for hours, reports the Australian Times . Using only period gear and food, Tim Jarvis and Barry...

Explorer's Long-Lost Scotch Is Returned to Antarctica

Shackleton's stash is going home

(Newser) - Talk about whisky on ice: Three bottles of rare, 19th-century Scotch found beneath the floor boards of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackelton's abandoned expedition base were returned to the polar continent today. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key personally returned the Scotch to Antarctic Heritage Trust officials at a ceremony...

100-Year-Old Scotch Back From Antarctic Depths

But you won't be able to get your hands on it

(Newser) - This is probably a little more special than anything your Average Joe has in the liquor cabinet: Three bottles of Mackinlays scotch whisky, which have sat beneath the Arctic ice since 1907, made their way home to Scotland today. The bottles are part of a crate of circa-1897 whisky found...

Antarctic Explorers' Century-Old Whisky Found

Distillery's Antarctica expedition recovers abandoned booze

(Newser) - Seven crates of whisky and brandy left behind by Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition have been recovered after over a century locked in the Antarctic ice. The expedition was forced to turn back short of reaching the South Pole in 1909 and left many supplies—including what must now be the...

16 Stories