Here’s a terrific and extremely thorough story from the BBC about how a team of British researchers found the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance, a 144-foot, three-masted wooden ship that was trapped in the ice in Antarctica and sank in 1915, stranding Shackleton and his 27-man crew. Here’s the complete story, with pictures, video and a map:
Scientists have found and filmed one of the greatest ever undiscovered shipwrecks 107 years after it sank.
The Endurance, the lost vessel of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, was found at the weekend at the bottom of the Weddell Sea.
The ship was crushed by sea-ice and sank in 1915, forcing Shackleton and his men to make an astonishing escape on foot and in small boats.
Video of the remains show Endurance to be in remarkable condition.
Even though it has been sitting in 3km (10,000 feet) of water for over a century, it looks just like it did on the November day it went down.
Its timbers, although disrupted, are still very much together, and the name – Endurance – is clearly visible on the stern.
The project to find the lost ship was mounted by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust (FMHT), using a South African icebreaker, Agulhas II, and equipped with remotely operated submersibles.
The mission’s leader, the veteran polar geographer Dr John Shears, described the moment cameras landed on the ship’s name as “jaw-dropping.”
“The discovery of the wreck is an incredible achievement,” he added.
“We have successfully completed the world’s most difficult shipwreck search, battling constantly shifting sea-ice, blizzards, and temperatures dropping down to -18C. We have achieved what many people said was impossible.”
Endurance was spotted in the Weddell Sea at a depth of 3,008 meters. Read more:
