Chapter 12: The stories of Endurance

We got an opportunity to interact with researchers at the Chilean base and meet the people from Port Lockroy who man the only post office in Antarctica. Their stories of enduring winters in Antarctica brought to life the epic story of Shackleton ”Endurance”.

The Imperial Trans Atlantic expedition is one of the finest stories of endurances and the hardships one can face in uncertain waters and weather of Antarctica. The expedition led by Sir Ernst Shackleton was to be the first land Crossing of Antarctic continent after Roald Amundsen dashed his hopes of being the first man to reach South Pole.

In this venture there were supposed to be two parties. The first party under the leadership of Shackleton was supposed to cross the Weddell Sea in a ship called Endurance and land at Vahsel Bay to start the Trans continent journey crossing South Pole and marching towards Ross Sea. The second party under Aeneas Mackintosh was to set camp at Ross Sea and establish provision depots for the first party.

According to legend, Shackleton posted an advertisement in a London paper, stating: "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success." and received more than 5,000 applications for places on the expedition! Eventually with a team of 28 in each party, the expedition set sail.

Endurance Sailed on in October 1914 for South Atlantic and set afoot South Gorgia in November 1914. The original plan was to cross the continent in 1914-15 but Shackleton soon realized the impracticality of it and changed the plan but never informed the Ross Sea Party! In the interim, the Ross sea party reached McMurdo Sound and immediately laid depot for Shakletons team and waited.

Endurance struggled across Weddell sea repeatedly encountering dense pack of ice as huge as 100 foot. Its progress was frustrating slow, till the ice gave way in and on 17 January 1915 they were close to Luitpold land, south of which lay their destination. The next day, the ship was forced north westward before being stuck in ice. Shackleton realized that he would have to spend winters of 1915 in Antractica and prepared his crew accordingly. As winters approached he could see the ice shelves building and the real chance of the ship being crushed amidst the ice shelves. The ship endured the squeeze between ice shelves till October 1915 when Shackleton abandoned it and ordered the crew to camp on ice with lifeboats. The focus was now to survive. The crew camped on ice patiently waiting for ice to drift them closer to land. However, by Feb 1916, the drift didn’t make much progress and supplies were running low. Shackletons hopes now laid on reaching Deception island and finding some whaling ship for a return journey.

The end of Patience Camp was signalled on the evening of 8 April 1916, when the floor suddenly split. The camp now found itself on a small triangular raft of ice; a break-up of this would mean disaster, so Shackleton readied the lifeboats for the party's enforced departure. He had now decided they would try, if possible, to reach the distant Deception Island because a small wooden church had been reportedly erected for the benefit of whalers. This could provide a source of timber that might enable them to construct a seaworthy boat.

The boats were surrounded by ice, dependent upon leads of water opening up, and progress was perilous and erratic. With little food and regular soakings in icy seawater, the men were down, physically and mentally. Shackleton therefore decided that Elephant Island, the nearest of the possible refuges, was now the most practical option. Elephant Island was remote, uninhabited, and rarely visited by whalers or any other ships. If the party was to return to civilization it would be necessary to summon help. 

Shackelton split the party into 2. He along with 5 members was to make way to Falkland islands for help and Frank Wild was made head of the Elephant island party with instructions to make way for Deception island, the following spring if Shackleton did not return. It took 4 attempts by Shackleton before he could land with a rescue party to Elephant island in August 1916. 

In the mean time, the boat of the Ross sea party, Aurora, drifted and landed in New Zealand. The party had no communication with Endurance party and kept waiting for them, laying depot for the second season. They were attacked by scurvy and lost their captain and 3 other crew members to a blizzard. The survivors kept waiting at Cape Evans for further 8 months. Finally, on 10 January 1917, the repaired and refitted Aurora, whose departure from New Zealand had been delayed by lack of money, arrived to transport them back to civilization;

You can play the story in your mind when you pass through La Maire channel. The channel is often blocked by huge ice bergs making it a rare chance to be crossing it. We were lucky to cross it twice and feeling of being squeezed amidst giant ice shelves was real.