Close icon taken from the logo in redClose icon taken from the logo in black

Let’s start planning your next trip!

Simply answer the questions below and we’ll be in touch to work out what type of adventure will suit you best.

By submitting this form, you confirm that you have read and agree to the Privacy Policy.

Thank you! A member of our team will reach out to you shortly.
Something went wrong. Please try again.

Shackleton and Worsley

The history of the Endurance and Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition is already pretty well known.

Shackleton and Worsley
This entry first appeared in a Dispatch, the updates sent to all Society members. You can join for free here.

---

Some background on Shackleton and Worsley

The history of the Endurance and Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition is already pretty well known. For those of you who might need a refresher, Sir Ernest Shackleton was an Irish explorer in the early part of the 20th century. Prior to this expedition, he had already made his name in Antarctic exploration. He was part of Captain Robert Scott’s Discovery expedition in 1901 that reached a new southerly record. He was then part of the Nimrod expedition in 1909 which set another record, making it only 97 geographical miles from the South Pole and also climbing the active Mount Erebus volcano whilst there. After explorer Roald Amundsen beat everyone to the South Pole in 1911 and effectively ended that ‘first’, Shackleton set his sights on crossing Antarctica from sea to sea, via the pole. This formed the basis for the 1914 expedition.

This expedition is famous for its failure.

Before we go any further, it’s worth at this point also introducing the Endurance’s captain, Frank Worsley. Whilst Shackleton was the expedition commander, Frank Worsley was the captain of the Endurance tasked with taking the explorers there. Another ship, the Aurora, was responsible for setting supply depots on the other side of the continent to assist the team crossing the continent. Worsley, a Kiwi, had a reputation for uncanny navigational abilities and it was these skills that helped the team in 2022.

Worsley taking measurements: Courtesy Royal Geographic Society/PA Media

The Expedition

Heading past South Georgia towards Antarctica, the Endurance was slowed by considerable sea ice. They progressed slowly until eventually, deep in the Weddell Sea, the Endurance found itself frozen into an ice floe. Realising that they were stuck there until the following spring, Shackleton turned the ship into a winter station. They floated northward with the ice for almost 7 months until in October, the worst began to happen. Instead of the ship being freed from the ice as it broke up it instead began to be crushed, taking on water and eventually sinking. One of the last things to happen before it sank below the ice was Worsley, working under extremely challenging conditions and after months of drifting with the ice floe, taking an estimate of the ship’s last position.

Courtesy Royal Geographic Society/PA
Courtesy Royal Geographic Society/PA

The rest of the story is legendary, aided by Shackleton’s amazing leadership and his promise to leave no man behind. The expedition party headed towards “nearby” Elephant Island, travelling as far as they could on foot before heading to the lifeboats for five rough days at sea. In freezing overcast conditions, at the mercy of the winds and currents and without clear visibility to navigate by, they were at great risk of blowing off course and ending up lost in the Southern Ocean. It was only due to Worsley’s navigational abilities that they made it. He stayed awake or on alert for almost 90 hours straight, waiting for moments of sunlight to which establish their position by with his instruments.

Landing on Elephant Island, they realised that it wasn’t the most hospitable of islands. In addition, it was also well out of sight to flag down passing rescue ships. And so, they decided to send off one lifeboat to try for South Georgia, a perilous journey of over 1,300km (800 miles). Onboard were both Shackleton and Worsley. Adding to the pressure, to miss the destination would not only mean death for the volunteers but death for those remaining behind on Elephant Island. And so, over 16 days, through storms and freezing conditions, the lifeboat endured. In terrible conditions, Worsley only had a few of glimpses of clear skies over the 16 days to use to estimate their position. Despite all of this hardship, they landed on South Georgia, an epic feat of navigation and survival.

It wasn’t over yet.

All of the whaling stations and rescue options were on the other side of the island. With the lifeboat and crew unable to make the journey around the island, Shackleton, Worsley and another crew member Tom Crean, made a 36-hour journey over and through the crevasse-strewn mountains and towards safety at a whaling station. They made this entire journey, from ice floe to whaling station, without proper equipment and without modern clothing. After returning to pick up the South Georgia crew, it was another three months and four separate attempts before they could finally rescue the remaining crew members stuck on Elephant Island. It is this epic journey and Shackleton’s commitment to the lives of his men turned this failed trip into the stuff of legend.

Cut to 2022.

Finding the wreck of the Endurance has been a prize that has eluded explorers for decades. It’s not just the difficulty of finding the location, it’s the location itself. The same pack ice that crushed the Endurance still prevents researchers from getting close to the estimated position. There have been many tries and many failures. This recent attempt by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust onboard the icebreaker Agulhas II battled environments. There were temperatures below -18 degrees C, blizzards and failures in the remote submarines used to explore the seafloor. In an area of 150 square miles, they kept the submarines running almost continuously, looking for any clue to the location of the wreck.

Eventually, on the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s funeral, they picked up a sonar ping. On a flat seafloor, almost 3,000m (10,000ft) below sea level, the wreck was found in incredible condition. Due to the freezing waters there is a lack of underwater forest in Antarctic waters. This means the absence of wood loving animal living in them. As a result, this meant that the wreck looked as good as the day it sank. You can see the ship’s nameplate proudly announcing its identity to the world. It is almost a look in on the lives of these brave explorers.

Courtesy Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and National Geographic
Courtesy Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and National Geographic

And the most amazing thing? It was found only 4km from where Worsley estimated it was. Adrift on an ice floe in the Southern Ocean, with overcast and freezing conditions, using mechanical tools, epic tables of reference numbers, and a pen and paper, he was dead on.

This whole expedition was technically a failure. But, by using other forms of reference, it is one of the biggest success stories in history. The discovery, itself an amazing achievement, is just the wonderful conclusion of the epic tale.

Further resources

If this story has inspired you to learn more about the Endurance and the amazing journey it took, the following resources might be of some interest.

The Brilliant Success of Shackleton’s Failure (Teamistry) – Podcast

I Can’t Find My Grocery Store As Well As Frank Worsley Guided Shackleton – Article

Shackleton by Ranulph Fiennes – Book

Sign up to our newsletter

Subscribe for the latest updates, stories from adventures and information you need to know from around the world for planning your own travel.

For all of this and more (including advance notice of specials and subscriber only insights), be sure to sign up.

Why travel with us?

Travel isn’t what is used to be. It used to be undertaken with a sense of adventure and discovery. As the world shrunk, so did our imaginations and over time, manufactured experiences, sponsored travel lists and mass tourism have slowly extinguished that magic. Amazing destinations, catering to the crowds, have become overwhelmed shadows of their former selves.

And so, we established The Explorer Society to be a travel company for like‑minded travellers. It’s for those who travel for the destination and the incredible experiences to be found within, not just for the bragging rights. We are passionate about avoiding the crowds and providing real and revelatory experiences.

Illustration of a contract with a lock in front
Honesty

We always try to maintain as open and honest a conversation with you as we can throughout the entire process. We are happy to chat about what we recommend, why, and why we do what we do.

Illustration of a hand lifting a money plant
Do good, be good

The destinations we visit should be around for future generations to enjoy. We want the benefits of your visit go to those in the local area you visited, not some big corporation elsewhere.

Illustration of 2 clocks with one of them with a dollar sign instead of the hands
Value ≠ Cost

What something costs isn’t the same as what something is worth. We always try to get the best value for your trip, irrespective of how you choose to travel and what budget you have.

Illustration of a rocket taking off in a graph
Experience first

The experience always comes first. This might mean five‑star luxury, three‑star simplicity or a camp out under millions of stars, whatever ultimately best suits the experience you’re after.

Don’t just take our word for it

“I would recommend The Explorer Society every time.”

Derelle B

“I would not hesitate to recommend them for your African getaway.  I will certainly use them again.”

Poppy M

“Cannot recommend highly enough!”

Gemma G

“Seamless and perfectly executed, I would recommend The Explorer Society to anyone.”

Angela T

“I would recommend The Explorer Society and will be definitely using them in the future.”

Rowena F

What are you waiting for?

Life is short. Get started today.

Contact Us