Introduction

More than a hundred years ago an expedition set sail for the continent of Antarctica. The plan was to be the first to cross the polar continent. What they were to accomplish, however, was something far different. Yet, ironically, this failed expedition is remembered more than one that completed the first crossing of Antarctica in 1958. This expedition was known as the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and was led by Sir Ernest H. Shackleton. This is the story of the greatest success a failed expedition ever accomplished.

Departure

“Proceed.”

The one-word telegram came in reply to the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton. It was August 8, 1914 – just four days after Great Britain had entered the First World War by declaring war on Germany – and the entire expedition had been placed at the disposal of the British Admiralty. Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, however, wired for them to continue on the expedition.

Five days later, the Endurance sailed from Plymouth to Buenos Aires where the last of the expedition members were to be picked up before the ship sailed on to South Georgia. Finally, at 10:30 AM, on October 26, the Endurance set sail for South Georgia, her last port of call, and arrived at the Grytviken whaling station on November 5. There they received the depressing news that ice conditions were the worst in the memory of the Norwegian whalers. Hoping that the situation would improve, Shackleton decided to remain at South Georgia for a spell. A month later, they set sail once more – this time for the continent of Antarctica.

Beset

The Norwegian whalers were right – ice conditions were bad. But the Endurance was a strong ship, so she cautiously made her way among the larger floes of ice and smashed her way through the smaller ones. For over a month, the ship made slow progress through the icy sea, until the decision was made to lie to for a while until the wind direction had improved. A northeasterly gale blew for six days before finally dropping off on January 25, 1915. And by then a vast sea of ice had packed around the Endurance freezing her in place. There was nothing else to do but wait.

During the dark, Antarctic winter they drifted, waiting for a crack in the floe and release from their icy confines. At least with the coming spring, they were hoping they could escape the ice and continue on the expedition. But when ice broke up the following spring, it was not to release the Endurance but to crush her. Thousands of miles of ice and millions of tons of pressure squeezed around the Endurance causing her to moan and shudder. With each new onslaught of pressure she was slowly being crushed more and more.

Finally, on October 27, 1915, at 5 PM, the order was given to abandon ship, and the men made their way down to the ice floes. They were approximately 400 miles from the Antarctic continent and 1,000 miles from the whaling stations on South Georgia. But as Frank Worsley, captain of the Endurance wrote, “At that time it seemed to me that there was little difference between four hundred miles and a thousand.” Either way they were still stuck out on the ice floes that were continually working to destroy the Endurance.

Ocean Camp

The plan was to march to Paulet Island, 346 miles to the northwest, where emergency stores had been left more than a decade before. They had three boats, but, as each boat weighed over a ton, they could only bring two. After a few days of traversing the ice floes, they stopped for the night on an exceptionally large floe. The next day Shackleton announced that they would not continue the journey over the floes. As it was, the boats were already damaged and would not last even 10 more miles over the rough pressure ridges they had been traversing. This new camp was entitled Ocean Camp and was to be the men’s home for the next month.

Alone

Several sledging parties had gone out to the crushed ship to save what supplies they could. They had brought back the third boat as well as photographs, packing cases of food, and other supplies that would be of use. On November 21, 1915, another party left early in the morning for more supplies. By 4:50 PM they were just getting back to Ocean Camp when Shackleton went out to watch them. He noticed some movement in the distance and turned to see the ship’s stack disappear behind a pressure ridge.

“She’s going, boys!” he shouted as he rushed up the lookout tower. A few moments later all twenty-eight men had gathered to watch as, in the distance, the stern of their crushed ship rose into the air and held there a moment before slowly sinking beneath the ice floes into the cold, dark water of the Weddell Sea. They could now feel more keenly than ever that they were stranded hundreds of miles from the nearest point of civilization.

Patience Camp

On December 23, they set out over the ice floes once more heading west – toward land. Again they were only bringing two of the boats with them. The Stancomb Wills, the smallest and least seaworthy of the boats, was to be left behind in Ocean Camp. They marched for five days in miserable conditions before finally giving up the attempt. They had only made nine miles to the northwest and were in worse position than when they had first set out. None of the floes around them now would be strong enough to camp on for any length of time, but Ocean Camp was also inaccessible by this point. All that was left was for them to retreat to a stronger floe. This new camp was named Patience Camp.

Several trips were made back to Ocean Camp to retrieve more supplies, and Shackleton finally sent a party of men back to fetch the Stancomb Wills. 

“I am very glad,” Worsley wrote. “If it comes to boats we shall be far safer in three; with only two it would be a practical impossibility to bring 28 men alive through a boat voyage of any length.”

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing, page 106

To the Boats

Finally, after several months at Patience Camp, they could feel the ocean swell. The floe on which they had made their camp was breaking up rendering it unsafe – yet there was not a better floe in sight. On April 9, the ice opened up enough for them to take to the boats. It was a moment they had long waited for, yet it was to mark the beginning of one of the most trying periods of the expedition.

For days they battled the ocean spray rowing in harsh conditions. The waves that splashed into their boats soaked into everything soakable and froze. Some of the men developed severe frostbite. Their skin was cracked from the constant onslaught of salty ocean spray. Since it was not safe for them to stop and pitch camp on a floe or iceberg, they spent their nights in the boats – long, miserable, sleepless nights.

Land

Finally, on April 16, they landed on a rocky beach at Elephant Island. No one had ever set foot on the desolate, rocky island before, so Shackleton informed Blackborow, the youngest expedition member, that he would be the first on the isle. Upon reaching the island, Shackleton told him to jump ashore, but he didn’t move. Impatiently, Shackleton took hold of him and lifted him over the side of the boat and onto the island. Falling to his hands and knees, Blackborow rolled over and sat down in the freezing water.

“Get up,” Shackleton ordered.

“I can’t, sir.” Blackborow replied, looking up.

Suddenly, Shackleton remembered the lad’s feet – they had been frostbitten so badly that he could not even stand. Two of the men jumping from the boat pulled him further up the beach away from the waves. Then the stores were unloaded, and the boats pulled to safety. Several of the men were so ill that they had to be helped ashore, but they were on land. It was a wild, uninhabited, inhospitable island, it’s true, but it was land.

For the first time in 497 days, they were on land. Solid, unsinkable, immovable, blessed land.

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing, page 170

Shackleton, however, was quick to realize that they couldn’t stay on the small beach upon which they had found refuge. So the next morning he sent Frank Wild, his second-in-command, out in one of the boats with a small crew of men to search for a better place on the island. The men finally returned late that night saying that they had found a suitable beach seven miles around the island.

Cape Wild

The next morning they battled the waves once more on their way to the new beach. It was a rocky spit of land with no protection from the Antarctic blizzards that frequently stormed the isle.

A more inhospitable place could scarcely be imagined.

Dr. Alexander Macklin, member of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

The next few days on the island were terribly stormy days with the wind doing its utmost to scatter their meager belongings. Then, on April 20, Shackleton announced what they had all been expecting – a party of men would set out from the island hoping to reach civilization. Shackleton himself would go in the largest of the boats, the James Caird, with five other men – Worsley, the captain; Crean, second officer; McNeish, the carpenter; and Vincent and McCarthy, both able seamen. Their destination would be the whaling stations on South Georgia Island over 800 miles away. Their chances of reaching the island were slim at best, but there was nothing else they could do. No one ever came to Elephant Island.

Four days were spent preparing for the journey, and at last, on the 24th of April, they cast off – six shipwrecked men in a 22-foot boat on an 800 mile journey to a 1,507 sq. mi. island.

On Elephant Island

On Elephant Island the men waved farewell and watched until the tiny boat was swallowed from their sight. Frank Wild was left in charge of the men on the rocky spit of beach he had discovered. He had wanted to accompany Shackleton to South Georgia – as did every man in the expedition – but he was the only one Shackleton could fully trust to lead the men left on the island. 

After the departure of the Caird, the twenty-two men left on Elephant Island set about making their stay on the isle as bearable as possible. A hut was erected by turning the two boats upside down over short rock walls. It was by no means a perfect hut, but they were able to stop up all the cracks in the rocks to keep the wind out. All twenty-two men were able to cram into the small hut.

Another factor that had to be considered was food. The seals and penguins that visited the island were becoming rarer as the Antarctic winter grew near. The men worked to stock up a supply of food. Talk of food was common among the men; they all craved a change of menu. For the past many months, their diet consisted mostly of seal or penguin, and the men were tired of meat.

Several of the men were also in bad shape. Blackborow’s feet had been badly frostbitten, and while the right foot had healed, the left foot became gangrenous. The toes had to be amputated.

There was also the daily monotony of waiting and watching for a rescue ship. Mid August was set as the latest date expected for Shackleton to return, but as August slipped away, they began to give up hope that the Caird had ever reached land.

Voyage of the James Caird

Upon departure from Elephant Island, the James Caird was piloted north hoping to escape the sea ice. It was wet and miserable. With every wave they were drenched anew. The sky was grey and cloudy, and for several days the sun wasn’t even visible to take a navigational sighting. When it did appear, for only a moment, the sighting showed that Elephant Island lay some 128 miles behind them – they were making progress, but it was very slow and difficult.

They had now entered the Drake Passage – “the most dreaded bit of ocean on the globe.*” There the winds often blow with hurricane force – reaching 150-200 mph at times. The waves in this region of the ocean are known to reach tremendous heights – often over 30 feet. They were constantly riding these massive waves and, miraculously, staying afloat. The wind swung around to the north keeping them from making any progress. Waves continually splashed over the boat leaving behind a layer of ice that had to be chipped away. One of the casks of fresh water was discovered to be contaminated. And what food they did have, they were too dehydrated to swallow.

Nearing Land

As they neared South Georgia, every man was on the lookout for a sign that they were close to land – driftwood or seaweed or anything. But there was not a single indication in their favor, and by seven o’clock, they should have been 12 miles from the island – surely they should be able to see some of the mountain peaks. But none were in view. If they missed South Georgia, they could not turn back windward to reach it, yet it was another 3,000 miles to South Africa – a journey impossible to survive.

Late on May 7, a clump of seaweed was spotted, and early the next morning, cormorants, birds known not to venture far from land, were spied overhead. Then, shortly after noon on May 8, McCarthy spied land dead ahead. It was only visible for a moment before the clouds snatched it from view. But it was there – 10 miles away – and their journey was near its end. They were not to make landfall that day, however, for a hurricane blew up, and it was all they could do not to be dashed against the rocks.

The thoughts of the others I did not know – mine were regret for having brought my diary and annoyance that no one would ever know we had got so far.

Frank A. Worsley, captain of the Endurance

But by some great miracle, they were to survive the storm and make a landing on South Georgia after battling the hurricane for more than 24 hours.

South Georgia

Upon reaching land, their immediate need for fresh water was answered by a nearby glacial stream, but the 16-day journey left them so exhausted that it took more than a week for them to recover enough for the next leg of their journey.

They had landed on the northwestern side of the island, but the whaling stations they were endeavoring to reach lay on the eastern side of the island. The Caird had been damaged while landing on South Georgia, so Shackleton thought it unwise to try sailing around the island. Instead, he decided to cross the island on foot taking Worsley and Crean with him. Overland it was less than 30 miles – but not a man had ever been into the interior of South Georgia Island, though it was known to have mountain peaks reaching almost 10,000 feet as well as glaciers.

Crossing South Georgia

On May 19, the three men set out to cross the island. They were to bring three day’s sledging rations and biscuits for each man as well as a filled Primus stove with enough fuel for six meals, a small cooking pot, a half-fill box of matches, two compasses, a pair of binoculars, about 50 feet of rope, and the carpenter’s adze which was to be used as an ice axe. Worsley was also permitted to bring his diary.

After an almost non-stop, 36-hour trek over snow-clad mountains, the men finally reached Stromness whaling station. At 6:30 the next morning, as they paused to prepare breakfast, Shackleton thought he heard the steam whistle at the whaling station calling the men to awaken. If he had heard the whistle then they should be able to hear it again just a half-hour later. After a hurried breakfast, they waited. Exactly at 7 o’clock, they heard the steam whistle blow calling the whalers to work.

They looked at each other and smiled, then silently shook hands. It was the first sound from the outside world that they had heard in 17 months.

Stromness

It took them several more hours to reach Stromness, and when they did, it seemed that everyone at the whaling station had come to stare at them. The station foreman took the three ragged men to the manager’s house and knocked on the door. After a moment, the manager opened the door, then stared in disbelief at the three men before him. Finally, he asked who they were.

The man in the center replied, very quietly, “My name is Shackleton.”

It is said that the manager turned away and wept.

Shackleton wrote:

When I look back at those days I have no doubt that Providence guided us, not only across those snowfields, but across the storm-white sea that separated Elephant Island from our landing-place on South Georgia. I know that during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia it seemed to me often that we were four, not three. I said nothing to my companions on the point, but afterwards Worsley said to me, “Boss, I had a curious feeling on the march that there was another person with us.” Crean confessed to the same idea. One feels “the dearth of human words, the roughness of mortal speech” in trying to describe things intangible, but a record of our journeys would be incomplete without a reference to a subject very near to our hearts.

Sir Ernest Shackleton

The hospitality of the whalers was boundless. For the first time in two years, Shackleton, Worsley, and Crean were able to enjoy a warm bath followed by a shave. They were then provided with new clothes from the station stores and a splendid meal at the manager’s house.

Rescue

That very night, Worsley set out on a whale-catcher to pick up the three men on the other side of South Georgia. His appearance was so changed that they did not recognize him at first and complained that only the Norwegians had come to rescue them.

Only three days later, Shackleton, Worsley, and Crean set out on a ship bound for Elephant Island to recuse their other companions, but they were stopped by the pack ice 100 miles from the island. Again and again they tried. It had been four months since they had departed Elephant Island, and Shackleton was anxious to rescue the men. But three times they had tried and failed. Finally, on the fourth attempt, they reached Elephant Island in the little Chilean steamer, the Yelcho.

Rescue at Elephant Island

On Elephant Island, the men were gathering in their hut to have lunch at 12:45 PM when they heard one of the men come running. The others paid little notice to him, thinking that he was merely late for lunch. Then he stuck his head into the hut and said in a low voice to Wild, “There’s a ship. Shall we light a fire?”

Before there was even time for an answer from Wild, all of the men made a mad dash for the exit tearing it to pieces. One of the men lit a fire, while another tied his Burberry jacket to the halyard of the oar that served as their flagpole. But the jacket could only be hoisted as high as half-mast, and when Shackleton saw the crude flag, his heart sank for he thought that some of the men had died. Gazing through his binoculars, however, he was able to count all twenty-two men. They were all there; they were all alive.

From the bridge of the ship, Worsley witnessed the rescue then recorded in his log, “2.10 All Well! At last! 2.15 Full speed ahead.”

They had survived nearly two years in one of the most inhospitable corners of the earth. Now they were going home.

Conclusion

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition had been a failure – they had not accomplished what they set out to do. In fact, they hadn’t even begun to. Originally, they had set out to be the first to cross Antarctica, but they didn’t even set foot on that desolate, polar continent. What they did accomplish, however, is perhaps greater than what they did not. It is undoubtedly more memorable.

Recommended Sources:

• Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
• The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander
• “Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure” (2001) IMAX film – running time: 40 min.

Note: Both books contain some mild language. Please use discretion when reading.

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*Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing, page 216