National Geographic’s new documentary on Disney+,Endurance,displays the search for the remains of the famed explorer, Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship and offers insight into his involvement in two previous expeditions across Antarctica. The documentary follows the expedition of archaeologist, Mensun Bound, as he and his crew search for the remains of Shackleton’s vesselEndurance, which sank to the bottom of the Weddell Sea in 1915.Endurancefollows the crew’s determination to locate the shipwhile also depicting the trials thatShackleton and hisEndurancecrewwere forced to endure in the Antarctic in order to survive more than 100 years ago.
The documentary showshowEndurancebecame stuck in the ice and eventually sank in 1915.Shackleton and his crew survived 589 days, traveling 800 miles across the Antarctic to South Georgia before they were finally rescued in 1916.After Shackleton’s experience with theEndurance, he served in the British Army and continued his expeditions until his death in 1922. It can be argued that his previous Antarctic experiences helped Shackleton in his enthralling journey of survival in 1915.
Sir Ernest Shackleton Was Part of The Discovery Expedition
Shackleton Suffered From Illness During His First Antarctic Journey
Before his journey on theEndurance, Shackleton was part of two different expeditions in Antarctica. PerBritannica, he was working as a sublieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve when he joined the Discovery Expedition in 1901;he served as Third Officer to the expedition’s appointed leader, Captain Robert Falcon Scott. In the documentary, the expedition leader, Dr. John Shears, states that Shackleton had the ability to persuade Scott to take “a merchant marine all the way to the Antarctic” and appoint him as Third Officer.
Shackleton’s time on the Discovery Expedition lasted two years, with him, Scott and Edward Wilson traveling a distance of 960 miles across the Antarctic. All three men suffered badly from scurvy and frostbite; Shackleton’s condition was so bad that Scott decided to send him back on the relief ship in 1903. Shackleton was angry and ashamed at having to return home, especially after Scott’s remaining team went on to become the first to discover the Polar Plateau (viaAntarctic Heritage Trust). According to the documentary,Shackleton “never forgot or forgave Scott for invalidating him out of Antarctica.“He and Scott remained distant toward each other until Scott’s death in the Antarctic during his Terra Nova Expedition in 1912.
How Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition Almost Changed History
Shackleton Almost Became The First Person To Reach The South Pole
Despite the troubles he faced on the Discovery Expedition, Shackleton desired to explore Antarctica further. In 1907, he managed to secure enough money and public interest to fund his own expedition, which was named the Nimrod Expedition (viaBBC). Shackleton’s team carried out scientific experiments and got within 97 miles of the South Pole before deciding to return. InEndurance, Shears stated that Shackleton knew that “if he carried out that last bit of distance, men under him would have died.”
Had Shackleton chosen to travel further, he could have been the first man to reach the South Pole.However, he chose the well-being of his crew over his target and turned back.
At the time of the Nimrod Expedition, Shackleton’s crew had traveled the farthest distance across the Antarctic;had Shackleton chosen to travel further, he could have been the first man to reach the South Pole.However, he chose the well-being of his crew over his target and turned back. Shackleton’s distance records were later broken by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who reached the South Pole in 1911.
Regardless, Shackleton’s accomplishments on the Nimrod Expedition were widely celebrated; he was knighted by Edward VII and was awarded a silver Polar Medal for his success. Shackleton’s persistence and loyalty to his crew showed his strength as an expedition leader, and as depicted inEndurance,was essential for their survival in the Antarctic after the loss of their ship.
