Scientists have found Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton’s famed ship ‘Endurance’ nearly 110 years after it was crushed by ice and sank near Antarctica.

The ship was discovered at a depth of 3008 metres (9869 feet) in the Weddell Sea.

The ship remains in remarkable condition, looking much like it did when it went down on November 21st, 1915.

Video of the wreckage shows that its structure is still very much intact – with the name ‘Endurance’ clearly visible on the stern.

 

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Mensun Bound, Marine Archaeologist and Director of Exploration for the mission said the team is “overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance”.

“This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen,” he said.

“It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see ‘Endurance’ arced across the stern, directly below the taffrail.”

“This is a milestone in polar history; however, it is not all about the past; we are bringing the story of Shackleton and Endurance to new audiences and to the next generation, who will be entrusted with the essential safeguarding of our polar regions and our planet.”

The Endurance discovered after 107 years. Image: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

The Endurance discovered after 107 years. Image: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust

The ship was discovered around four miles south of the position originally recorded by ship’s captain Captain Frank Worsley.

The search team used Saab Sabertooth hybrid underwater search vehicles to find the ship – which is now protected as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty.

“We hope our discovery will engage young people and inspire them with the pioneering spirit, courage and fortitude of those who sailed Endurance to Antarctica,” said Mr Bound.

“We pay tribute to the navigational skills of Captain Frank Worsley, the Captain of the Endurance, whose detailed records were invaluable in our quest to locate the wreck.”

Irish Antarctic explorer Ernest Henry Shackleton. Image: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Shackleton was born in Kildare in in February 1874 and went on to lead three expeditions to the Antarctic.

His family moved to England when Shackleton was ten years old; however, they were proudly Irish and he frequently declared himself to be an Irishman.

The Shackletons had lived in County Kildare since the 1720s and, on his mother’s side, the Gavans and the Fitzmaurices had lived in Ireland since the twelfth century.

The S.A. Agulhas II searching for The Endurance in the Wedell Sea. Image: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and James Blake

Shackleton set out on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition with the aim of achieving the first land crossing of Antarctica from the Weddell Sea via the South Pole to the Ross Sea.

Unfortunately, Endurance never reached land, becoming trapped in dense ice, with the 28 men on board forced to abandon ship.

After months spent on ice-flows drifting northwards, the men took the lifeboats to reach the inhospitable Elephant Island.

The Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer Tom Crean with sleigh pups Roger, Nell, Toby and Nelson.

Shackleton and five others, including Kerryman Tom Crean, then made an extraordinary 800-mile (1,300 km) open-boat journey in the lifeboat to reach South Georgia.

Shackleton, Crean and Worsley then trekked 48km across the island’s mountainous and glaciated surface to reach the whaling station at Stromness.

From there, they were able to mount a rescue expedition for the men waiting on Elephant Island – bringing them all home without loss of life.