One historian says Ernest Shackleton's ship 'Endurance' is the 'best preserved shipwreck in the world'.
Dan Snow was speaking after the shipwreck was discovered at a depth of 3008 metres (9869 feet) in the Weddell Sea.
It remains in remarkable condition, looking much like it did when it went down on November 21st 1915.
Shackleton was born in Co Kildare in February 1874 and went on to lead three expeditions to the Antarctic.
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.
The stern of the Endurance with the name and emblematic polestar. Picture by: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust / National GeographicAfter months spent on ice-flows drifting northwards, the men took the lifeboats to reach the inhospitable Elephant Island.
Shackleton and five others - including Kerryman Tom Crean - then made a 1,300 km open-boat journey in the lifeboat to South Georgia.
“This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen” – Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance discovered after 107 years. pic.twitter.com/kJdkFMjN4g
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) March 9, 2022
Mr Snow told The Hard Shoulder he is thrilled.
"We were just so relived and happy, I was so happy.
"All the hard work, all the men and women who work actually on the sub CT teams, work around the clock, 24 hour shifts - I was just over the moon for them.
"It's one of the world's most famous shipwrecks, it's an epic story of survival.
"The kind of heroic qualities of Shackleton, Irish man Tom Crean of course... just when everything was going wrong, every conceivable thing had gone wrong, they showed the grit and determination required to get them and their mates out of trouble.
"It is a fact: it's the best preserved shipwreck we have anywhere in the world from the age of wooden sailing ships."
I filmed this video in the hours following the discovery Endurance, while standing metres away from the exact spot under which it lies. https://t.co/utxWsYDCZ7
— Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) March 9, 2022
He explains why the ship remains in such good condition.
"Usually, small micro-organisms burrow into wood, eat it, it decays.
"That's not the case in the Antarctic, because those organisms haven't evolved.
"There's no wood in the Antarctic constantly, so why would they evolve down there? The water's too cold as well.
"So it is now a stunning treasure in its own right. I think there's kind of a multi-layer of significance".
