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Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance archived as http://www.stealthskater.com/Documents/Endurance_01.pdf read more great discoveries at http://www.stealthskater.com/Science.htm#NOVA note: because important websites are frequently "here today but gone tomorrow", the following was archived from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2906_shacklet.html on February 4, 2004 . This is NOT an attempt to divert readers from the aforementioned web-site. Indeed, the reader should only read this back-up copy if it cannot be found at the original author's site. Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance Narrator: They were alone, trapped in the ice-covered waters of Antarctica's treacherous seas. "Frozen," as one man put it, "like an almond in the middle of a chocolate bar." The year was 1915, and the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition had ground to a halt. 28 men fought unceasingly to save their ship from the onslaught of the ice. The outside world had no idea of their predicament as they drifted helplessly towards uncharted waters. With civilization over 1000 miles away, only static crackling could be heard through their radio headset. Confronted with the approach of the Antarctic winter and the coldest climate on Earth, they were about to be pushed to the limits of human endurance. Peter Wordie (son of James Wordie): My father never -- to any of us, his children-- ever discussed the Endurance expedition. Occasionally an odd statement came out. But he was extraordinarily reticent. He never let us read his diaries when he was alive. They were locked up. Alexander Macklin (son of Endurance doctor Alexander Macklin): In some ways, it was almost as if the situation never happened. And that's probably because my father always felt that without having been there, without having experienced, without having suffered and endured, that it would be very difficult for anybody outside that to understand. Mary Crean OBrien (daughter of Endurance seaman Tom Crean): My father didn't speak too much about the Antarctic. I often wondered was it too hard? Did he want to forget it? But he did say they had a tough time. And the one thing he did show us now was his ears. They had suffered frostbite. They were like boards! Narrator: One man above all bore responsibility for their survival: Sir Ernest Shackleton. A veteran of Polar exploration, he knew that anyone trapped in this hostile region would be stalked by starvation, insanity and death. For Shackleton, the stark reality of their plight was terrifyingly clear. With no chance of rescue, it was up to him to get his men out alive. Their struggle would become legend, a testament to the human spirit, and an epic adventure of a heroic age. Narrator: In 1913, an Anglo-Irish explorer named Sir Ernest Shackleton set an ambitious goal: 1 Ernest Shackleton {voiceover]: After the conquest of the South Pole, there remained but one great object -- the first crossing of the Antarctic continent from sea-to-sea. The distance will be roughly 1800 miles. Half will be over unknown ground. Every step will advance geographic science. It will be the greatest Polar journey ever attempted. Roland Huntford (historian and author): Shackleton was an inordinately ambitious man. He was searching for greatness, for reputation. And it just so happened that Polar exploration offered him the opportunity. Jonathan Shackleton (Ernest Shackleton's cousin): He had a huge amount of energy. He was full of enterprise. He was very good-natured. And anybody who ever met him saw that this was someone who was going to get on with people, and he was going to get on with what he wanted to do in life. Narrator: Shackleton left boarding school at age 16 and joined the navy to sail around the World. But he was soon drawn to the glory of exploration as he accompanied Robert Scott on his attempt to reach the South Pole in 1902. Like beasts of burden, they man-hauled supplies but failed to bring enough to ward off cold, starvation, and scurvy. Over 400 miles from the Pole, they were forced to give up. At 28, Shackleton's ravaged face betrayed the suffering he had endured. Scott dismissed him as "our invalid" and sent him home to England. It was a devastating indictment, but not one shared by the public which idolized these men as heroes. 6 years later, Shackleton launched his own assault on the Pole with Siberian ponies. Only 97 miles from the prize, he made the agonizing decision to turn back rather than risk the lives of his men. While praising Shackleton for lifting the veil from Antarctica, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundson noted, Roald Amundson {voiceover}: If Shackleton had been equipped in dogs and -- above all -- skis, and understood their use, well then the South Pole would have been a closed chapter. Narrator: 2 years later, Amundson claimed the Pole for Norway. Undaunted, Shackleton applied his ambition to the crossing of the continent. Jonathan Shackleton: Shackleton was the most charming, persistent beggar you have ever met. And he had a wonderful way of being able to get money for his expeditions. His outgoing, open approach to things disarmed people. I'm not saying disarmed them of their money. But people took an instant liking to him. Narrator: Born into the middle-class, Shackleton's marriage to the affluent Emily Dorman helped him court patrons. With gifts and loans, he purchased a ship and christened her the Endurance after his family motto, "By Endurance we conquer." As war threatened Europe, Shackleton offered his ship and service to the British Navy which declined, convinced the fighting would be over in months. 2 Left alone to raise their 3 children, Emily wrote, Emily Shackleton {voiceover}: I think fairy tales are to be blamed for half the misery in the World. I never let my children read "and they were married and lived happily ever after." Narrator: On the eve of World War I, the Endurance departed for Antarctica. On board were 69 excited sled dogs and a 28-man crew of seamen, scientists, adventurers, and escapists. For Shackleton, personality mattered more than a man's experience with ice and snow. Julian Ayer (grandson of Colonel Thomas Orde-Lees): My grandfather met Ernest Shackleton by replying to an advertisement that was in the personal columns of The Times that read, "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success. Ernest Shackleton." And such an advertisement would be absolute catnip to my grandfather Colonel Orde-Lees. He couldn't resist it! Tom McNeish (grandson of Endurance carpenter Chippy McNeish): My grandfather Chippy McNeish saw an advertisement in the paper and it said you might not return. So he went and seen about it and got it. Narrator: Around 5,000 men applied. Shackleton's sheer willpower and personal magnetism made him an irresistible leader. Roland Huntford: This has got to do with some force of character -- some flame that burns within a man. You can't learn it. You can't develop it. It's something you radiate. He had this. 3 "MEN WANTED: FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS. SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON" (left-to-right) Top Row: Ernest Holness (stoker), William Bakewell (seaman) 3rd Row: Henry McNeish (carpenter), Reginald James (physicist), Frank Wild (Second-in- Command), Frank Worsley (Captain), William Stephenson (stoker), Herberht Hudson (navigator), Walter Howe (seaman), Charles Green (cook) 2nd Row: Alfred Cheetham (Third Officer), Tom Crean (Second Officer), Leonard Hussey (meteorologist), Lionel Greenstreet (First Officer), Sir Ernest Shackleton (Expedition Leader), Sir Daniel Gooch, Louis Rickinson (engineer), Frank Hurley (photographer) Bottom Row: Robert Clark (biologist), James Wordie (geologist), Alexander Macklin (surgeon), George Marston (artist), James McIlroy (surgeon) Missing from photo: Thomas Orde-Lees (ski expert and storekeeper), Perce Blackborow (steward), John Vincent (boatswain), Alfred Kerr (engineer), Timothy McCarthy (seaman), Thomas McLeod (seaman) Narrator: From England, the Endurance crossed the Atlantic to Buenos Aires then headed towards Antarctica. Within days, she entered the notoriously stormy waters of the Southern Ocean. Expedition photographer Frank Hurley -- who had previously filmed in the region -- described the Endurance's passage through the winds known as the "Roaring Forties": Frank Hurley {voiceover}: For a week, he has flung magnificent power at our starboard quarter but -- beyond an occasional monster leaping aboard to flood our decks -- we have ambled buoyantly South, flung from side-to-side. Narrator: On November 5th, the towering ranges of South Georgia -- a sub-Antarctic island -- came into view. The Endurance dropped anchor in Grytviken -- a dingy whaling station surrounded by snow-capped mountains. It was the peak of the whaling season and 300 men worked the station, stripping blubber off the carcasses. Tim Carr (Curator, South Georgia Whaling Museum): When Shackleton arrived at Grytviken, whale catchers were coming in with their catches. And they're saying there's a lot of ice 4 around. And this appeared to them to be a reasonably bad year for ice. This was a bit of a warning to him, and they were prepared to wait a little bit for the ice to open up. Narrator: The days in South Georgia passed pleasantly as the men roamed the island, discovering its magnificent wildlife and scenery. Frank Hurley enlisted help to haul equipment up a nearby mountain to photograph the Endurance at harbor. He was -- according to one man - - "a warrior with his camera who'd do anything to get a picture." Shackleton spent time with local whalers learning about Antarctica's ice-ridden Weddell Sea, infamous for crushing ships.
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