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JCS 2017(EM) Quark2017.qxp_Layout 2 14/08/2017 16:43 Page 1 The James Caird Society Newsletter Issue 23 · Summer 2017 The draughtsmanship behind a legend Read the story of the James Caird that lies behind the one we all know ... (Page 4/5) Registered Charity No. 1044864 JCS 2017(EM) Quark2017.qxp_Layout 2 14/08/2017 16:43 Page 2 James Caird Society news and events New Chairman Friday 17 November This year sees a new Chairman of the The AGM will be held at James Caird Society. At the November 5.45pm in the AGM Rear Admiral Nick Lambert will James Caird Hall take over from Admiral Sir James at Dulwich College Perowne KBE who has been an and will include the inspirational chairman since 2006, appointment of a new overseeing several major JCS Society Chairman landmarks including the Nimrod Ball and, The lecture will begin at most recently in 2016, a series of 7pm in the Great Hall. magnificent events to celebrate the The speaker will be Centenary of the Endurance Expedition. Geir Klover, Director of the We wish James well and hope we will still Fram Museum Oslo, who see him at the Lecture/Dinner evenings. will talk about Amundsen Nick Lambert joined the Royal Navy as Dinner will be served aseamaninMarch1977,subsequently afterwards gaining an honours degree in Geography at the University of Durham in 1983. He spent much time at sea, including on HM ships Birmingham, Ark Royal, Cardiff, Meetings in 2018 and has commanded HMS Brazen and HMS Newcastle. May Dinner He was captain of the ice patrol ship Endurance from 2005 to 2007, deploying Friday 11 May for two deeply rewarding seasons in Antarctica, after which he commanded Task Force 158 in the North Arabian Gulf, tasked with the protection of Iraq’s AGM and dinner economically vital offshore oil infrastructure. Thereafter he was Deputy Flag Friday 23 November Officer Sea Training from 2008 to 2009 before assuming the role of Assistant Chief of Staff Operations and Capability Integration in November 2009 in the Navy Command Headquarters. Promoted to Rear Admiral, he became the UK National Elsewhere in this Hydrographer in 2010. issue: Nick has also been the Chairman of the Friends of the Scott Polar Research Institute since 2010, so his Polar credentials are impeccable! We are looking Page 3 forward to welcoming him officially on Friday 17 November at the AGM. May Dinner 2017 Pages 4 and 5 Blue Plaque The story behind the James Caird Torbay Civic Society have confirmed a date for unveiling the Blue Plaque in respect of Sir Ernest Shackleton. This will take place at 3pm on Sunday, 6 August 2017 at Pages 6 and 7 the Torbay Hotel, Torquay. The Boss in the classroom Pages 8 and 9 Artist in residence Sculpting Shackleton Anthony Smith spent some time as Artist Page10 in Residence with the South Georgia A great grandson’s tribute Heritage Trust at Grytviken, Shackleton’s final resting place. This portrait bust of Page11 the great Antarctic explorer was created Words and pictures following Anthony’s time in South Georgia and the finished bronze sculpture Pages 12 and 13 is now displayed in the museum at Questions, questions Grytviken. Pages 14 and 15 www.anthonysmithart.co.uk Shackleton's Ireland Page 16 How to join the Society 2 · The James Caird Society Newsletter · Summer 2017 JCS 2017(EM) Quark2017.qxp_Layout 2 14/08/2017 16:43 Page 3 May Dinner 2017 The 2017 May Dinner took place on Friday 5 May at completed this leg of the journey in 36 hours; the 2016 Dulwich College following a reception held round the boat team took 76! But then, as Tim explained, they didn’t slide in the James Caird Hall at Dulwich College. down the mountainside on their bottoms, but proceeded Commander Tim Winter RN gave a fascinating talk, in a more orderly fashion, mindful no doubt of ‘health and entitled ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Shackleton’, on the safety’ ... Antarctic Endurance Exhibition which he led in 2016. One of the most memorable aspects of the expedition The expedition was a sailing and mountaineering was their encounters with wildlife. As others who have expedition to the Antarctic and South Georgia and involved travelled to this part of the world will testify, seals and sailing from the Falklands in a 67-ft yacht, Xplore, as well birds have not yet learned to fear humans. Long may their as making the famous trek across the mountainous interior trust last. of South Georgia, Shackleton’s Route. Shackleton Summer 2017 · The James Caird Society Newsletter · 3 JCS 2017(EM) Quark2017.qxp_Layout 2 14/08/2017 16:43 Page 4 The making of a legend In April 2016, the magazine Engineering & Technology published an article about the James Caird by JCS member Nick Smith. Here follows an edited extract … According to Alexandra Shackleton, granddaughter of Sir The ‘Class 1A open lifeboat’, that wasn’t named until Ernest Shackleton and JCS President, ‘the voyage of the later in the expedition, was commissioned by the captain James Caird – one of Endurance’s three lifeboats – is the of the Endurance, Frank Worsley, who was familiar with stuff of dreams.’ One hundred years ago, the 23-ft lifeboat the 1913 Convention for Safety of Life at Sea that required made an 800-mile winter crossing of the Southern Ocean, ships to carry lifeboats with sufficient seats, reserve often said to be the stormiest sea in the world, and in so buoyancy and cubic capacity in case of loss or disaster. In doing played a critical role in saving the lives of every other words the Caird was a result of legal compliance and crew member. The story of the rescue has now passed into as such, when brought on deck of the Endurance (which history as one of the greatest sea voyages ever. came ready fitted with two Norwegian lifeboats) she But for all the romance of the legend, the James Caird looked big and out of place. Worsley, who would later be is doubly significant because she was also one of the first the navigator on the Caird’s rescue voyage, wrote in his modern lifeboats that came into being as a direct result of account of the expedition that the lifeboat was ‘double- the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The disaster brought ended and carvel-built’. about changes in maritime law, safety regulations and The fact that she was double-ended meant that there requirements of ships’ captains. Shackleton, who was to was a close resemblance to whaling boats of the time, become Commander of the 1914–17 Endurance which is why the Caird is frequently and erroneously Expedition, gave testimony at the Titanic wreck inquiry. described as a ‘whaler.’ The double-end format and carvel According to James Caird expert Seb Coulthard: ‘the planking allowed the boat to be more efficient in the contribution that Shackleton made to maritime safety has water, and so was ideal for the Endurance Expedition (the been overlooked.’ other two lifeboats were transom-ended). The Caird came 4 · The James Caird Society Newsletter · Summer 2017 JCS 2017(EM) Quark2017.qxp_Layout 2 14/08/2017 16:43 Page 5 equipped with reserve buoyancy brass ‘air cases’, a single According to Coulthard – who has built two replicas of mast, sails, oars, compass, sea anchor, flares, water the Caird – ‘no one today comes close’ to McNish in terms breakers and a box of biscuits. of boat-building skills. Coulthard’s drawings for the Although robustly built, the Caird was not intended to construction of the Alexandra Shackleton,thereplicaCaird undertake ocean voyages, having been designed and which completed the Epic Expedition in 2013 led by Tim specified to stay in the vicinity of any disaster while Jarvis, are reproduced on the front cover. With no survivors awaited the arrival of a rescue vessel. When the drawings to work from and with only four tools – chisel, Endurance was crushed in the Weddell Sea the three hammer, adze and saw – McNish raised the side planking, lifeboats were the men’s only chance of survival. The covered the deck, added a mast and sealed the boat with biggest and strongest – the Caird – would ferry a crew of oil paint mixed with flour and seal blubber. Out of thin six to South Georgia to fetch relief for the remaining 22 air, he had converted a humble lifeboat into an ocean- on Elephant Island. going survival capsule. But the Caird could not even attempt such a voyage Nick Smith without structural modification, which is where the expedition carpenter Harry McNish enters the story. Although it is commonly thought that the Caird was hastily modified on Elephant Island, McNish had been Below left: The James Caird as imagined by by Norman Wilkinson in a picture owned by strengthening and converting the boat for months as well Dulwich College entitled Epic of the Sea as preparing specially tailored sledges that would transport Below: The Alexandra Shackleton on her epic voyage in 2013 all three lifeboats across the ice. Summer 2017 · The James Caird Society Newsletter · 5 JCS 2017(EM) Quark2017.qxp_Layout 2 14/08/2017 16:43 Page 6 Inspiring the younger generation The Shackleton story is used all over the world to inspire young people in a host of different ways. There are a number of on- going educational projects, including an active programme at Shackleton’s old school, Dulwich College. In some schools the story is an integral part of the curriculum. At Bolnore Village Primary School in West Sussex children were asked to imagine how Shackleton would have written his Blog, a task they tackled with colourful enthusiasm: Shackleton’s Blog! Saturday 8th August 1914 Friday 4th September 1914 I, Shackleton, and my crew have set off on a voyage to We have been travelling for about a week now and we Antarctica.
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