(CNN) — More than a century after it sank off the coast of the Antarcticapolar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship, HMS Endurance, was located, apparently intact and in good condition.
The ship, which sank in 1915, is 3,008 meters deep in the Weddell Sea, in the Southern Ocean along the north coast of Antarctica, south of the Falkland Islands.
The discovery was a collaboration between the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and History Hit, the content platform co-founded by historian Dan Snow.
“This is by far the best wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, sticking out of the seafloor, intact and in a perfect state of preservation,” Mensun Bound, director of exploration for the mission, said in a statement. .
He added: “It’s a milestone in polar history.”
failure and triumph
The Irish-British explorer Shackleton was long obsessed with the South Pole and undertook a total of four expeditions to the white continent.
The Endurance left the United Kingdom in 1914 and reached McMurdo Sound in Antarctica the following year on a voyage called the Imperial Transantarctic Expedition.
However, due to the extreme conditions, the ship became stuck in thick, impenetrable ice in the Weddell Sea. The 28 men aboard, including Shackleton himself, abandoned the Endurance and set up a rudimentary camp aboard ice floes drifting north.
Eventually, the team reached uninhabited Elephant Island, and then some, including Shackleton, volunteered to board a lifeboat and head for South Georgia Island, eventually crossing it on foot to the whaling station at Stromness, which was manned by the Norwegians at the time, and organize the rescue of the men left behind on Elephant Island.
Although the expedition was a failure, the team’s survival and eventual rescue months later, without any loss of life, was seen as a triumph of their tenacity and Shackleton’s incredible leadership skills.
After another expedition, Shackleton died on South Georgia Island in 1922, at the age of 47, and is buried there.
A “monumental” find
After being abandoned, the Endurance ended up sinking in the Weddell Sea, where it has remained ever since.
His resting place is about four miles south of where Captain Frank Worsley, a New Zealander who was running the ship, believed he was.
Exploration director Bound said Worsley’s navigation logs were “invaluable” in locating the ship.
The discovery team departed from Cape Town on the South African polar research and logistics vessel SA Agulhas II. The name of his ship and his mission was Endurance22.
The crew of the Endurance22 used purpose-built underwater search vessels to help them locate the wreck.
Crédito: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust y Nick Birtwistle
On board was a mixed crew including scientists, historians and filmmakers who were shooting footage for an upcoming National Geographic documentary on the journey to locate the Endurance.
Once they got close to where they believed the wreck was, the explorers used Sabertooth hybrid underwater search vehicles, made by Saab, to locate it.
The name of the ship remains engraved on her stern and is clearly visible in the images.
“We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in locating and capturing images of the Endurance,” said Bound, calling the discovery “monumental.”
future inspiration
According to the guidelines of Antarctic Treatywhich was signed by 12 countries in 1959 and is the closest thing to a constitution for the southernmost continent, the Endurance will not be moved or disassembled.
Instead, it will stay where it is and be studied, mapped and photographed there.
The Endurance 22 was named after the original Endurance. Credit: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and Nick Birtwistle
Although Shackleton’s name and biography remain famous throughout the world, Endurance22’s mission is as focused on the future as it is on the past.
Expedition Leader Dr John Shears said: “We have also conducted an unprecedented educational outreach programme, with live broadcasts on board, allowing new generations from around the world to engage with the Endurance22. and be inspired by the amazing stories of polar exploration, and what humans can achieve and the obstacles they can overcome when they work together.”