Thursday, February 17, 2022

Being Ernest about the Antarctic

On the news tonight they talked about the search for the weck of the Endurance a wooden sailing ship under the command of Ernest Shackleton . Which sank in 1915 crushed by sea ice whilst on an expedition to the South Pole. Needless to say they didn't make it to the Pole but survived by dragging the lifeboats and supplies ove the ice to the closest land.. The ship and the story of Ernest Shackleton are legendary as during the most challenging of circumstances he never lost a man. 

Finding the wreckage would be a boost to the memory and tales of the leadership of a true hero Sir Ernest Shackleton.

The Endurance trapped and crushed by the froze sea
The Endurance trapped and crushed by the froze sea


The expedition to find the wreck is being run from the S.A Aghulas II a South African Antarctic supply ship. This is the second generation of Antarctic supply ships. I was on the first S.A. Aghulus in1985 when I was part of the 26th South African expedition to the Antarctic (SANAE26)

Docked against the sea ice.
Loading the ship in Cape Town
The workhorse of the modern Antarctic expedition is helicopter seen here doing a landing


see DailMail article