Update – 10/19/2024:
Over two years after the long-lost wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance was located off the coast of Antartica, a brand new 3D scan provides a look at the sunken vessel. Consisting of 25,000 high-resolution images, the digital scan was released a part of a new National Geographic documentary, titled Endurance.
According to the scan, Endurance appears to still be largely intact, with everyday items used by her crew, including dining plates and a flare gun, visible. To capture the images that make up the completed piece, the team used underwater robots equipped with cameras, at which point the photos were stitched together to create the 3D model.
Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter, Mensun Bound, a marine archaeologist who served as the director of exploration on the Endurance22 expedition, said, “You could still lean against the standing rails at the bows and peer through the portholes into the inky black cabin where Shackleton slept.”
The hope is that, in the future, scientists can use the scan and accompanying images to learn more about the geography and ecology of the seafloor in the Weddell Sea.
Endurance premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on October 12 and debuted in British theaters two days later. The documentary is slated to be available for streaming via Disney+ at a later date.
Original Article – 03/09/2022:
The “world’s most challenging shipwreck search” has come to an end after the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust announced the discovery of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance in the waters off of Antarctica.
The discovery was made 3,008 meters below the waters of the Weddell Sea by the crew of the Endurance22 expedition. The site is within a search area that was predetermined by the team prior to their departure from Cape Town, South Africa, four miles south of the position originally recorded by Endurance‘s captain, Frank Worsley.
The Endurance22 expedition set off from Cape Town in February 2022. The crew was onboard the S.A. Agulhas II, owned by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment. Once in the Antarctic, Saab Sabertooth hybrid underwater search vehicles were lowered into the water. After two difficult weeks of combing the area, Endurance was officially located.
“We have successfully completed the world’s most difficult shipwreck search, battling constantly shifting sea-ice, blizzards, and temperatures dropping down to -18C,” Expedition leader Dr. John Shears told the BBC. “We have achieved what many people said was impossible.”
The cold temperatures and lack of wood-eating sea organisms meant the wreck was found in relatively good condition. Among the most notable finds were the ship’s name still readable on the wood and gear piled against the taffrail. The rudder was also located beneath the stern, along with the still-intact ship’s wheel, complete with spokes. Sea sponges, anemones and other ocean life have made the shipwreck their home, but do not appear to have damaged it.
Since the discovery, time has been spent photographing and documenting the wreck and the surrounding area.
Shackleton’s expedition began in August 1914, when the explorer and his crew of 27 left Plymouth for Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. He’d hoped to become the first person to achieve a land crossing of the continent, from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. Endurance entered the sea passage in January 1915, but became trapped in sea ice, where she was stuck for 10 months before being crushed by the ice and sinking.
Shackleton and his crew escaped on lifeboats and traveled to Elephant Island, on the northeast tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. After suffering a severe food shortage, he and some of the crew set out in search of aid. They eventually came across a whaling station on South Georgia, leading to the rescue of the remaining crew members on Elephant Island.
Since then, the expedition and the shipwreck have become the topic of legend, with explorers determined to locate the final resting place of Endurance.
“We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance,” shared Director of Exploration Mensun Bound. “This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see ‘Endurance’ arced across the stern, directly below the taffrail.
“This is a milestone in polar history,” he continued. “However, it is not all about the past; we are bringing the story of Shackleton and Endurance to new audiences, and to the next generation, who will be entrusted with the essential safeguarding of our polar regions and our planet. We hope our discovery will engage young people and inspire them with the pioneering spirit, courage and fortitude of those who sailed Endurance to Antarctica.”
More from us: Drought Exposes 130-Year-Old Shipwreck In North Dakota
Are you a fan of all things ships and submarines? If so, subscribe to our Daily Warships newsletter!
According to the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, “the wreck is protected as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty, ensuring what whilst the wreck is being surveyed and filmed it will not be touched or disturbed in any way.”