Photo: Topical Press Agency Hulton Archive / Getty Images
The remains of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance were finally found off the coast of Antarctica, 107 years after its sinking.
The lost ship of the Anglo-Irish explorer had not been seen since it was crushed by ice and sank in the sea Weddell on 21 November 1915.
Last month, the Endurance expedition22 left Cape Town in South Africa on a mission to find the wrecked ship, a month after the centenary of Sir Ernest’s death.
The Endurance was finally sighted on Saturday at a depth of 3,008 meters and about four miles south of the position recorded by the ship’s captain, Frank Worsley, according to the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust.
TO Despite the ship being underwater for more than a century, the expedition’s director of exploration said the Endurance was “by far the best wooden shipwreck” he had ever seen.
Mensun Bound, who fulfilled the greatest ambition of his career almost 50 years, said, “We are overwhelmed by our good fortune to have located and captured footage of Endurance.
“ This is by far the best preserved wooden shipwreck I have ever seen.
“It stands tall, very proud on the seabed , intact and in a brilliant state of conservation. You can even see ‘Endurance’ arched at the stern, directly below the taffrail.
“This is a milestone in polar history.”
The ship is said to look much like it did when it was last photographed by Shackleton filmmaker Frank Hurley in 1915.
The masts are down and the anchors can be seen, but the rigging is tangled and there are some damage to the bow, probably caused from the moment the ship sank and hit the seabed.
The expedition team even saw some boots and crockery on board.
Bound told the BBC: “Next to the ladder, you can see a ox that is Shackleton’s cabin.
“At that moment, you really feel the breath of the great man on the back of your neck.
“We found the These from the shipwreck one hundred years after Shackleton’s funeral. I don’t usually feel this kind of thing, but this one seemed a bit creepy to me.”
Dr. John Shears, the leader of the expedition, described the moment the cameras landed on the ship’s name as “amazing”.
“The discovery of the wreck is an incredible achievement”, he pointed out.
“We have successfully completed the search for the most difficult shipwreck in the world, fighting against the constant change of sea ice, blizzards and temperatures that drop to -18°C.
“We have achieved what many people said was impossible”.
He added: “Furthermore, we have carried out important scientific research in a part of the world that directly affects the climate and the global environment.”
Sir Ernest had set out to make the first land crossing of the Antarctica, but had to abandon the search when the Endurance became trapped and holed by sea ice.
Miraculously, the brave explorer managed to get to safety his men on foot and in small lifeboats.
The mission to find the missing ship was launched by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust using a South African icebreaker, Agulhas II, equipped with remotely operated submersibles.
The wreck is a designated monument under the international Antarctic Treaty and must not be disturbed in any way.
The ghost ship has been adopted by an “impressive diversity of deep-sea marine life”.
The deep-sea polar biologist, the Dr Michelle Taylor, from the University of Essex, said: “It would appear that there is little deterioration of the wood, which infers that the animals that chew wood are found in other areas of the ocean.
“The Endurance, which looks like a ghost ship, is dotted with an impressive diversity of deep-sea marine life: sea squirts, anemones, sponges of various shapes, starfish, and crinoids (related to sea urchins and starfish) are all filter feeders. nutrition from the fresh deep waters of the Weddell Sea”.
The Agulhas II concluded the survey of the historical remains and left the search site on Tuesday. The icebreaker now returns to Cape Town, but the team plans to make a stop in the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia, where Shackleton is buried, to pay their respects.
Read more
Endurance: the challenge of finding the remains of one of the most famous shipwrecks in history in Antarctica
After 250 years, they find Captain Cook’s ship, HMS Endeavor, off the US coast.
A ship sunk in 1943 would be polluting the US East Coast with oil