Irish Explorers’ Ship Found in Antarctica

[Ladybbird]

Irish Explorers’ Ship Found in Antarctica More Than a Century After Sinking

Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton's Endurance ship has finally been located in the Weddell Sea this week by the Endurance22 Expedition more than 100 years after it sank.

Irish Central. 10 MAR 2022





The Endurance22 Expedition has located the wreck of Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship which has not been seen since it was crushed by the ice and sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915, The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust has confirmed.



Endurance was one of two ships used by the imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition, led by legendary Co Kildare-born explorer Ernest Shackleton, which hoped to complete the first land crossing of the Antarctic.

100 years after Shackleton’s death in January 1922, Endurance has been found at a depth of 3008 metres in the Weddell Sea, within the search area defined by the expedition team before its departure from Cape Town, and approximately four miles south of the position originally recorded by Captain Worsley.

The team worked from the South African polar research and logistics vessel, S.A. Agulhas II, owned by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment and under Master, Capt. Knowledge Bengu, using Saab’s Sabertooth hybrid underwater search vehicles. The wreck is protected as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty, ensuring that whilst the wreck is being surveyed and filmed it will not be touched or disturbed in any way.

Donald Lamont, Chairman of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, said: “Our objectives for Endurance22 were to locate, survey, and film the wreck, but also to conduct important scientific research, and to run an exceptional outreach programme."

Lamont praised Mensun Bound, the Director of Exploration, and Nico Vincent, Subsea Project Manager, for their hard work as well as the leadership of Dr. John Shears, the Expedition Leader.

Bound said: “We are overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance. 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. 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."

"We pay tribute to the navigational skills of Captain Frank Worsley, the Captain of the Endurance, whose detailed records were invaluable in our quest to locate the wreck."