Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance Ship Helm Remains Intact Over 100 Years After Sinking

Ernest Shackleton's Endurance was recently discovered at a depth of 9,869 feet in the Weddell Sea, roughly six kilometers from where it was slowly rumpled in 1915 by pack ice.

As indicated in a Phys.org report, one of the most storied shipwrecks, Endurance has been "discovered off the coast of Antarctica" over a hundred years after its sinking.

The expedition's director of exploration Mensud Bound said they are overwhelmed by their good fortune in "having located and captured images of Endurance."

This is by far, Bound said in a statement, the finest wooden shipwreck he has ever seen. It is erect, "well proud of the seabed," complete, and in an excellent state of preservation. One can even see Endurance arced through the stern.

The Endurance Ship

Organized by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, the expedition left Cape Town in early February with a South African icebreaker, hoping to discover the Endurance before the end of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

As part of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of Shackleton between 1914 and 1917, Endurance was meant to make the initial land crossing of Antarctica, although it fell victim to the unrestrained Weddell Sea.

Just east of the Larsen ice shelves on the Antarctic peninsula, the shipwreck turned ensnared in sea-ice for more than 10 months prior to crushing and sinking, a related Huffington Post report said.

The voyage turned legendary because of the miraculous escape Shackleton and his crew made on foot and in boats. More so, the crew was able to escape by camping on the sea ice until it cracked.

'Merciless' Weddell Sea

Then, they launched lifeboats to Elephant Island and then South Georgia Island, a British overseas territory lying around 1,400 kilometers east of the Falkland Islands. In spite of the hardships, all members of the crew survived.

The explorers used underwater drones to search for, and film shipwrecks in the so-called "merciless Weddell Sea," which has a swirling current, sustaining a mass of thick sea ice that can defy even today's ice breakers.

Shackleton himself described the place of the sink as "the worst portion of the worst sea in the world." The site stays one of the most problematic portions of the ocean to navigate. According to the mission's subsea project manager, Nico Vincent, this has been the most multifaceted subsea project ever carried out.

Helm Remained Intact

The underwater drones were able to produce stunningly clear images of the 144-foot-long ship. Astoundingly, the helm has stayed intact after over a hundred years underwater, with gear piled against the taffrail as if the crew of Shackleton had only left it recently.

The wooden timbers of the ship, while damaged from the ice crush that sank in, still hold together. Sea anemones, sponges, as well as other tiny ocean life made homes on the wreckage, although did not seem to have damaged it. Images of the expedition revealed South Africa's Agulhas II icebreaker surrounded by ice, with crew raised by crane over the frozen sea.

Under international law, the wreck is shielded as a historic place. Explorers were allowed to capture images and scan the ship, although they don't have permission to touch it at all. This means that no artifacts may be brought back to the surface.

The team utilized underwater search drowns called Sabertooths, developed by Saab which dove underneath the ice into the farthest depths of the Weddell Sea.

During the mission, they investigated climate change, too, documenting ice drifts and weather patterns. Currently, the team is going back to port in Cape Town.

Report about the discovery of the Endurance ship is shown on Evening Standard's YouTube video below:

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