Short History Of... - Ernest Shackleton

Episode Date: December 20, 2021

Antarctica, October 1915. 1200 miles from civilisation, Ernest Shackleton watches from the ice as his ship finally crumples. To survive, he and his 27 men must now undertake an epic, death-defying journey, amid impossibly harsh conditions. Shackleton’s expedition is one of history’s greatest tales of human endurance. But what went so badly wrong? And with no hope of rescue, how will they make it home to tell the tale? This is a Short History of Ernest Shackleton. Written by James Benmore. With special thanks to Dr. Stephanie Barczewski, Professor of History at Clemson University and author of Antarctic Destinies: Scott, Shackleton, and the Changing Face of Heroism. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's October the 27th, 1915. The Weddell Sea, Antarctica. It's white as far as the eye can see, but the crew of the Endurance aren't here sightseeing. Despite warnings months previously about the conditions, they've pushed further towards the very bottom of the world than any other seafarer would have dared. Right now, 1200 miles away from the nearest human outpost, they're paying the price. But this is no time for regret. Each one of the 28 men is engaged in the battle to save the ship. What's at stake is nothing less than life or death. The Endurance is being crushed by monstrous ice flows, giant sheets of floating pressurized ice.

One is jammed against the starboard bow, while another applies equal force to the port side. The ship is gripped in a vice. In the engine room, sweat pours from the chief engineer's brow. He spent three solid days at the pumps. Despite the freezing environment, the heat from the boilers is almost unbearable. But he can't stop, even though he knows deep down that the endurance is doomed. The entire stern post of the ship has been torn away, as has the rudder. Water

pours in through the breakages. Down in the propeller shaftway, the carpenter, Chippy McNish, is using blankets to dam the invading water. It's up to his knees already, but he battles on, despite his own mounting terror. Every member of this crew has been fighting tirelessly against relentless winds, plummeting temperatures and the ten million tons of ice driving into them. Now they hear what sounds like the crack of gunfire. The ship's timbers are shattering around them. The inevitable has come. The endurance is breaking beyond repair.

Finally, the order is given to abandon ship. The men carry it out without delay. A large canvas chute is attached to the port rail, down which they slide their 49 huskies. The dogs lick the faces of the sailors who catch them. McNeish climbs onto the ice, carrying the ship's cat, a tom by the name of Mrs. Chippy. He strokes him tenderly and murmurs a promise to keep him safe from both the cold and the dogs. The crew gathers on the ice.

Their beards and clothes are frost-encrusted. Their faces rough from weather exposure. Nobody speaks. They watch in horror as the once mighty ship crumples before them. They cannot signal for help, and no rescue will be coming. The religious among them begin to pray. In their centre stands the man they all refer to as the Boss. And this, the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, was his idea. Ernest Shackleton's glorious attempt to cross the South Pole has been crushed before it even had a chance to reach the coast. If he's despairing, if he's scared, he doesn't show it. Things aren't as bleak as they might appear, he tells his crew, as long

as they remain strong and united. If we are to survive, he tells them, we must rescue each other. In the coming months, this is a truth they will remember time and time again, because between them and salvation is one of the most death-defying, seemingly impossible journeys ever endured, under some of the harshest conditions on the planet. The battle Ernest Shackleton fought to save the lives of his crew has secured his place in legend. A hundred years after his infamous ordeal, his name has become synonymous with endurance against incredible odds. A touchstone in the history of adventure and exploration. But how did this expedition go so badly wrong?

How did Shackleton and his crew travel to such a dangerous, remote and uncharted part of the world? And more importantly, with rations running low, their ship now irreparably crushed and no hope of rescue, how will they make it home to tell the tale? How will they make it home to tell the tale? My name's Paul McGann, and this is a short history of Ernest Shackleton. The tale begins in 1874, in County Kildare, Ireland. Ernest Shackleton is born to an Anglo-Irish family in the green, leafy village of Kilkear. Even as a small boy, he's restless,

always straining for adventure, wandering off, getting lost, a born explorer. At ten years old, his family crosses the sea to suburban London, where he's educated at Dulwich College. It's a highly respected school, but young Ernest isn't the most studious of pupils. He's often gazing out of windows, dreaming of a life at sea. He joins the Merchant Navy as soon as he's out of school.

In his twenties, at the turn of the century, he secures himself a place on the National Antarctic Expedition. Soon it'll be known by the name of its ship, the Discovery. Dr. Stephanie Bashefsky is professor of history at Clemson University, South Carolina. She's the author of Antarctic Destinies, Scott, Shackletonleton and the changing face of heroism. Scott Shackleton was in the Merchant Marine and he met a lieutenant in the army named Cedric Longstaff. And Longstaff's father, Llewellyn Longstaff, was one of the main financial backers of what was at the time the Discovery Expedition, which was called the National Antarctic Expedition. We have to understand that these expeditions in the early 20th century were often a combination of public and private backing.

Now, the Discovery Expedition is more backed by the British government than any Antarctic expedition had been up to that point, but it still needed private investment. So Longstaff is one of these guys who's come along and promised to give a substantial donation to it. So Shackleton meets his son. Shackleton thinks, this sounds great. You know, this sounds like a real adventure. He gets an interview with the senior long staff. Shackleton then takes him to Clemens Markham, who's taken this on as his personal mission, really,

to get this expedition up and running. And so Shackleton, through those connections, gets an appointment. The Discovery expedition has ignited huge excitement throughout the land. It marks the beginning of what we now call the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. It's Britain's first official attempt at reaching the South Pole in almost 60 years, and is to be commanded by Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Shackleton has appointed Scott's third officer, but right from the start, their relationship is not without tension.

Scott runs his expedition on strict Royal Navy lines, while Shackleton prefers the less formal Merchant Navy style. We've all had those kind of trips, right, where we start out thinking, this is my best friend and we're going to have a great time. And then you discover that you just can't travel together, right? And I think that's sort of what happens to Scott and Shackleton. They are very different personalities. You know, Scott is this introspective, brooding, angst-ridden character. Shackleton is a bullion and he's a kind of romantic hero type.

I suspect you're threatened by Shackleton. I don't know. I think introverted people sometimes look at extroverted people and they feel maybe a little bit envious of them, right? Because, you know, Shackleton's a man who's easy in the world, right? I mean, people love him when they meet him. He just gets along with everybody. You know, he's very gregarious. And I think sometimes shy and introspective people like Scott, you know, they can be a little bit envious of someone like that.

So I think that was there. On February the 4th, 1902, the discovery reaches the Antarctic coast. Shackleton is awestruck. The photographs he's seen of the jagged, white-sheeted mountain ranges is nothing compared to seeing it firsthand. He joins an experimental balloon flight, affording him a breathtaking bird's-eye view of the landscape below. Scott selects Shackleton to participate in a three-man march southward with his second-in-command Edward Wilson.

They plan to reach the highest possible latitude in the direction of the South Pole. He earns really Scott's kind of favoritism in a way, because when it comes time to choose the two other men who are going to accompany Scott on the southern journey, so the attempt to get as close to the pole, the South Pole, as possible, they know they're probably not going to make it, right? No one has, at this point, you know, from 1901 to 4, there's barely anyone has set foot on the Antarctic continent. Unfortunately, the march is a disaster for Shackleton. So they set off in November 1902. They do set a further south, well further south, hundreds of miles further south than anyone has gone,

but they still end up about 400 miles from the pole. And then on the return journey, and this is a subject of much discussion afterwards, both within the expedition and by subsequent historians, Shackleton, they put it in early 20th century parlance, he quote-unquote breaks down. Shackleton's body throbs from frostbite. His skin is numb, his joints ache, probably from scurvy. And he's suffering from snow blindness.

With all the dogs dead from food poisoning, Scott and Wilson themselves have to haul him back to the Discovery on a sledge. Back on board, the ship's doctor deems him too weak to continue. Humiliated, he's sent home. Miserably watching from the stern of the ship as the Antarctic coast recedes, Shackleton bitterly wonders if Scott used his temporary weakness against him, taking the opportunity to rid himself of a potential rival. In any case, he swears that this place hasn't seen the last of him. Over the next decade, Antarctic exploration becomes an international obsession.

Whoever first plants their flag in the Earth's most southern point will have won the poll. Meanwhile, Shackleton has married and become a father. He's tried his hand at business and politics, and failed at both. But the compass of his mind is forever pointing southwards, and the desire to return to the Antarctic has only increased over time. In February 1907, Shackleton presents a plan to the Royal Geographical Society for another expedition, this time under his own command.

Their response lacks enthusiasm. They already have their hopes pinned on his rival. I mean, Scott's their boy, right? Scott's the guy who, again, is coming out of the polar establishment. There's a funny kind of code, an unwritten code among explorers that once someone has been to a place, then they have a kind of claim to that, right? And that's going to get to be an issue with Scott and Shackleton as Shackleton departs on the Nimrod as to where he can establish his base, right? Can he put his base in the same place that Scott does? And this is going to really kick off the feud between Scott and Shackleton. And so I think there's a tension there, definitely, that the RGS and to some extent the British government, the British polar establishment, right? The old boy network here. Shackleton's the upstart, right? He's the intruder,

he's the invader, and they're not wild about him in a way. upstart, right? He's the intruder, he's the invader, and they're not wild about him in a way. Nonetheless, the expedition takes place aboard the Nimrod. Shackleton and his second-in-command, Frank Wilde, have their successes, but the pole remains just out of reach. Even so, small gains are made, and they return to a hero's welcome. Shackleton is even knighted by the king for his work. By 1910, the race to the pole has just two serious contenders remaining. For Norway, there is the Fram expedition led by Roald Amundsen.

For Great Britain, there is the Terra Nova led by Scott. Every day, people rush to the newsstands for possible updates on which nation might be winning. However, by 1912 the results are in. Amundsen has planted the flag for Norway. Britain's Terra Nova expedition places second. Tragedy follows. A violent and unrelenting blizzard rages outside Robert Scott's tent. With frostbitten fingers he pinches at his pencil and records a final diary entry. Beside him, in sleeping bags lined with reindeer fur, two men lie dying. I do not think we can hope for better things now, Scott writes. We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far.

They were a party of five when they set off on their return march from Nepal. Two are already dead from cold and starvation. It seems a pity, Scott concludes, before signing his name. But I do not think I can write more. Back home, Shackleton is devastated when he learns of Scott's demise. Despite their frayed history, he held enormous respect for his former commander. He can imagine only too well the excruciating death that Scott suffered. His own body still aches to remember the cruelty of the Antarctic cold.

Even so, Scott's failure to reach the pole doesn't deter Shackleton from his own ambitions. The Norwegians may have won the race to the pole, but for Shackleton, the battle is not over. He announces a transantarctic expedition to cross the continent. But once again, the support he receives is disappointing. I think a lot of people are like, what's the point, right? That we've done this. So Shackleton has to come up with an idea to try to reignite kind of public enthusiasm for this. So he grandly names it the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which is the greatest name ever of any of the heroic age expeditions. And the idea is that they're going to walk all the way across the Antarctic continent, right? So they're going to start on the Weddell

Seaside on the South American side. They're going to walk across the pole and then end up on the Ross Seaside on the New Zealand side of Antarctica. So, you know, this impressive physical feat that they're going to do, it's going to be a lot longer of a sledging journey than anyone has ever undertaken. Shackleton presses ahead with recruitment. Frank Wilde is at the top of the list. During the return march of the Nimrod expedition, Shackleton saved Wilde's life, feeding him from his own biscuit rations. Now Wilde signs up without hesitation.

The plans develop for an expedition that will involve two ships, 69 dogs, and two motor sledges. Shackleton intends the second ship to approach from the opposite side of the pole, to meet the Overland team and replenish supplies just in time. With Wilde's help, a trio of wealthy benefactors are found. The money is secured. The plans are ready. All they need now is a crew. An advertisement appears in a London newspaper. Men wanted for hazardous journey.

Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness, safe return doubtful, honour and recognition in event of success. 5,000 men apply. Shackleton's interviewing technique is eccentric.

Some would-be adventurers are asked to sing a shanty. Others are interrupted with a sudden demand to tell a joke. It'll be a long and arduous voyage, and Shackleton knows the value of good company. He secures a three-masted ship named Polaris, but rechristens her Endurance, after his family motto, Through Endurance We Conquer. But before the Endurance sets sail, there's a complication. After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Serbia, war in Europe now seems imminent. Fearing that his crew and funding may be requisitioned to aid the war effort, Shackleton appeals directly to the first

Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. The wait is excruciating. Then, days after the outbreak of war, he receives Churchill's reply. The telegram contains one word. Proceed. The Endurance sets sail on the 8th of August 1914, captained by Frank Worsley, a New Zealander. Shackleton opts out of the first leg, meeting the ship in October when she docks at Buenos Aires.

The moment he steps on board it's clear that discipline is not Worsley's strong suit. The cook has been drunk since they left Plymouth, and several others are almost as bad. Shackleton reprimands Worsley and sacks the worst offenders, but now he's several men short. Eighteen-year-old Percy Blackborough has travelled all the way from Wales in search of adventure. Hearing of the opening, he applies with enthusiasm. Shackleton rejects him in favour of older, hardier applicants. But what Blackborough lacks in experience, he makes up for in audacity. Three days south of port, he's discovered for in audacity. Three days south of port, he's discovered, hiding in a

locker. Shackleton is apoplectic. A stowaway endangers every man on the expedition, cutting into their rations. But short of throwing him overboard, it's too late to solve the problem now. Blackburn knuckles down, determined to prove himself as the new ship's steward. He's delighted with his fortune. After all, he doesn't yet have the slightest inkling of what the expedition has in store for him. The endurance continues towards Antarctica. The temperature drops by the day. Capturing their progress is the Australian photographer Frank Hurley. Soon, it is light almost 24 hours a day, a photographer's dream. We have to remember that photography, right, in 1914, 1915, 1916, you have a giant wooden box of

a camera. This isn't a little digital thing that we have today, right, or even a proper size camera that we would have today. This thing is a foot by foot wooden box that probably weighs 30 pounds, right? And then you're taking pictures on glass negatives. So each negative is heavy. They strap this thing on their back and they haul it up mountains and they're sledging around. I mean, it's, you know, it's crazy. And then they also have film, like movie cameras that they're doing as well. They take film footage of these things. I mean, it's crazy what they do. From high up on the main mast, a sailor calls out. Hurley hauls his heavy equipment up to the front of the boat and spots the issue. Ahead, there's a thick band of pack ice. He recalls overhearing some Norwegian skippers talking to Shackleton on an earlier stop-off

at a whaling station. They'd warned the Englishmen about the conditions, but the Endurance pressed on regardless. Now Shackleton orders the engines to be slowed until a less treacherous route can be found. All the next day they dodge ice in the Weddell Sea. Once in a while the Endurance smashes into a flow. The impact is felt around the whole ship, knocking men off their feet. But Shackleton is quick to reassure his team. The Endurance is a tough ship after all, but he knows as well as any of them that the ice is slowing her down. ice is slowing her down. It's Christmas, and the Endurance's wardroom, nicknamed the Ritz, is decorated with bunting.

The men feast on soup, jugged hair, herring and plum pudding. They wash it all down with plenty of rum. Afterwards they sing hearty songs as the meteorologist plays his banjo. They try to ignore their disappointing progress and the thickening ice. Outside, it's little warmer than 30 degrees below zero. January the 17th. With progress hindered by gales, Captain Worsley advises Shackleton against pressing on for now. So at some point, Wright Worsley says, there's some land over there.

We should land. And Shackleton says no, because I think it was going to add maybe 200 miles onto the journey from where they were. He says, no, you know, we are not going to land there. I need to get closer because I've got far enough to go already. He knows, you know, Worsley's not so focused on what's going to happen once they get on land. He's just focused on getting the ship there. And so, you know, Shackleton does start to get a little bit frustrated, Worsley's not so focused on what's going to happen once they get on land. He's just focused on getting the ship there. And so, you know, Shackleton does start to get a little bit frustrated with Worsley. You know, Worsley, as it turns out, was right, right?

That was their one and only chance to land. They never have another one after that. On January 18th, they enter the ice pack. They make their way through 10 miles of mushy, lumpy snow. It's dangerous, but Shackleton insists that the endurance continues onwards. I think he's being an explorer, right? I think it's what they do, they go forward. Shackleton has a great sense that he'll get himself out of a scrape if he gets into one, and he turns out to be right, although it's a lot more than he ever would have anticipated, right?

When Discovery goes, they know less about Antarctica than they know about the moon. I mean, it's just nothing is known about this. And even by the time of Condurance, not a lot is known. I think to be an explorer, you have to just go forward. I always say about Scott, right, that one of those guys of Shackleton, Amundsen, and Scott was likely going to die, right? And Scott was just the one who drew the short straw. You know, they all take chances. They all take risks, they all make bad decisions because they don't have the information to make good decisions that they need. So they're guessing, you know, they take enormous risks all the time, and Shackleton takes a risk, and he is going to end up giving us one of the great exploration stories of all time. At seven o'clock that evening, the Endurance heads between two large

ice flows. There's open water ahead, but another flow closes in behind her. Shackleton sets the engines at full speed. For almost a week, they continue determinedly on, until they can go no further. Endurance is packed by ice from every direction. Shackleton orders the men onto the ice with picks and chisels. The crew give it everything they've got. Bullets of ice fire at them after every strike. But it's no use. The ship is stuck fast, a part of the ice now. To make matters worse, by late February they've started drifting northwards, away from their prize. Shackleton has no choice but to accept that they're stuck for the winter.

It's apparent by April, May, right, of 1915 that they're not going to get out of the ice. So you're literally talking about waiting. And then the problem is that the ice is pressing against the ship. So the ship is groaning and moaning, and it's eventually gradually getting pushed over. It's becoming just a more and more tense environment. So Shackleton is having to do a lot of work, right, to reassure the men, to keep them from despairing. I mean, it's got to be one of the worst situations that any kind of exploration voyage has ever been in, just to be on that dying ship that's shrieking and groaning kind of all night long.

Parties of men are sent out on sledges to hunt seal. Meat and blubber are harvested for the months ahead. A wireless is set up and they try to signal for help, but their position is too remote. The dark Antarctic winter descends. There's now barely any daylight and the cold is relentless. To keep their morale up, the men put on shows and race the huskies on the ice. The dogs are a comfort to the men, even more so when puppies are born. Fifteen are delivered, and each one is named and cared for.

The carpenter Chippy McNeesh keeps his cat, Mrs. Chippy, close by at all times. July the 14th. The Mercury drops to 34 degrees below zero. Wind speed reaches 70 miles an hour, almost blowing the hatches off. The huskies are re-canneled on the ice outside the ship. The men have to crawl on their hands and knees to feed them, or risk being blown away. The storm eventually relents, but by now the ice on either side is starting to swallow them.

The endurance sinks afoot the sound of the ice gripping the bows is a constant terror to the men at last, in August, the sun reappears but as the ice begins to melt it displaces the ship there's a mad scramble to get the huskies back on board before the endurance moves again then in October, the flows begin to squeeze even more aggressively There's a mad scramble to get the huskies back on board before the Endurance moves again.

Then in October, the flows begin to squeeze even more aggressively. One day, Endurance suddenly rolls over to 20 degrees port side. Everything that isn't screwed down is thrown around. But she's still in one piece. But on October the 24th, a mass of ice rips the stern post from the deck. Water pours into the ship through broken timber. The pumps are manned around the clock, with men refusing to give up. It's not until days later that Shackleton finally gives the order. She's going boys, time to get off. After months of battle, the ice has won. They set up camp on the ice, 200 yards away from the wreck of their beloved Endurance.

Shackleton has some difficult calls to make. Rations are tight for everyone now, including the animals. Only the most useful dogs can be saved. And with heavy hearts, the men take the weak and immature huskies away from the camp and shoot them. Miserably, McNeish has to say goodbye to Mrs. Chippy too. During that first night on the ice, Shackleton notices thin, ribbon-like cracks snaking through their campsite. He immediately sounds the alarm, and within minutes the camp is on the move to a safer location.

Soon afterwards they start readying themselves for action. The plan is to head towards Paulet Island, dragging the lifeboats with them. It's a 346-mile journey northwest, but Shackleton knows that the 1902 Discovery Expedition left supplies there. Before travelling too far from the wreck, small parties are sent back to salvage anything useful Hurley is determined to rescue his glass photographic plates They're sealed, tight in waterproof cases, so they'll still be good if only he can reach them Inside the Endurance, the men tread with extreme care

Beside the endurance, the men tread with extreme care. She is a derelict echo of her former self, and each step the men take could see her displaced and swallowed whole. For Hurley, the photos are all that remains of their expedition goals. He finds the store, now accessible only from above. Persuading two others to hold his legs, he dangles into the pitch black, freezing water. It's a spectacular risk. But when they haul him back up, spitting water and shivering, in his hands are the metal cases.

To him, they are more valuable than any treasure. Shackleton shares Hurley's relief, but every ounce on this mission is critical. Together they go through each image, leaving half of them behind. Those that remain are now even more precious. If the men are to die before returning home, these images will serve as their legacy. It's now time to leave. But before embarking on their punishing quest, Shackleton does what he does best. He makes a rousing speech. Shackleton, I think, is a guy who, when the chips are down, you know, Shackleton can give the right speech. He's the sort of Henry V, I think, of polar explorers, right? He can give the once more under the bridge speech and get everybody to follow him into

the craziest circumstances imaginable, which is what absolutely happens on the endurance expedition. So I think that Shackleton's real strength is providing that sort of inspirational leadership. Now, we can argue that the weakness of that is some of the decisions that he makes get himself into those predicaments. He's told that there's a lot of ice in the Weddell Sea that season, and he doesn't listen, right? He says, I'm going anyway, because he's Shackleton,

and that's what he does, right? He charges forward. So I think you could say that the same qualities that make him a great leader when he has to deal with a very bad situation, you know, are also a little bit responsible for getting him into that bad situation in the first place. On the 21st of November, 1915,

the long walk is underway. But as one of them turns, they see Endurance moving. They all pause, knowing these are her final moments. The men salute her as she vanishes at last under the ice. Another Christmas passes as the men continue their arduous march. The conditions are merciless, but Shackleton has no choice but to drive them hard. Tempers start to fray until, on December the 27th, there's a rebellion. Led by Chippy McNish, some crew members refuse to acknowledge Shackleton's authority.

There's no longer a ship, they say, which means he is not in charge. Chippy's problem is everybody's problem, right? Which is, how are we going to get out of this? It's just that he's a more irascible, difficult character, right? So he's less willing to kind of go along with this sort of, well, we're just going to do this today and hope that it works out, right? Chippy at some point just says enough, that I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore. I mean, you know, to be fair, as Carpenter, he's been asked to do a lot of stuff, right? He's been spending the previous 10 months desperately trying to shore up the endurance. So we shouldn't think of him as in any way a malingerer or somebody who wasn't willing to do his bit. He's been providing heroic service, but he's a grumpy guy, right? A fiery confrontation follows. Most of

the crew remain loyal to Shackleton, but he must assert his authority. And I think it is, you know, it's a testament to Shackleton's leadership that he kind of takes him aside and he says, hey, you know, we can't do this. You got to get yourself back in. I would never say that, you know, McNish is happy again, but he does manage to kind of get himself reintegrated into the expedition. And that's good because they need him. The near mutiny is quelled. But from that day forth, Shackleton has McNish markdowns the troublemaker. But from that day forth, Shackleton has McNeish marked down as a troublemaker.

By now in London, speculation is rife. Newspapers suggest that Shackleton's expedition, like Scott's Terranova before it, has ended in tragedy. Shackleton's wife, Emily, lobbies the Royal Geographical Society, which asks the Admiralty to investigate. But there's a war on, and nobody wants to lose even more good men and boats at such a crucial time. In Antarctica, the Endurance crew have reached breaking point. Shackleton orders them to set up Patience Camp, where they will stay until the ice ahead begins to melt. But these are desperate times. Supplies are running dangerously low.

With no room for sentimentality, this is the end of the road for the remaining huskies. There's no room for squeamishness either, and reluctantly the men salvage what meat they can from their treasured dogs. Three long months pass at Patience Camp. Then, one day, the moving ice beneath them begins to crack. The realization creates panic amongst the men. But essentially what they are waiting for is for the ice to break up, because then they can put the boats in the water

and then they can try to sail their way out of this predicament. So the ice breaking up, on the one hand, is terrifying because they've been relatively safe at Patience Camp, but on the other hand, it's the very thing that they've been waiting for and they know that it's really their only hope of rescue. If they just sit there on the ice at Patience Camp, they're going to sit there forever. There's really no hope that anybody's ever going to find them there. Jumping between the jigsaw pieces of drifting ice,

they hurriedly prepare the lifeboats. Some fall through the cracks in their haste and have to be hauled out of the sea by their crewmates. Once they've successfully manned the boats, Once they've successfully manned the boats, the big question is, where now? The ice has been drifting in the wrong direction for months, so reaching Paulet Island is an unlikely prospect. The three options, none of them ideal, are Elephant Island, Clarence Island and Deception Island. Deception Island is sometimes used by whalers and will have provisions. Also, there's a small wooden church there. Maybe they can break it up to make a raft. The decision is made and the three lifeboats set off.

You're trying to row in these little boats through ice flows that could smash the boats at any time. It's freezing cold, right? We have to remember that at all times, right? They're tying up to ice flows, you know, in the night. And they row for a few days. It's certainly a significant length of time. And Frank Worsley gets out the second, he takes a navigational reading, and it actually turns out that they're further away than when they started. Like the way that the currents have been going, they've been rowing like crazy, and it's actually pushed them backwards. This has got to be like one of the worst moments of the whole thing.

It keeps them together. You know, what choice do they have really? As they row through the freezing night, they hear sudden loud noises like steam valves popping. It's a pod of whales. Their snouts are tossing aside vast chunks of ice flow. The danger isn't lost on the men. An animal that size can easily flip one of these little boats. If that happens, they're surely doomed. Knowing they'll never make it to Deception Island alive, Captain Worsley has to navigate on the hoof.

He plots another course, and the other boats follow. At sunrise they finally see the snowy peaks of Elephant Island dead ahead. Shackleton is the first to call out his congratulations to Worsley, and the others are quick to join the cheer. They find a place to land the boats. It's the first time their feet have touched solid ground for 497 days. But Elephant Island is hardly a paradise. They're stuck on a little strip of beach, right? Because Elephant Island is cliffs. So they're just on this narrow, I think it's about like 50 meters wide or something.

I mean, it's a really narrow little strip of beach. They're safe, right? So yes, I mean, I think the immediate feeling is, you know, oh, thank goodness, you know, we're not on the ice anymore. Like we're on solid ground. This is great. They have plenty of food, right? Again, there's plenty of penguins they can eat. Like they're not really in any danger of starvation, but they're literally stuck, right, on this ugly little gravelly strip of freezing cold beach. There's no hope that anyone is going to come by and see them. This is not a place that's visited by whalers or sealers. There's virtually no chance, right, that a passing ship will come by. The crew are in a bad way. Frostbite rings mark their faces.

Some can barely stand from gangrene. The doctors tend to the most afflicted. But Shackleton knows that if they're going to escape the clutches of Antarctica, a new plan must be formed, and quickly. Once the basics of food and shelter are attended to, he gathers the men. He proposes they adapt one of the strongest lifeboats for a voyage to the island of South Georgia, around 1,300 miles east of Cape Horn. He will lead a crew of six to the whaling station there and summon help for the others. Everyone listening knows that this is potential suicide.

The island is 800 miles away. Even without the hurricane force gales, that distance is unimaginable in a small boat like theirs. But they also know it's their only real chance of rescue. Of the three lifeboats, the James Caird is selected as the strongest for the voyage. The carpenter Chippy McNish explains how they can use wood from the other two to reinforce it and create a roof. McNish does such a stellar job adapting the Caird that Shackleton selects him as one of his crew. Despite the danger, Second Officer Tom Crean volunteers too. Shackleton accepts him and two others who are equally strong.

The sixth man is Captain Worsley. He's distinguished himself as a superb navigator during the chaotic trip to the island and will be a vital addition. Shackleton tells them that they only need to pack the James Caird with four weeks worth of supplies. If they haven't arrived at South Georgia by then, they'll be dead anyway. On the 24th of April 1916, the James Caird is launched from Elephant Island with the six men aboard. The remaining 22 crew stand on the bank and watch as the caird sails away. They shout three cheers, and, barely audibly, they hear voices on the boat cheering back. Very soon, propelled by

gales, the little boat is out of sight. The entire crew's hopes now rest with Shackleton and those few hardy men. Those remaining try to adjust to life on that barren scrape of land. It's a challenge not to fall into despair. From the two upturned boats, they create a hut large enough to shelter them all for the weeks ahead. Every day they hunt penguins. It provides both food and sport. Few express their fears that rescue may never come. The doctors are the busiest. One poor soul needs dental surgery. Another needs an abscess drained. Both must be performed without anaesthetic. There's heart failure to treat, and, perhaps

unsurprisingly, a nervous breakdown. The worst afflicted though is Percy Blackborough, the stowaway. The gangrene in his foot is so severe that it can't be saved. So one day, under the steady supervision of Dr. Macklin, the hut is transformed into a makeshift operating theatre. The crew wish Blackborough luck, then all but the doctors file out. He's lifted onto a table and knocked out with chloroform. The procedure takes less than an hour. When he wakes, Blackborough's foot has been removed at the ankle joint and neatly sealed.

He asks for a cigarette. Some tobacco is rolled up for him, within a torn-out page of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Though the operation is a success, Dr. Macklin knows better than any of them that staying healthy is going to be a losing battle. Medical supplies are dwindling to nothing. Each morning he goes to the top of the hill,

hoping to see a rescue ship coming over the horizon. Out on the stormy ocean, the James Caird is in constant danger of capsizing. Every day is an exhausting battle to stay afloat and keep a consistent course. Every day is an exhausting battle to stay afloat and keep a consistent course. The men divide the watches into four hours on, four hours off. Shackleton and two others take one watch. Worsley and the next two take the second. Sleep is all but impossible.

Every time the sailors shut their eyes, another great wave throws them upward and awake again. McNeish makes crucial repairs as they go. And, when they can, they prepare hot food on a portable stove. They are attempting to cross Drake's Persage, the most feared stretch of ocean on the globe. Here, winds can reach up to 200 miles per hour. The waves, too, are legendary, reaching 80 or 90 feet. It's just this kind of incredible feat of sort of teamwork and seamanship that's going on the whole time. And plus they're trying to find, you know, literally a needle in a haystack, right?

I mean, poor Worsley, he must have been terrified the whole time, right? That he's trying to navigate because the weather's bad as well. It's constantly raining, it's cloudy. He can't see the sky. He can't see the stars in order to take navigational readings. I think he can only take three navigational readings in two weeks.

That was the best look that he's got. And then he's trying to find South Georgia Island, right? Which is a biggish island, you know, by Antarctic standards, but it's not a very big island globally. If they miss it, that's it. And Shackleton knows not only

is he and the five guys on the boat dead, the guys on Elephant Island are probably going to be dead as well. So he's got this kind of fearsome weight of responsibility on him. On the 8th of May, thanks to Worsley's exceptional navigating, they at last see the cliffs of South Georgia. Despite the storm raging around them, Shackleton and Worsley howl like wolves in celebration. But they haven't come this far just to be dashed against the rocks. They must wait out the weather offshore. Finally on the 9th of May, the James Caird completes its journey and makes landfall on

the unoccupied southern shore of South Georgia. By Shackleton's leadership, Worsley's navigation, McNeish's life-saving carpentry, and the sheer strength of will from all six, they've achieved the impossible. The fact remains, though, that they're still on the wrong side of the island. After a short rest, Shackleton decides against getting into the boat again. The James Caird won't manage it, and neither, he suspects, will three of his men.

Overground, then, is the only other option, but between them and the whaling station is thirty is 32 miles of forbidding mountainous terrain. Only Shackleton, Worsley and Crean are strong enough to attempt the journey. It's a path that no one has achieved on foot before. To prepare, they remove screws from the lifeboat and push them into their boot soles as grips to help with the climb. Then, with only the carpenter's cutting tool and fifty feet of rope as equipment, they say goodbye to McNeesh and the others. They promise to send rescue as soon as they can. Without a map, the trek is improvised.

Tying themselves together with the rope in case any of them fall, they hike and climb for 36 hours across glaciers and mountains. Finally, from the top of a mountain, a miraculous view is revealed. They can see a bay, the northern coast. There are ships down there tied to the wharf. And movement, people. It's the whaling station of Stromness. They've made it.

As soon as the station foreman sees the survivors emerge from out of the snow-blasted landscape, he knows who they are. Everyone here has heard the story of the Endurance, how she sailed from South Georgia almost two years ago and vanished into the Weddell Sea. The men are dark with wind exposure, frostbite and accumulated blubber soot. Their clothes are filthy and torn. Their long hair and beards are salty and wild. And Shackleton says, you know, I'm Ernest Shackleton. And the guy's like, oh, you're that crazy guy who was here two years ago. We told you not to sail south. But he's sort of amazed he's alive.

And then I think pretty much the second question that Shackleton asks him is, he says, when did the war end? Because Shackleton can't believe, you know, he can't conceive of a world in which the war that had started just as he was even was still going on. And the guy says, it's still going on. You know, he can't conceive of a world in which the war that had started just as he was even was still going on. And the guy says, it's still going on. You know, millions are dead. The whole world is mad.

Right. And it's this interesting moment of this kind of clash between this little mini drama, right, that's been unfolding. And then this major global drama that's been going on for Shackleton unknown. And then suddenly the two things kind of come together. But there are still men to be saved, both on the other side of South Georgia and on Elephant Island. Despite the language barrier, Shackleton successfully arranges for McNish and the other two stranded on the southern coast to be retrieved within 24 hours. Rescuing the men on Elephant Island is another matter. Shackleton secures a large whaler and assembles a crew from Strom Nurse

but thick pack ice has formed since his crossing there's no way the whaler will cut through it so Shackleton makes another journey this time almost a thousand miles in the wrong direction to the Falkland Islands he contacts the Admiralty in London this time almost a thousand miles in the wrong direction to the Falkland Islands. He contacts the Admiralty in London, but he's told they won't send a boat until October. By that time, Shackleton knows, they might as well not come at all.

If they won't help him, he'll do it himself. He attempts a rescue in June, and again in July. Both times, the icy barrier proves a challenge too far. But Shackleton never gives up. August the 19th, 11.40am. Back on Elephant Island, despondency is setting in. Four and a half months have passed since Shackleton's team set sail. Routine is all they have. Dr. Macklin is taking his daily walk to the top of the hill to scan the horizon.

And that's when he sees it. A small boat, appearing through the Antarctic mist and heading directly for them. He rushes down the hillside to tell the other men. They gather on the bank, buzzing with excitement and relief. They recognize the voice of the man they call the boss. Are you all well? He shouts. It's Frank Wilde who gives the reply that Shackleton has been desperate to hear. All safe, he calls back. All well. There's a great photograph, right, of the guys all lined up on the shore and the boat, you know, kind of sitting out there and they're all waving at him and you think, like, my goodness, what a miraculous deliverance that was.

News of Shackleton's survival had been reported in the British newspapers in June, after his contact with the Admiralty. It caused a brief sensation at the time, offering welcome respite from the relentless war coverage. But by the time the whole crew returned to London in May 1917, public interest has waned. There's little fanfare, no big reception. It's a critical time in the war, and many in truth feel like Shackleton has returned in failure. Even so, King George V awards a polar medal to everyone on the team Everyone that is except Chippy McNish

and the three other would-be mutineers Although the carpenter's work was critical in the Drake's Passage crossing Shackleton isn't a man to forgive insubordination The world they return to is very much changed but there's little time to adjust Despite the physical and mental trauma they're not yet recovered from, some of the younger men are soon conscripted and sent off to fight in the trenches. Shackleton's family at least welcome him as a hero,

but his health is deteriorating. He volunteers for the war effort, but at 43 he's too old for physical duties. He's not without his uses, though. Throughout what's left of the war, Shackleton is sent on diplomatic missions in South America and then Russia. He draws on his Antarctic experience to give survival training to troops. In 1919 he's given an OBE and is mentioned in dispatches. He achieves the rank of major, and yet he still feels unfulfilled. I mean, one, he always struggles when he's not on an expedition, and two, in this post-war climate, people just aren't paying

a lot of attention to Antarctic exploration anymore. You know, he hasn't kind of reaped the glory, you know, yet. You know, again, the kind of reaped the glory, you know, yet. You know, again, the fame of the Endurance Expedition is more posthumous than it is in his own lifetime. In 1920, Shackleton announces his plans to return to Antarctica for a fourth time. He wishes to circumnavigate the continent and plans to investigate some lost islands. An old school friend, John Quiller Rowett,

funds the expedition. Shackleton gets to work and acquires a 125-ton Norwegian sealer. So it's known as the Shackleton-Rowett expedition. They go down to South America, to Rio in particular. He probably has another heart attack in Rio. It's very clear that he's not very well. He's also drinking a lot by this stage of his life. Among the crew are several veterans of the Endurance Expedition.

His loyal second command Frank Wilde is there, plus Captain Worsley and Dr. Macklin. During the trip down from Rio to South Georgia, Macklin becomes increasingly concerned about the boss's health. Despite his doctor's warnings, Shackleton is drinking large amounts of champagne regularly, claiming it dulls his heart pains. On the 5th of January 1922, Shackleton summons Macklin to his cabin. He's suffering agonizing pain in the face and back. Though Macklin does what he can, they argue again about Shackleton's excessive drinking. Quickly things get worse. Shackleton begins convulsing, and despite Dr. Macklin's attempts to save him, he dies of heart failure. He's 47 years old. Frank Wilde delivers the news of Shackleton's death to the shocked crew,

but assures them the expedition will continue. When Shackleton's wife Emily is notified about her husband's death, she immediately sends back a request that his body is not returned to England. It's the Antarctic that has dominated his life, and that's where he should be laid to rest. On March 5, 1922, Ernest Shackleton is buried in Gritviken Cemetery on the coast of South Georgia. Among the handful of mourners are his few dear friends from Endurance. In his diary, Macklin writes,

This is as the boss would have had it himself, standing lonely in an island far from civilization, surrounded by stormy and tempestuous seas and in the vicinity of one of his greatest exploits. In his lifetime, much of the glory Shackleton desired stayed just out of reach. But in death, his legend has taken root and grown. He's remembered now, and will be remembered for generations to come, as one of history's greatest adventurers. Thank you for listening to Short History Of. We'll be taking a break before launching Season 2 in the new year.

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