Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition
Ernest Shackleton · 1914 CE – 1916 CE · Earth
Cross Antarctica via the South Pole.
Historical context
Shackleton set out to cross Antarctica, but the expedition became instead the most celebrated survival story in exploration. Every one of his men came home.
The voyage, step by step
Departure from South Georgia
5 December 1914
The Endurance leaves the whaling station on 5 December 1914 for the Weddell Sea.
Trapped in the ice
January 1915
In January 1915 the ship is beset and drifts with the pack for months.
The Endurance is crushed
21 November 1915
On 21 November 1915 the ice crushes the hull and the ship sinks; the men camp on the floes.
Elephant Island
April 1916
After months on the ice the party reaches Elephant Island, where 22 men wait under overturned boats.
The James Caird voyage
1916 CE
Shackleton and five men sail a 6.9-metre lifeboat 1,300 km through the Drake Passage to South Georgia.
Crossing South Georgia
1916 CE
Shackleton, Worsley and Crean cross the unknown mountains on foot to reach the Stromness whaling station.
Outcome
The Endurance was crushed; all hands survived.
Ernest Shackleton
Anglo-Irish explorer whose Endurance expedition survived shipwreck through an epic open-boat journey.
Sources
Continue exploring
- Damascus to Ha’il and BaghdadGertrude Bell · 1913 CE – 1914 CE
- South Pole expeditionRoald Amundsen · 1910 CE – 1911 CE
- Terra Nova expeditionRobert Falcon Scott · 1910 CE – 1912 CE
- North Pole expeditionMatthew Henson · 1908 CE – 1909 CE