Ernest Shackleton
For the aircraft, see Avro Shackleton |
Portrait of Ernest Henry Shackleton |
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton CVO,
OBE (
February 15,
1874 â€"
January 5,
1922) was an
Anglo-Irish explorer, now chiefly remembered for his Antarctic expedition of
1914–
1916 in the ship
Endurance.
Shackleton was born at
Kilkea House, near
Athy,
County Kildare,
Ireland in
1874, and served as a merchant marine officer, becoming a
captain in the
Royal Naval Reserve. He went to school at
Dulwich College from
1887 to
1890. In
1890 Shackleton announced that he wasn't going to follow his father into a medical career. He later joined Union Castle line, England's most prestigious shipping company. Shackleton did this to impress the father of a woman named Emily Dorman, whom he married in
1904. They had three children â€" Raymond, Cecily and Edward (Eddie), born in
1911. Their marriage was marred by numerous affairs on Ernest's part, most notably his relationship with the American born actress
Rosalind Chetwynd (
Rosa Lynd) which was begun in
1910 and continued on and off until his death in
1922.
Shackleton was a
Liberal Unionist candidate for
Dundee at the
1906 British general election but was heavily defeated. In the period between his second and third expeditions, he frequently opposed
Irish Home Rule as a public speaker.
1901 - 1902 Discovery Expedition
 |
Discovery |
Shackleton participated in the National Antarctic Expedition, which was organized by the
Royal Geographical Society in
1901, and led by
Robert Falcon Scott. This expedition is also called the "Discovery Expedition", as its ship was called
Discovery. He may have placed what has become one of the world's most famous advertisements in the Times of London in December 1901:
"Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success." (Some historians have claimed that this ad was placed, although they do not all agree on when or which newspaper, but no one has yet been able to locate the original newspaper clipping; see [
1] for a full discussion.)
Shackleton with Scott and Dr
Edward Wilson trekked south towards the
South Pole in 1902. The journey proceeded under difficult conditions, partially the result of their own inexperience with the Antarctic environment, poor choices and preparation and the pervading assumption that all obstacles could be overcome with personal fortitude. They used dogs, but failed to understand how to handle them. As with most of the early British expeditions, food was foolishly in short supply; the personnel on long treks were usually underfed by any sensible measure and were essentially starving. Scott, Wilson and Shackleton made their "furthest south" of 82°17'S on
December 31,
1902. They were 463 nautical miles (857 km) from the Pole. Shackleton developed
scurvy on the return trip and Dr. Wilson suffered from
snow blindness at intervals.
When
Morning relieved the expedition in early 1903, Scott had Shackleton returned to England, though he had nearly fully recovered. There is some suggestion that Scott disliked Shackleton's popularity in the expedition and used his health as an excuse to remove him; he was Merchant Marine and Scott was Royal Navyâ€"which was also part of the contention with whether
Albert Armitage was to remain for the second winter. In part, Scott exhibited unusual stamina and may not have recognized differing abilities of others.
1907 - 1909 Nimrod Expedition
Shackleton organized and led the "British Antarctic Expedition" (1907â€"1909) to
Antarctica. The primary and stated goal was to reach the
South Pole. The expedition is also called the
Nimrod Expedition after its
ship, and the "Farthest South" expedition. Shackleton's base camp was built on
Ross Island at Cape Royds, approximately 20 miles (40 km) north of the Scott's Hut of the 1901â€"1904 expedition; the hut built at this camp in 1908 is on the list of the
World Monuments Watch's 100 most endangered sites
. Because of poor success with dogs during Scott's 1901â€"1904 expedition, Shackleton used Manchurian ponies for transport, which did not prove successful.
Accomplishments of the expedition included the first ascent of
Mount Erebus, the active
volcano of Ross Island; the location of the
Magnetic South Pole by
Douglas Mawson,
Edgeworth David and MacKay (
January 16,
1909); and locating the
Beardmore Glacier passage. Shackleton, with Wild, Marshall, and Adams, reached 88°23'S: a point only 180 km (97 nautical miles) from the South Pole. While the expedition did not make it to the pole, nonetheless, Shackleton, Adams, Marshall, and Wild were the first humans to not only cross the Trans-Antarctic mountain range, but also the first humans to set foot on the South Polar Plateau.
Shackleton returned to the
United Kingdom a hero and was immediately
knighted. For three years he was able to bask in the glory of being "the man who reached furthest to the south." Of his failure to reach the South Pole, Shackleton remarked:
"Better a live donkey than a dead lion." It should, however, be pointed out that Shackleton and his group were exceedingly fortunate to return from the Pole. They had cut rations severely, such that there was no margin of safety. They had very good weather throughout their return, in contrast to Scott's experience three years later.
1914 - 1916 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set out from London on
August 1,
1914 with the goal of crossing the Antarctic from a location near
Vahsel Bay on the south side of the
Weddell Sea, reach the South Pole and then continue to Ross Island on the opposite side of the continent.The expedition's goal had to be abandoned when the ship,
Endurance, was beset by sea ice short of its goal of Vahsel Bay. It was later crushed by the pack ice. The ship's crew and the expedition personnel endured an epic journey by sledge across the Weddell Sea pack and then boat to
Elephant Island. Upon arrival at Elephant Island off the Antarctic Peninsula, they rebuilt one of their small boats and Shackleton with five others set sail for
South Georgia to seek help. This remarkable journey navigated by
Frank Worsley in the 6.7-meter boat
James Caird through the
Drake Passage to South Georgia in the late Antarctic Fall (April and May) is perhaps without rival. They landed on the southern coast of South Georgia and then crossed the spine of the island in an equally remarkable 36-hour journey. The 22 men who remained on Elephant Island were rescued by the
Chilean ship
Yelcho, commanded by
Luis Pardo, after three other failed attempts on
August 30,
1916 (22 months after departing from
South Georgia). Everyone from
Endurance survived.
1917 Ross Sea Party
After his legendary ordeal in the Weddell Sea sector, Ernest Shackleton arrived in
New Zealand during December 1916. He was advised that his supply team the
Ross Sea Party was stranded in
Antarctica. By that time the
Aurora had been repaired and after discussion with the Aurora's captain, Shackleton immediately sailed to Ross Island to bring his men home. On
January 10,
1917, the ship pulled alongside the pack ice near
Cape Royds and worked its way to
Cape Evans. One week later, Shackleton and the
Ross Sea Party survivors were headed back to
Wellington, New Zealand.
1921 - 1922 Shackleton-Rowett Expedition
 |
"The Autumn Sunset". In: "The Heart of the Antarctic", Volume I, by E. H. Shackleton, 1909 |
In
1921, Shackleton set out on another Antarctic expedition. Its purpose was to circumnavigate the Antarctic continent by sea, but it was derailed when Shackleton died of a heart attack on board his ship, the Quest, while anchored off
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands on
January 5,
1922. His body was being returned to
England when his widow requested that the burial take place on
Grytviken, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands instead. Shackleton was buried there on
March 5,
1922.
In
1994, the
James Caird Society was set up to preserve the memory of Shackleton's achievements. Its first Life President was Shackleton's younger son,
Edward Shackleton, and his granddaughter, Alexandra Shackleton, has been Life President since 1995.
Sir Ernest Shackleton is the subject of
Shackleton, a two-part
Channel 4 drama directed by
Charles Sturridge and starring
Kenneth Branagh as the explorer. The same story is related in greater detail in the book
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by
Alfred Lansing.
Shackleton's grave, near the former whaling station at
Grytviken on South Georgia is frequently visited by tourists from passing cruise ships.
The
British Antarctic Survey's logistics vessel
RRS Ernest Shackleton (the replacement for
RRS Bransfield) is named in his honour.
There is a Shackleton Memorial Library at the
Scott Polar Research Institute at the
University of Cambridge.
The boat that he sailed to South Georgia is in the entry foyer at Dulwich College, South London.
Shackleton Crater lies at the south pole of the Moon.
* The following line can be found in
The Weakerthans song "Our Retired Explorer", which appeared in their CD
Reconstruction Site (2003): "I must say that in the right light you look like Shackleton."
*
List of Antarctica expeditions*
Works by Shackleton*
The Heart of the Antarctic: The Story of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907 -1909 by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Collins) ISBN 1903464285
*
Shackleton: The Polar Journeys: Incorporating the "Heart of the Antarctic" and "South" by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Collins, 2002) ISBN 1903464269
*
South: Journals of His Last Expedition to Antarctica by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Robson Books, 1999) ISBN 1861052790
*
South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-17 by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Ebury Press, 1991) ISBN 0712639276
*
Endurance: Shackletons Incredible Voyage by Ernest Henry, Sir Shackleton, Christopher Ralling (Peter Bedrick Books, 1986) ISBN 0872260828
*
Aurora Australis by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Paradigm Press, 1986) ISBN 0948285079
*
South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-17 by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Heinemann, 1970) ISBN 0434695009
*
Biographies and histories*
Polar Castaways: The Ross Sea Party Of Sir Ernest Shackleton, 1914-17 by Richard McElrea (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004) ISBN 0773528253
*
Shackleton by Roland Huntford. 2nd edition 1996, Abacus History, London. 774pp ISBN 0349107440
*
Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition: The Voyage of the Nimrod by Beau Riffenburgh (Bloomsbury USA, 2004) ISBN 1582344884
*
South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917 by Frank Hurley (Simon & Schuster, 2001) ISBN 074322292X
*
Shackleton's Forgotten Men: The Untold Tale of an Antarctic Tragedy by Lennard Bickel, Rt. Hon. Lord Shackleton (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2000) ISBN 1560252561
*
Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition by Dennis N. T. Perkins, Margaret P. Holtman, Paul R. Kessler, Catherine McCarthy (American Management Association, 2000) ISBN 0814405436
*
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander (Knopf, 1998) ISBN 0375404031
*
Shackleton's Boat Journey by
Frank Worsley (the captain of the
Endurance)
*
Endurance by Alfred Lansing (McGraw Hill, 1969) Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 58-59666
*
Shackleton's Voyage by Donald Barr Chidsey (Award Books/Tandem Books, 1967)
*
DVDs*
Shackleton - The Greatest Survival Story of All Time Kenneth Branagh (A&E Home Video, 2002) ISBN B000063TON
*
The Endurance - Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition Liam Neeson (Columbia Tristar, 2000) ISBN B0000A7W16
*
Detailed biography*
Shackleton page at Dulwich College*
The James Caird Society*
PBS:Nova - Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance*
e-text of Shackleton's book South, recounting the expedition of 1914-1916*
Did Shackleton ever place the famous ad?*
Ernest Shackleton's cylinder recording, from the
Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the
University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
*
Ebook of South optimized for printing, including the original illustrations, plus a detailed Shackleton bibliography*
Free ebook of Ernest Shackleton at
Project Gutenberg**
Free ebook of My South Polar Expedition at
Project Gutenberg by Sir Ernest Shackleton
**
Free ebook of South: the story of Shackleton's 1914-1917 expedition at
Project Gutenberg by Sir Ernest Shackleton
References
*The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration from Franklin to Scott, E C Coleman 2006 (Tempus Publishing)
