Heroic Conquest of Antarctica: Losing Hope? Pray to Shackleton!

Ernest Shackleton. He was a very impetuous, energetic and ambitious man. He is best characterized by a decision that definitively wrote him down in the history of heroic journeys and discoveries. He was not the first to reach the South Pole. The first was Roald Amundsen. And even Robert Scott was faster, even if he paid for it with his life. So what’s left?

It’s simple: cross Antarctica. From ocean to ocean, across the South Pole.

It did not work. The ship got stuck in the ice before it reached the place where the heroic journey was supposed to begin. But it was still a very extraordinary story. It was well characterized by Raymond Priestley, who participated in several Antarctic expeditions. In 1956, in a speech to the British Scientific Society, he said: “Scott is to be admired for his scientific methods. Amundsen for speed and efficiency. But when disaster strikes and there seems to be no hope left, one must fall on one’s knees and pray to Shackleton.”

The Heroic Age of Antarctic Discovery. A combination of hardly believable courage and will, personal and scientific ambitions and nationalism. To raise a flag where no one else had stood before was a guarantee that the discoverer would become a national hero.

The three named by Raymond Priestley were truly among the most outstanding. And each one was different, each one symbolized a different side of those suicide trips.

Robert Scott, an English gentleman who did not hesitate to load rock samples on a sled, even though he could hardly walk himself. And who was disgusted by the idea of ​​killing dogs. He died of exhaustion in 1912 on the way from the South Pole.

Robert Scott

Roald Amundsen, pragmatic, precise organizer. He reached the South Pole a month before Scott. He took just enough dogs to pull the sled at the end. They ate the others on the way. He was killed in 1928 in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the crew of the airship Italia, which was wrecked on its way from the North Pole.

Ernest Shackleton, a passionate adventurer who wanted to break records. Perhaps more of a “peak athlete” akin to the first climbers of Mount Everest than a scientist and ambassador of a nation waving a flag at a “conquered” piece of frozen land. He died of a heart attack in 1922 at the start of his last Antarctic expedition. Shortly before his death, he went to the doctor accompanying the expedition and complained of pain and weakness. The doctor advised him not to switch and to start “living a more ordinary, normal life”.

Shackleton died a few hours later. But even if he had more time, he certainly wouldn’t have listened to the doctor.

“A year and a half ago, we approached Antarctica in a well-stocked rigid ship and with high hopes. And then we suffered, we starved, we conquered, we crawled, but we perceived the beauty around us and we grew with the greatness of the whole that surrounded us. We saw God in all his splendor, we read the text that nature writes, we got to the essence of the human soul.”

With five other men, he made the more than two-week journey in an open lifeboat across the Southern Ocean. And from the equipment of the fixed ship on which he originally arrived in Antarctica, he had only three things left: a logbook, an ax and a stove.

So let’s go back a year and a half.

The ship Endurance left British waters on August 8, 1914. She was supposed to sail to Antarctica from the north, via the Weddell Sea. From there, Ernest Shackleton wanted to set off on a journey across Antarctica with selected men. They were to be supported from the south by the crew of the ship Aurora, who were to land on Ross Island and gradually build camps that would help Shackleton’s expedition survive the journey from the South Pole.

But nothing went according to plan from the beginning. Shortly before setting sail, the Great War began and Shackleton offered his ships to the British Navy. In response, he received the famous one-word telegram from the then Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill: “Go ahead.”

Shackleton was to fight his own war for the glory of Britain.

There was no chance that the Endurance would be free of the ice until next spring. It turned into a winter camp. At first there were plenty of supplies – food and alcohol. Men played cards, sang. And they were learning to live new lives. Lives without any contact with civilization. With no hope that anyone could help them. And the fact that after eight months the ice broke through the hull of the ship did not break them either. And they had to build a new camp right on the ice ridge. And watch their Endurance go to the bottom.

One of the men spent several days processing sealskin to repair his shoes. And then he wrote in his diary: “One of the best days I’ve ever had… Joy to be alive.”

Another member of the expedition wrote: “When I woke up one morning, I longed for the smell of damp morning grass somewhere in New Zealand or England. One realizes that there are very few things one truly desires. Good bread and butter, good beer, oysters or apple pie are pleasant memories rather than desires.”

But the next months of camping on the ice ridge did not bring any hope. There was little chance of a floating iceberg bringing them to land.

But when hope fades, there’s still Ernest Shackleton. He decided that they had to get to the mainland themselves. They towed the heavy lifeboats and the rest of the supplies. In April 1916, they finally reached the open sea. And they managed to sail to the nearest island.

They had spent 15 months in the forsaken world of ice and void.

After a perilous march over the ice floes and sailing in lifeboats, the crew of the Endurance found themselves on Elephant Island. But her hopes for survival did not increase much. The island was deserted and far from shipping routes.

As the only chance for salvation, Ernest Shackleton saw a voyage to the island of South Georgia, where there was a settlement of whalers. But the thought was absurd. It meant sailing 1,300 kilometers across the icy ocean in a light open boat.

The lifeboat James Caird, named after one of the sponsors of the expedition, measured less than seven meters. Ernest Shackleton and five other men carried food supplies, ice as a source of drinking water, a stove and simple navigational instruments. They figured if they didn’t get to South Georgia within a month, they wouldn’t make it.

The elephants left the island on April 24.

It’s hard to compare the critical moments they experienced along the way. Perhaps the most threatening can still be considered an encounter with giant waves. At first it seemed hopeful. Shackleton reported to the other men that the dark sky was breaking and navigational instruments would be available. But that flash of light was not a clear sky. It was the crest of a 20 meter high wave. They survived her blow. But the boat, clothing and supplies gradually turned to ice.

They had to devote the remaining energy to breaking the ice and throwing unnecessary cargo from the boat.

On May 10, they reached South Georgia.

The crew of the boat James Caird sailed to the uninhabited end of the island. There was still a way to rescue through the glaciers of South Georgia. Shackleton picked the two least exhausted men and set off. The rest of the crew remained on shore.

They walked for 36 hours more or less without rest. If they fell asleep, they wouldn’t wake up. They had to climb to a height of 1,400 meters, cut through the ice, and descend a waterfall. They arrived at the whaling settlement completely exhausted. Shadows of the men who set out from Britain a year and a half ago on a strong, proud ship. But they still had some of the original equipment with them – log book, stove and hatchet.

They did not cross Antarctica, but they penetrated to the essence of the human soul.

And above all: The very next day they sailed for the three remaining men from the crew of the boat James Caird. And after several unsuccessful attempts, Shackleton managed to get back to Elephant Island. “Are you all right?” he called from the bow of the ship to the men hidden under the two remaining lifeboats. “Yes, all right, boss!”

Ernest Shackleton is back. And all the Endurance men survived.