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Ernest Shackleton

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Ernest Shackleton
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  • Born: 15 February 1874
  • Birthplace: Kilkee, Ireland
  • Died: 5 June 1922 (heart attack)
  • Best Known As: Leader of The Endurance expedition to Antarctica

Ernest Shackleton was a British explorer of the South Pole who is best remembered for leading his crew to safety after the failed expedition of the Endurance (1914-16). Shackleton had been a junior officer on Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery expedition (1902-03), and his expedition with the Nimrod (1907-09) had taken him closer to the South Pole than anyone before. After Roald Amundsen reached the Pole in 1911, Shackleton and a crew of 28 men set out in his ship Endurance in 1914, in the hopes of being the first to cross the polar continent. The ship was frozen in ice, then crushed, and Shackleton and his men set out in lifeboats after nearly a year and a half on the ice. Shackleton, known as "The Boss," took five men and sailed 800 miles in an open boat from Elephant Island to the island of South Georgia, then went back and saved the rest of his crew, all of whom survived. Almost two years after starting out, they reached safety in South America in September of 1916. In spite of his heroics, Shackleton had a hard time back in England with finances and alcohol. He eventually managed to get financing for another voyage to Antarctica in 1921, but he had a fatal heart attack at South Georgia Island and never made it.

Australian explorer Douglas Mawson accompanied Shackleton on the Nimrod... Although he was too old to serve in World War I, Shackleton got involved in the fight against Bolshevist forces outside of Murmansk in 1918-19... On the Endurance expedition, Shackleton took along Frank Hurley, whose photos and film footage of the expedition can be seen in the 2002 documentary Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition.

 
 
Biography: Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

The British explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922) is known for his ambitious examination of sections of Antarctica.

In the early 20th century, certain nations, especially Great Britain, Norway, and the United States, participated in attempts to reach the highest latitudes north and south. The motives for these expeditions were scientific attainment and national prestige. Sir Ernest Shackleton was to play an important role in the British expeditions to Antarctica.

Shackleton was born at Kilkee, County Kildare, Ireland, on Feb. 15, 1874. It has been noted that his "descent from north of England Quaker stock on his father's side and his Irish ancestry on his mother's may have accounted for the mingling of caution, perseverance, reckless courage, and strong idealism which were his leading characteristics." He joined the merchant service in 1890 and became a qualified master (1898) and a sublieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve (1901). Desirous of adventure and fame, he applied for a position in Robert F. Scott's Discovery expedition to the Antarctic in 1901. With Scott and one other, he sledged to 82°16'33"S latitude over the Ross Shelf Ice.

Returning home due to illness, in 1903, Shackleton undertook numerous engagements: secretary of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (1904-1905) and employee of an engineering company in Glasgow. But his determined ambition lay in Antarctic conquest, and in 1907 he made his plans public. His principal object was to reach the South Pole; other aims were to explore the Ross Shelf Ice and King Edward VII Land and to reach the south magnetic pole. The expedition was largely financed by guarantees which would be redeemed by proceeds from lectures and publications following the voyage.

The Nimrod, a small whaler, reached the Ross Shelf Ice in January 1908. Shackleton discovered the Beardmore Glacier, attained 88°23'S on the Antarctic Plateau on Jan. 9, 1909, and sent expeditions which reached the south magnetic pole and the summit of Mt. Erebus. On his return to England he became a popular hero, was knighted, and received numerous awards from geographical societies. The British government granted £20,000 toward the cost of the expedition. Shackleton made a lengthy lecturing tour and complied his account of the expedition, The Heart of the Antarctic (1909).

Shackleton now proposed to determine the extent of the Weddell Sea and adjacent lands and to complete a trans-Antarctic expedition. The Endurance and Aurora under government auspices sailed in 1914 for South Georgia. When the Endurance was crushed in the ice, Shackleton led heroic sledge and boat parties first to Elephant Island (reached April 15, 1916) and then to South Georgia (August 30), a total of some thousand miles. He completed the rescue operation in the Ross Sea, where the transpolar party was waiting, and returned home to write his account, South (1919).

Then followed numerous tasks, including a mission to South America on behalf of the British government to explain Allied war aims, and an expedition to northern Russia to organize winter equipment. But after World War I Shackleton returned to polar exploration and led an expedition financed by John Quiller Rowett to explore Enderby Land. Shackleton, however, died suddenly of angina pectoris on Jan. 5, 1922, and was buried on South Georgia Island.

Further Reading

Shackleton's accounts of his explorations are in his The Heart of the Antarctic (2 vols., 1909) and South (1919). Two biographies are Hugh Robert Mill, The Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton (1923), and Margery and James Fisher, Shackleton (1957). Books dealing with his polar exploits include Frank Wild, Shackleton's Last Voyage (1923), and Frank Hurley, Shackleton's Argonauts (1948). Useful background information on Shackleton and his expeditions is given in L. P. Kirwan, A History of Polar Exploration (1960). See also Robert F. Scott, Voyage of the "Discovery" (2 vols., 1905), and Frank Arthur Worsley, Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure (1931).

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

(born , Feb. 15, 1874, Kilkea, County Kildare, Ire. — died Jan. 5, 1922, Grytviken, South Georgia) British explorer. In 1901 he joined Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the Antarctic. He returned to Antarctica in 1908 and led a sledging party to within 97 mi (156 km) of the pole. In 1914 he led the British Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which planned to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. His expedition ship Endurance was caught in pack ice and drifted for 10 months before being crushed. Shackleton and his crew drifted on ice floes for another five months until they reached Elephant Island. He and five others sailed 800 mi (1,300 km) to South Georgia Island to get help, then he led four relief expeditions to rescue his men. Shackleton died on South Georgia at the outset of another Antarctic expedition.

For more information on Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, visit Britannica.com.

 
British History: Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

Shackleton, Sir Ernest Henry (1874-1922). Almost the antithesis of Scott as an explorer, Shackleton was impetuous and restless. He successfully applied to join Scott's Antarctic expedition of 1901-4. Sledging with Scott himself, he reached 82 degrees south in 1902. Shackleton raised enough support to take his own expedition back to the Antarctic in 1907-8 where he discovered and named the Beardmore Glacier. Shackleton himself reached 88 degrees south, only 97 miles from the Pole. He was encouraged to lead an official expedition aiming to explore from the Weddell Sea and cross the continent to the Ross Sea. Ordered to go ahead despite the Great War, Shackleton lost his ship Endurance when it was crushed by ice in November 1915. With sledges and small boats, he led his men to Elephant Island by the following April, sailed in an open boat to South Georgia, returned to rescue his men, and then visited the Ross Sea. He set out on a third Antarctic expedition in 1921 but died suddenly after reaching South Georgia.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Shackleton, Sir Ernest Henry,
1874–1922, British antarctic explorer, b. Ireland. The first of his voyages to Antarctica was made as a member of the expedition (1901–4) of Robert F. Scott. Shackleton was invalided home in 1903, but the experience gained on the Scott expedition aided him greatly as commander of a south polar expedition (1907–9). In the course of this expedition Mt. Erebus was ascended, the south magnetic pole was located, and the polar plateau was crossed to a point less than 100 mi (160 km) from the South Pole. The scientific results of the expedition were of vast importance. Knighted in 1909, Shackleton published that year an account of his expedition, The Heart of the Antarctic.

As commander of a transantarctic expedition, he set out in 1914, planning to enter the Weddell Sea and cross on foot over the south polar region to the Ross Sea, a distance of c.2,000 mi (3,200 km). When his ship Endurance was crushed in the ice in Oct., 1915, he led his party some 180 mi (290 km) to safety at Elephant Island; from there Shackleton with five companions in a lifeboat made a voyage of c.800 mi (1,290 km) through wild seas, then crossed rugged, glaciated South Georgia Island to reach (May, 1916) a whaling station on its north coast. Shackleton rescued his Elephant Island party and later returned to the Weddell Sea to pick up others left there earlier in the expedition. His South (1919) is an account of the whole expedition. In 1921 Shackleton sailed on the Quest to study Enderby Land but died on ship and was buried on South Georgia Island.

Bibliography

See biography by R. Huntford (1985); C. Alexander, The Endurance (1998).

 
Wikipedia: Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton
ErnestHenryShackleton.jpg
Ernest Shackleton
Born 15 February 1874
Ballitore, County Kildare
Died 5 January 1922
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Flag of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Education Dulwich College
Occupation Explorer
Spouse Emily Dorman
Children Raymond, Edward, Cecily

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton CVO, OBE (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Irish explorer who was knighted for the success of the 1907-09 "British Antarctic Expedition" under his command. He is best remembered today for his Antarctic expedition of 1914–1916 in the ship Endurance, the latter having become known colloquially as "Shackleton's Expedition" or "The Shackleton Expedition".

He was a key figure in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration alongside the likes of Roald Amundsen, Douglas Mawson, and Robert Falcon Scott, each of whom became widely famed for their exploits, which captivated the imagination of the public.

Early life

Shackleton was of English-Irish ancestry and was born in Ballitore, County Kildare, Ireland. He attended Dulwich College where ironically, he was far from an exemplary student. However, his time at the College provided him with the confidence and determination to pursue his ambitions as an explorer. Shackleton has since served as inspiration to many young boys at the College, and is well recognised as an Old Alleynian. He left the College in 1890 to Join the Merchant Navy and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve. He had a brother Francis Shackleton-see Irish Crown Jewels case.

Expeditions


1901–1902 Discovery Expeditions

Main article: Discovery Expedition
Discovery
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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. Associated with this expedition is the myth that he may have placed the following advertisement in The Times in December 1901: "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of winter. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success." (Historians, however, have not been able to trace this in the original, while it remains a delightful story; 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 in short supply; the personnel on long treks were usually underfed by any measure and were essentially starving. Scott, Wilson and Shackleton made their "furthest south" of 82°17'S on December 31, 1902. They were 857 km (463 nautical miles) 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 have been recent suggestions that Scott disliked Shackleton's popularity in the expedition and used his health as an excuse to remove him, however both Shackleton and Scott continued to be on friendly terms in their subsequent correspondence and meetings; he was Merchant Marine and Scott was Royal Navy—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

Main article: Nimrod Expedition
Ernest Shackleton, 1909 , Publicity photo taken before the 1907-1909 Antarctic expedition and published just before his return
Ernest Shackleton, 1909 , Publicity photo taken before the 1907-1909 Antarctic expedition and published just before his return

Shackleton organized and led the "British Antarctic Expedition" (1907–1909) 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 1901–1904 expedition; the hut built at this camp in 1908 is on the list of the World Monuments Watch's 100 most endangered sites.[1] Due to poor success with dogs during Scott's 1901–1904 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 (16 January 1909); and locating the Beardmore Glacier passage. Shackleton, with Wild, Marshall, and Adams, reached 88°23'S: a point only 97 nautical miles (180 km) from the South Pole. While the expedition did not make it to the pole, Shackleton, Adams, Marshall, and Wild were not only the first humans to 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 Antarctic interior. 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 Endurance Expedition

Main article: Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Inhospitable ocean region around the South Sandwich Islands and its largest island: South Georgia.
Enlarge
Inhospitable ocean region around the South Sandwich Islands and its largest island: South Georgia.
Captain, March 1917, Cover of the popular English magazine with Ernest Shackleton back from his epic expedition South
Captain, March 1917, Cover of the popular English magazine with Ernest Shackleton back from his epic expedition South

Shackleton's most famous expedition was planned to be an attempt to cross Antarctica from the Weddell Sea south of the Atlantic, to the Ross Sea south of the Pacific, by way of the Pole. He set out from London on 1 August 1914, and reached the Weddell Sea on January 10, 1915, where the pack ice closed in on the Endurance. The ship was broken by the ice on 27 October 1915. The 28 crew members managed to flee to Elephant Island, bringing three small boats with them. Shackleton and five other men managed to reach the southern coast of South Georgia in one of the small boats. Shackleton managed to rescue all of the stranded crew from Elephant Island without loss in the Chilean's navy seagoing steam tug Yelcho, on August 30, 1916, in the middle of the Antarctic winter.

1917 Ross Sea Party

Main article: 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 10 January 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.

1917–1920

Shackleton returned to England in May 1917 with a serious heart condition and as a heavy drinker. He was too old to be conscripted but nevertheless he volunteered for the army. He was instead sent to Buenos Aires to boost British propaganda in South America. Unqualified as a diplomat, he unsuccessfully tried to persuade Argentina and Chile to enter the war on the side of the Allies. He returned home in 1918.

Shackleton was then asked to be the leader of an undercover mission to Spitsbergen to establish a British presence in a territory administered by Norway, which was a neutral country, under the pretence of mining. However, in Tromsø, Shackleton suffered a heart attack and had to return. In spite of his condition, he then joined a military expedition to Murmansk in the autumn of 1918. Shackleton's role was "staff officer in charge of Arctic equipment" and played little part except running the stores. He returned to London in 1919, by which time his finances were poor. His wife was supporting the family.

While attempting to make a living through lecturing, he wrote his book 'South.' His health continued to deteriorate through drinking, smoking and over-eating, but nevertheless he began planning another expedition.

1921–1922 Shackleton-Rowett Expedition

Main article: Shackleton-Rowett Expedition
"The Autumn Sunset". In: "The Heart of the Antarctic", Volume I, by E. H. Shackleton, 1909
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"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 5 January 1922. His body was being returned to England when his widow requested that the burial take place on Grytviken, South Georgia instead. Shackleton was buried there on 5 March 1922.

Personal life

Shackleton married Emily Dorman at Christchurch, Westminster on 9 April 1904. They had two sons, Raymond and Edward, and a daughter, Cecily. However, Shackleton had numerous affairs, including one with the American born actress, Rosalind Chetwynd (Rosa Lynd), which began in 1910 and continued intermittently until his death.[2]

Politically, Shackleton supported the Liberal Unionist Party, unsuccessfully standing for the party in the 1906 general election in Dundee.[3]

Legacy

Shackleton, by Nadar
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Shackleton, by Nadar

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.

In recent years there has been a revival of interest in Shackleton and he has become an icon of successful leadership for some modern business writers with several books extolling his leadership style.


Bibliography

  • Works by Shackleton
    • The Heart of the Antarctic: The Story of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907 -1909 by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Collins) ISBN 1-903464-28-5
    • Shackleton: The Polar Journeys: Incorporating the "Heart of the Antarctic" and "South" by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Collins, 2002) ISBN 1-903464-26-9
    • South: Journals of His Last Expedition to Antarctica by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Robson Books, 1999) ISBN 1-86105-279-0
    • South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-17 by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Ebury Press, 1991) ISBN 0-7126-3927-6. Ebook in Project Gutenberg
    • Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Ernest Henry, Sir Shackleton, Christopher Ralling (Peter Bedrick Books, 1986) ISBN 0-87226-082-8
    • Aurora Australis by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Paradigm Press, 1986) ISBN 0-948285-07-9
    • South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-17 by Sir Ernest Shackleton (Heinemann, 1970) ISBN 0-434-69500-9
  • 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 0-7735-2825-3
    • Shackleton by Roland Huntford. 2nd edition 1996, Abacus History, London. 774pp ISBN 0-349-10744-0
    • Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition: The Voyage of the Nimrod by Beau Riffenburgh (Bloomsbury USA, 2004) ISBN 1-58234-488-4
    • South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917 by Frank Hurley (Simon & Schuster, 2001) ISBN 0-7432-2292-X
    • Shackleton's Forgotten Men: The Untold Tale of an Antarctic Tragedy by Lennard Bickel, Rt. Hon. Lord Shackleton (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2000) ISBN 1-56025-256-1
    • 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 0-8144-0543-6
    • The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander (Knopf, 1998) ISBN 0-375-40403-1
    • 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)
    • The Long White Road; Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic adventures by Marvin Hubert Albert (D. McKay Co, 1957) ASIN B0006AV0J4
  • 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

External links

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References

  1. ^ World Monuments Watch, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Expedition Hut, retrieved Sept. 16, 2007.
  2. ^ Affairs
  3. ^ Morrell, Margot; Stephanie Capparell (2003). Shackleton's Way. Nicholas Brealey, p. 32. ISBN 1-85788-318-7. 
  • The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration from Franklin to Scott, E C Coleman 2006 (Tempus Publishing)
  • The Pilotdrift song "Elephant Island" is about Ernest Shackleton and his journey to rescue his crew.


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