What did men aboard the Discovery1901 do when bored?

Answer 1

So was born what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctica expedition of 1914 - 1917. The intentional goal was ambitious - audacious even, considering that only 10 men had ever stood at the South Pole and 5 of those had died on the return journey. The story that would unfold was to be beyond any expectations and completely different to that planned. It is quite simply one of the most incredible adventure stories of all time. Remarkable even for an era and region that already has far more than its fair share of incredible tales of heroism and fortitude in the face of appalling hardships.

This is in effect 3 individual adventure stories back to back. In the first, the crew of the Endurance are stranded, stuck in pack-ice just one days sail from land fall on the Antarctic continent. Eventually, the pack-ice crushes the ship and the men are marooned hundreds of miles from help on unstable sea ice and totally beyond the communications with the outside world. Against the odds, they stay together physically and mentally and reach land fall on Elephant Island.

This is but a temporary respite, better than moving and unstable pack-ice, but by no means safety. In the second story Shackleton and five others set sail for South Georgia in a 20ft lifeboat, the James Caird, in some of the roughest seas in the world and at one of the worst times of the year.

In the third adventure, the crew of the James Caird, arrive at possible salvation, the island of South Georgia, but on the wrong side. The island has never been crossed and the party are ill equipped to do so. As there is no alternative other than failure, they set off to cross the mountainous and glaciated island for the whaling stations on the other side, from there they can then plan the rescue of the men left behind on Elephant Island. The story of Shackleton and the Endurance in more detail.

There are many tales of how many people applied to join Shackleton on this expedition and how keen and eager to go many of them were. It seems that then as now however for Antarctic expeditions, the majority were inexperienced or unsuited to the job they were applying for, and while for some positions, there were many takers, for others there were hardly any, just a single qualified applicant who in some cases may have had to be cajoled into applying. Shackleton ended up therefore with a very mixed crew from the capable who were ready to await and take orders, to others, who while capable of doing their own job, were prepared to question or cast doubt on decisions made or were potential agitators. All of the men proved themselves in the end, though it was a difficult journey in all respects. It is Shackleton himself who comes through as being the force that held it all together.