The Wreckage of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Lost Ship ‘Endurance’ Is Located in the Weddell Sea Off Antarctica

The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust put together a search for the remains of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship Endurance, an endeavor that proved immensely successful on March 9, 2022, 107 years after the iconic explorer’s death.

The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust is pleased to confirm that the Endurance22 Expedition has located the wreck of Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship which has not been seen since it was crushed by the ice and sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915. 

This Endurance22 expedition brought together some of the world’s most renowned researchers, archaeologists, and polar scientists who sailed the Weddell Sea off Antarctica on the South African Polar Class 5 vehicle Agulhas II for 35 days in a hopeful search for the remains of this legendary ship.

One hundred years after Shackleton’s death, Endurance was found at a depth of 3008 metres in the Weddell Sea, within the search area defined by the expedition team before its departure from Cape Town, and approximately four miles south of the position originally recorded by Captain Worsley.

The ship had set sail in 1914 but had to be abandoned by the crew when it became trapped in Antarctic ice. The ship went down and the sailors survived on ice floes. They eventually made it to Elephant Island where they were rescued by a tireless Shackelton.

After months spent in makeshift camps on the ice floes drifting northwards, the party took to the lifeboats to reach the inhospitable, uninhabited Elephant Island. Shackleton and five others then made an extraordinary 800-mile (1,300 km) open-boat journey in the lifeboat, James Caird, to reach South Georgia. Shackleton and two others then crossed the mountainous island to the whaling station at Stromness. From there, Shackleton was eventually able to mount a rescue of the men waiting on Elephant Island and bring them home without loss of life.

Endurance Ship Remains
Endurance Remains
Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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