When did Ernest Shackleton reach Antarctica? Shackleton led four expeditions to the Antarctic during his life. [50] In accordance with Shackleton's promise to Scott, the ship headed for the eastern sector of the Great Ice Barrier, arriving there on 21 January 1908. In 1915, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship became trapped in ice, north of Antarctica. [101] The strongest of the tiny 20-foot (6.1m) lifeboats, christened James Caird after the expedition's chief sponsor, was chosen for the trip. The Shackletons came originally from Yorkshire. [11], Shackleton's restlessness at school was such that he was allowed to leave at 16 and go to sea. [139], During the ensuing decades Shackleton's status as a polar hero was generally outshone by that of Captain Scott, whose polar party had by 1925 been commemorated on more than 30 monuments in Britain alone, including stained glass windows, statues, busts and memorial tablets. March 24, 2002. The 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 way back. Shackletons publications were The Heart of the Antarctic (1909) and South (1919), the latter an account of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Getty Images Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, trapped in ice. Shackleton made his own discoveries about Antarctica, but he was not the first to explore the continent. With Scott and one other, Shackleton trekked towards. What did Lord Davis do in the Antarctic? In 1915, the Endurance was. When Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition left South Georgia Island on 5 December 1914 to assist his bid to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent, he had no idea that a year and a half later he would end up on a rescue mission trekking across the very same subantarctic island where he started. [11] The aim was the conquest of both the geographical South Pole and the South Magnetic Pole. He was sent home early due to bad health. His plan was to make landfall in Antarctica, hike across the entire continent and sail back to England. Shackleton's first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery expedition of 19011904, from which he was sent home early on health grounds, after he and his companions Scott and Edward Adrian Wilson set a new southern record by marching to latitude 82S. They later learned that the same hurricane had sunk a 500-ton steamer bound for South Georgia from Buenos Aires. [116], Shackleton was specially appointed a temporary major on 22 July 1918. In 2002, Shackleton was voted eleventh in a BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Why is Shackleton famous? He was planning to cross it. [127] The expedition left England on 24 September 1921. Why did Sir Ernest Shackleton go to Antarctica? Study now. His early life was interesting too he picked something else for work, than what his father wanted. Where did Ernest Shackleton attend school? Rowett agreed to finance the entire expedition, which became known as the ShackletonRowett Expedition. [51], It was noted that ice conditions were unstable, precluding the establishment of a safe base there. In 1914, Shackleton set out from England to cross Antarctica on foot. [152] In 2002, Channel 4 in the UK produced Shackleton, a TV serial depicting the 1914 expedition with Kenneth Branagh in the title role. The meteorologist was Captain L. Hussey, also an able banjo player. [8] However, Shackleton took lifelong pride in his Irish roots, and frequently declared, "I am an Irishman". At the age of thirteen, he entered Dulwich College. This disparity continued into the 1950s. [48], On 1 January 1908, the Nimrod set off on the British Antarctic Expedition from Lyttelton Harbour, New Zealand. Shackleton's mother, Henrietta Letitia Sophia Gavan, was descended from the Fitzmaurice family. Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton is best known as a polar explorer who was associated with four expeditions exploring Antarctica, particularly the Trans-Antarctic (Endurance) Expedition (1914-16) that he led, which, although unsuccessful, became famous as a tale of remarkable perseverance and survival. In the period immediately after his return, Shackleton engaged in a strenuous schedule of public appearances, lectures and social engagements. Ernest Shackleton's Endurance expedition was the remarkable final chapter in the Heroic Age of Exploration. His first three attempts were foiled by sea ice, which blocked the approaches to the island. It is likely that many debts were not pressed and were written off. In his search for rapid pathways to wealth and security, he launched business ventures which failed to prosper, and he died heavily in debt. [113][114] In October 1917, he was sent to Buenos Aires to boost British propaganda in South America. During the Nimrod expedition of 19071909, he and three companions established a new record Farthest South latitude at 88S, only 97geographical miles (112statute miles or 180kilometres) from the South Pole, the largest advance to the pole in exploration history. The astonishing challenge - to cross Antarctica from one coast to the other - didn't exactly go to plan and actually resulted in . [h][102][103] Not only did Shackleton recognise their value for the job but also because he knew the potential risk they were to morale. After the race to the South Pole ended in December 1911, with Roald Amundsen's conquest, Shackleton turned his attention to the crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea, via the pole. [126] When the party arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Shackleton suffered a suspected heart attack. Like many great tales, Shackleton's story is one of failure. [42] He also ventured into politics, unsuccessfully standing in the 1906 General Election as the Liberal Unionist Party's candidate for Dundee constituency in opposition to Irish Home Rule. Scott wrote: "He ought not to risk further hardship in his present state of health. He felt certain that others would soon succeed in reaching the South Pole where he had failed having come so close, and so looked to the next goal. Stark images of Shackleton's struggle. EXPLORERS - ROALD AMUNDSEN. Endurance did not have that hull shape. On 24 October, water began pouring in. The "Great Southern Journey",[54] as Frank Wild called it, began on 29 October 1908. [76], Shackleton published details of his new expedition, grandly titled the "Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition", early in 1914. This answer is: . April 24th 1916 - Shackleton and 5 others set off in the James Caird for South Georgia.Sir Ernest Shackleton, Endurance Voyage. He appealed to the Chilean government, which offered the use of the Yelcho, a small seagoing tug from its navy. On his return to England, Shackleton was knighted and was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. In August 1914 the British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (191416) left England under Shackletons leadership. The Shackleton family are of English origin, specifically from Yorkshire. Unqualified as a diplomat, he was unsuccessful in persuading Argentina and Chile to enter the war on the Allied side. Shackleton immediately sent a boat to pick up the three men from the other side of South Georgia while he set to work to organise the rescue of the Elephant Island men. Ernest Shackleton took Spratt's on his Nimrod (1907-1909) and Endurance (1914-1917) expeditions, where they were part of a doggy diet that also included seal meat, blubber, biscuits and pemmican, a high-energy mix of fat and protein. [12], During the following four years at sea, Shackleton learned his trade, visiting the far corners of the earth and forming acquaintances with a variety of people from many walks of life, learning to be at home with all kinds of men. [124] The goals of the venture were imprecise, but a circumnavigation of the Antarctic continent and investigation of some "lost" sub-Antarctic islands, such as Tuanaki, were mentioned as objectives.[126]. [142], In 1959, Alfred Lansing's Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage was published. Ernest Shackleton, however, would not have been surprised: he edited his 1914-17 journal into the book, South!, which was published three years after he had returned from Antarctica. Shackleton then worked hard to persuade others of his wealthy friends and acquaintances to contribute, including Sir Philip Lee Brocklehurst, who subscribed 2,000 (approximately equivalent to 212,000 in 2019) to secure a place on the expedition;[46] author Campbell Mackellar; and Guinness baron Lord Iveagh, whose contribution was secured less than two weeks before the departure of the expedition ship Nimrod. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Although some of his former crew members had not received all their pay from the Endurance expedition, many of them signed on with their former "Boss". After the darkness of the Antarctic winter, the return of the sun was a major event in 1915 . [57] They arrived at Hut Point just in time to catch the ship. Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton's century-old whisky has been retrieved. Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish explorer of Antarctica who attempted to reach the South Pole. [97] This was the first time they had stood on solid ground for 497days. Shackleton began planning his next journey to Antarctica almost as soon as he returned from the Nimrod expedition of 1907 - 1909. The march was, Scott wrote later, "a combination of success and failure". Longstaff, impressed by Shackleton's keenness, recommended him to Sir Clements Markham, the expedition's overlord, making it clear that he wanted Shackleton accepted. Shackleton and his men have been the subject of much media fervor throughout the last century, and this latest flurry of Shackleton media comes more than two decades after the tale experienced. On the contrary, his heart belonged to this great continent, and in 1921 he decided to go back with the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition. [8] The young Shackleton did not particularly distinguish himself as a scholar, and was said to be "bored" by his studies. Yelcho, commanded by Captain Luis Pardo, and the British whaler Southern Sky reached Elephant Island on 30 August 1916, at which point the men had been isolated there for four and a half months, and Shackleton quickly evacuated all 22men. They did whatever they could. Born on February 15, 1874 - Sir Ernest Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish explorer who led a total of three voyages to Antarctica. Born on February 15, 1874 - Sir Ernest Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish explorer who led a total of three voyages to Antarctica. [12] His father was able to secure him a berth with the North Western Shipping Company, aboard the square-rigged sailing ship Hoghton Tower. Shackleton suffered frostbitten fingers as a result. Corrections? [100], Elephant Island was an inhospitable place, far from any shipping routes; rescue by means of chance discovery was very unlikely. He later denied Scott's claim in The Voyage of the Discovery, that he had been carried on the sledge. Despite his assurances to Emily that "we are practically sure of the contract", nothing came of this scheme. [148], The Centre for Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter offers a course on Shackleton, who also features in the management education programmes of several American universities. Some of the polar ships were built with a hull shape that allowed them to rise up if being crushed by pack ice. Robert Falcon Scotts British National Antarctic (Discovery) Expedition (190104) as third lieutenant and took part, with Scott and Edward Wilson, in the sledge journey over the Ross Ice Shelf when latitude 821633 S was reached. "This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. "[137], Before the return of Shackleton's body to South Georgia, there was a memorial service held for him with full military honours at Holy Trinity Church, Montevideo, and on 2 March a service was held at St Paul's Cathedral, London, at which the King and other members of the royal family were represented. Omissions? Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was buried on the island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean. He was forced to make an 800-mile open boat journey, then cross the island of South Georgia, before the ship's crew could be rescued. Proposing a toast to the explorer at a lunch given in Shackleton's honour by the Royal Societies Club, Lord Halsbury, a former Lord Chancellor, said: "When one remembers what he had gone through, one does not believe in the supposed degeneration of the British race. [128] He refused a proper medical examination, so Quest continued south, and on 4 January 1922, arrived at South Georgia. Why did Earnest Shackleton go to Antarctica? [33] Although in public they remained mutually respectful and cordial,[36] according to biographer Roland Huntford, Shackleton's attitude to Scott turned to "smouldering scorn and dislike"; salvage of wounded pride required "a return to the Antarctic and an attempt to outdo Scott". Shackleton's . An Anglo-Irish adventurer, he became a pivotal figure in the era later characterised as the "Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration", thanks to the laudable and ambitious . [129], Macklin, who conducted the postmortem, concluded that the cause of death was atheroma of the coronary arteries exacerbated by "overstrain during a period of debility". March 05, 2020. [118], For his "valuable services rendered in connection with Military Operations in North Russia" Shackleton was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1919 King's Birthday Honours,[119] and was also mentioned in despatches by General Ironside. Shackleton travelled there to join Aurora, and sailed with her to the rescue of the Ross Sea party. [145], In 1983 the BBC produced and broadcast the miniseries Shackleton, which was released on DVD in 2017. [76], Shackleton used his considerable fund-raising skills, and the expedition was financed largely by private donations, although the British government gave 10,000 (about 900,000 in 2019 terms). Shackleton delayed his own departure until 27 September, meeting the ship in Buenos Aires.[85]. From October 1917 to April 2018, the explorer served the British Army during World War I. [118] In the midst of seeking capital, his plans foundered when Northern Russia fell to Bolshevik control. As the ship moved southward navigating in ice, first-year ice was encountered, which slowed progress. [f][75] The transcontinental journey, in Shackleton's words, was the "one great object of Antarctic journeyings" remaining, now open to him. 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