Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

1874-1922

British Explorer

Sir Ernest Shackleton, British polar explorer and veteran of four Antarctic expeditions, is considered one of the greatest explorers of all time. During the early years of the twentieth century, a worldwide race was on to forge routes to the South Pole on the Antarctic continent. Extreme conditions, including treacherous seas, sub-zero temperatures, ice, and unmapped and unknown mountains and glaciers, met these expeditions on their quests for scientific and geographic information. Shackleton is respected and revered for his leadership qualities tested under conditions that were as severe as any human being had ever endured and for his scientific contributions.

Ernest Shackleton was born February 15, 1874, in Kildare, Ireland. He went to a Quaker school in Ireland until the agricultural depression in the late 1870s forced the family to move to London. At the age of 16, after attending Dulwich College, he joined the Mercantile Marine (Royal Naval Reserve) as an apprentice before signing on to the expeditions bound for Antarctica.

In 1902 Shackleton joined the British National Antarctic Expedition, sponsored by the Royal Geographic Society. Captained by Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912), the expedition established a base camp on Ross Island in the Ross Sea. They set out with dog teams and sledges intending to be the first to reach the South Pole. Scurvy, frostbite, and a shortage of food and supplies forced them to turn back. Although the expedition contributed important geographic information, Shackleton and Scott parted on antagonistic terms.

In 1907 Shackleton and the British Antarctic Expedition set sail in the Nimrod for Ross Island. They intended to trek with ponies to the South Pole along the Great Beardmore Glacier. They came within 97 miles (156 km) of the Pole, turning back rather than risking the lives of the men. A Norwegian team headed by Roald Amundsen (1872-1928?) later became the first to reach the Pole (November 1911). Shackleton'sold colleague Scott reached the Pole nearly a month later and perished on the return trip.

On hearing of Amundsen's success and Scott's tragic failure, Shackleton ignored the beginnings of World War I and launched the Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-17). In the ship Endurance, Shackleton and a 28-man crew set off to cross Antarctica and reach the South Pole. A sister expedition, captained by Sir Douglas Mawson (1882-1958) in the Aurora, sailed to the Ross Sea and cached supply depots at intervals to the Pole. The Endurance, meanwhile, sailed into the unexplored Weddell Sea on the opposite side, where the team was to travel to the Pole via dog team. Once at the Pole they would rely on the supplies cached by Mawson.

The plan was derailed when the Endurance became trapped in the Weddell ice pack. After abandoning the Endurance, the expedition eventually made it to desolate Elephant Island, where most of the men remained. Shackleton and five others sailed across 850 miles (1,368 km) of rough Antarctic seas in a small open boat to a remote whaling station on South Georgia Island in order to get help. After reaching land, they made a 10-day overland trip before reaching the station at Stormness. While waiting for Shackleton to return the men on Elephant Island endured bitter cold, six months of total darkness, dangerous ice conditions, and near starvation. Almosttwo years later, after three unsuccessful rescue attempts, the remainder of his crew were safely brought back to England from Elephant Island. Although the expedition did not complete its goal to reach the South Pole, a vast amount of scientific data was collected. In addition, parts of the expedition were filmed by cinematographer Frank Hurley, whose film captured the courage and resourcefulness of the Endurance crew. The transcontinental journey would not be achieved until 1957-58, when Sir Vivian Fuchs (1908- ) and Sir Edmund Hillary (1919- ) completed the crossing with the aid of motorized vehicles.

On January 5, 1922, Shackleton died on his fourth Antarctic expedition to the South Georgia Island. He was buried there.

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