For more than a century, the location of Endurance – the ship that carried Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew on a doomed expedition to Antarctica before becoming trapped in the ice and sinking below – remained a mystery.
That changed on March 9, 2022, with the announcement that the Endurance22 Expedition Team had discovered the famous wreck some 10,000ft deep on the Weddell Sea floor.
“We made polar history with the discovery of Endurance and have successfully completed the world’s toughest search for wrecks,” said John Shears, the search expedition leader.
WATCH: Ernest Shackleton’s lost ice ship has been found! Don’t miss Shackleton’s Endurance: The Lost Ice Ship Found. Premieres Tuesday, March 22 at 10/9c.
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The Endurance22 team deployed a battery-powered submersible to the bottom of the Weddell Sea, where it scanned the wreckage using sonar. Once the vessel was located, the drone was fitted with cameras to document the discovery. The resulting images are remarkably clear and provide an eerie window into the past.
Shackleton and his crew departed for Antarctica on December 5, 1914, with the aim of making the first land crossing of the continent. Instead, just before reaching land, the Endurance became trapped in the vast expanse of Antarctic sea ice. After abandoning ship, Shackleton and his crew endured for 21 months in bitterly cold conditions with dwindling food supplies. Miraculously, all 28 men survived.
The discovery of the Endurance and photos of the wreck bring to life one of the most epic survival stories in history and conclude a long-standing mystery of the ship’s disappearance. Explore photos of the Endurance, which has been preserved for over a century in the frigid, clear waters of the Weddell Sea.
The Endurance22 crew used a specially designed underwater drone to search for the wreckage. The vessel was found approximately four miles south of the position originally recorded when the Endurance sank.
Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and Nick Birtwistle
The Endurance22 team traveled aboard the polar research vessel, the SA Agulhas IIfrom Cape Town, South Africa to the Weddell Sea in search of Shackleton’s lost ship.
Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and James Blake
SEE MORE: Extraordinary 1915 Photos of Ernest Shackleton’s Disastrous Antarctic Expedition
