Wreck of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition Ship Found Beneath the Waves

What’s left of the ship was located about six kilometers away from the spot logged by the vessel’s captain when it went down.

The wreckage of “Endurance”, a three-masted sailing ship used by famous Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, has been discovered on the ocean floor where it remained for over a century after being crushed by ice and sinking in 1915.

While previous attempts to locate the 144-foot long vessel proved unsuccessful, the Endurance22 mission organised by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust finally managed to locate the ship by using advanced underwater vehicles outfitted with high-definition cameras and scanners, according to Reuters.

Mensun Bound, the expedition’s Director of Exploration, said that they are “overwhelmed” by their “good fortune”.

"This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation," he remarked.

The ship’s remains were found about six kilometers away from the position recorded by its captain Frank Worsley.

This handout picture taken in Antarctica's Weddell sea on March 5, 2022, and released by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust shows (From L) John Shears, Endurance22 Expedition Leader, Mensun Bound, Director of Exploration, Nico Vincent, Expedition Sub-Sea Manager, JC Caillens, Off-Shore Manager with the first scan of the wreck and photos of Frank Hurley. - One of the world's most storied shipwrecks, Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, has been discovered off the coast of Antarctica more than a century after its sinking, explorers announced on March 9. Endurance was discovered at a depth of 3,008 metres (9,869 feet) in the Weddell Sea, about four miles from where it was slowly crushed by pack ice in 1915

© AFP 2023 / ESTHER HORVATH

“Endurance” was used by Shackleton during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition whose goal was to attempt the first land crossing of the Antarctica.

The expedition launched in 1914, but the following year “Endurance” ended up being trapped in an ice floe and finally sank in November 1915.