Ernest Shackleton

Ernest Shackleton
File:ErnestHenryShackleton.jpg Ernest Shackleton
Born	15 February 1874 Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland
Died	January 5, 1922(1922-01-05) (aged 47) South Georgia Island
Bildung	Dulwich College
Occupation	Explorer
Spouse	Emily Dorman
Children	Raymond, Edward, Cecily
Parent(s)	Henry and Henrietta

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, Kt., CVO, OBE (February 15 1874 – January 5 1922) was an Anglo-Irish explorer. Born in Kilkea, Ireland, Shackleton embarked on four Antarctic expeditions and was knighted for travelling the furthest south of any contemporary human on his voyage aboard Nimrod. Shackleton was married to Lady Emily Dorman Shackleton, and was involved in land-based work that included an unsuccessful parliamentary run and business ventures aimed at raising revenue for his polar explorations.

Shackleton is most noteworthy for leading the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, colloquially known as the "Endurance Expedition" and "Shackleton's voyage", between 1914 and 1916. Although Shackleton failed to achieve his goal of crossing the Antarctic continent on foot, he is known for his leadership abilities, which were evidenced when Endurance became stuck in ice. Shackleton, known by his contemporaries as "the boss", was able to lead his men to refuge on Elephant Island before heading across 1,287 kilometres (800 mi) of the open Antarctic Ocean to South Georgia Island with five other men. Upon reaching the remote island, Shackleton crossed severe mountainous terrain to reach a whaling station at Grytviken. Once he arrived, he was able to muster a ship to rescue his men on Elephant Island. All the men on Endurance survived their ordeal after spending 22 months in the Antarctic.

Additionally, Shackleton was a key figure in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration alongside Roald Amundsen, Douglas Mawson, and Robert Falcon Scott, each of whom became widely famed for exploits that captured the public imagination. In recent times, he has become known for his efforts as a leader and has thus been the topic of many books and films that focus on the explorer's ability to lead men through challenging conditions.

Leben

Ernest Shackleton in the polar region, circa 1916.

Childhood

Shackleton was born on February 15, 1874, in Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland, about 48 kilometres (30 mi) from Dublin. Ernest's father, Henry, and mother, Henrietta Sophia Gaven, were of English-Irish ancestry. Ernest was the second of their ten children and the first of two sons. In childhood he was described as "bright, good-natured,... and confident". In 1880, at six years old, Ernest moved with his father, who was studying medicine, to Dublin. Four years later, the family moved from Ireland to Sydenham in suburban London to seek a better income and because their Anglo-Irish ancestry made them afraid to stay in Ireland after the assassination of Lord Frederick Cavendish by Irish nationalists. Here Shackleton would spend the remainder of his childhood.

As a boy, Ernest was schooled by a governess until 11, when he matriculated at Fir Lodge Preparatory School in West Hill, and after primary schooling he was educated from ages 13 through 16 at Dulwich College, a public school for boys. The young Shackleton did not distinguish himself as a scholar and was said to have been "bored" by his studies. He was quoted later saying:

"I never learned much geography at school... Literature, too, consisted in the dissection, the parsing, the analyzing of certain passages from our great poets and prose-writers ... teachers should be very careful not to spoil their taste for poetry for all time by making it a task and an imposition."

— Ernest Shackleton,

In his final semester at the college, he was able to place fifth among his class of thirty-one. Despite scholarly shortcomings, Shackleton served as inspiration to boys at the college and was recognised as an Old Alleynian, an honorific given to deserving alumni. Furthermore, throughout his career, Shackleton was a voracious reader, which contributed to broadening his horizons.

Maritime career

At 16, Shackleton embarked on his career by joining the merchant marine rather than the Royal Navy. He chose this path for two reasons. First, the fee to join a cadet ship was too much, and second, his father procured him employment at the North Western Shipping Company aboard the sailing vessel Houghton Tower. This position allowed Shackleton to experience life at sea without the strictness of the Navy. Hence, the young man formed acquaintances with a variety of people—"officer, engineers, and apprentices alike." Following his initial voyage, Ernest agreed to a four-year commitment, and in 1898 at the age of 24 he became a master seaman, which enabled him to command a vessel.

After Shackleton completed the program, his father arranged a meeting between Ernest and Antarctic-donor Llewellyn Longstaff, who admired the young man's keenness. When Ernest asked him for assistance in joining Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the Antarctic, Longstaff complied. Shackleton was soon accepted as a member of the National Antarctic Expedition.

Expedition years

Discovery Expedition (1901–02)

Main article: Discovery Expedition

Discovery

The British National Antarctic Expedition, also known as the Discovery Expedition after the ship, RRS Discovery (1901–04), was a British expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott with the purpose of undertaking scientific research and exploration along the coast of the Ross Sea in Antarctica. This was Scott's first command, although he did have experience in the Royal Navy. Upon meeting Scott, Shackleton was assigned the duty of outfitting Discovery for the expedition.

Discovery departed London on July 31, 1901, for Antarctica. The team spent two summers in Antarctica, and Shackleton joined Scott and Dr Edward Wilson in a trek to the South Pole in 1902. The journey proceeded under difficult conditions as food was in short supply, and the party was forced to march up to 25 miles (40 km) in one day. Scott, Wilson and Shackleton reached as far south as 82° 17' S on December 31, 1902; however they were unable to continue because of severe conditions and terrain. Notably, they were 857 kilometres (533 mi) from the Pole and 412 kilometres (256 mi) further south than any human before.

Because of illness, Shackleton was sent home aboard the ship Morning by Scott, even though he had nearly fully recovered. Huntford has posited that Scott resented Shackleton's popularity and used health as an excuse to remove him. Indeed, Shackleton had been well-liked, even cheering the men by producing a Christmas pudding he had hidden in his socks. On the other hand, it has been alleged that Scott, when confronted by the ship's doctor with evidence that Shackleton was not particularly sick said, "If he does not go back sick he will go back in disgrace." Despite these claims, Shackleton and Scott continued on friendly terms in subsequent correspondence, although the experience has been described as a "defining moment of [Shackleton's] life."

Interim between the Discovery and Nimrod expeditions

Shackleton left The Discovery on February 28, 1902, to cheers from her crew and set off on Morning for Lyttleton, New Zealand. In mid-June 1903, he returned to London to good reception, particularly from Sir John Murray, president of the Royal Scottish Geographic Society and Sir Joseph Hooker, a surgeon from an earlier expedition to the Antarctic. They presented him as the first praiseworthy person to return from the Discovery Expedition.

Ernest Shackleton's wife, Lady Emily Dorman

In London, Shackleton was offered a position in the Royal Navy as a lieutenant, which might have led to a promising career in the merchant marine. Shackleton, however, opted to assist in outfitting a supply ship for his old expedition. Additionally, he was offered the position of "secretary and treasury" with the Royal Geographic Society. He was searching for an office job in order to marry, which he did. On April 9, 1904, he was wedded to Emily Mary Dorman.

In 1906, Shackleton ventured into politics, supporting the Liberal Unionist Party and unsuccessfully standing for Parliament in the 1906 general election in Dundee, garnering 3,865 votes to the victor's 9,276. Concomitantly, Shackleton prepared for another expedition to the Antarctic by raising funds and thus was active in business ventures such as a tobacco company and as a mill promoter. The mill owner, William Beardmore was impressed with Shackleton and helped sponsor his next expedition. Additionally, he raised funds via his wealthy friends. Through these efforts, Shackleton convinced Sir Phillip Lee Brocklehurst and author Campbell Mackellar to finance his expedition. With funds attained, Shackleton presented his idea for an Antarctic expedition to the Royal Geographic Society in competition with Henryk Arctowski. Shackleton's proposal was chosen, and on February 12, 1907, the details of the voyage, named the British Imperial Antarctic Expedition, were published in the Royal Society's newsletter, Geographic Journal.

Nimrod Expedition (1907–09)

Main article: Nimrod Expedition

Ernest Shackleton, 1909, in a publicity photo taken before the 1907–09 Antarctic expedition and published just before his return

On January 1, 1908, Nimrod sailed from Lyttleton Harbour, beginning the British Imperial Antarctic Expedition. The trip's goal was to land a party of between nine and twelve men at the site of Discovery's landing in February 1908 and to return to retrieve them in 1909. The party was to break into three groups, two of which would explore King Edward Land and Mount Melbourne. The third and main team was to reach the geographic South Pole.

To conserve coal, the ship was towed 2,700 kilometres (1,678 mi) by Konya to the Antarctic ice. Shackleton organised the trip and served as leader. Shackleton arranged for the expense to be split by the New Zealand government and the Union Steamship Company. Upon arrival on January 14, 1908, at the Antarctic Circle, the crew found that Discovery's base camp was inaccessible. Accordingly, Shackleton's base camp was built on Ross Island at Cape Royds, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the planned site. The party was in high spirits despite difficult conditions and the sickness of crew members, including a frostbitten toe that resulted in amputation. During this trip, Shackleton acquired his nickname, "the boss", because of his leadership abilities, which depended on camaraderie and admiration. Although the expedition team was unable to attain its goal of reaching the South Pole, Shackleton and his companions reached 88° 23' S, a point only 180 kilometres (112 mi) from the Pole. Accomplishments also included the first ascent of Mount Erebus, the location of the Magnetic South Pole by Douglas Mawson, Edgeworth David and MacKay (January 16, 1909), and the discovery of the Beardmore Glacier passage (named after Shackleton's patron). The group was the first to cross the Trans-Antarctic mountain range and to set foot on the South Polar Plateau.

File:Autumn-sunset.web.jpg

"The Autumn Sunset", in The Heart of the Antarctic, Volume I, by E. H. Shackleton, 1909

When the party, subsisting on half-rations, returned to base camp on February 28, 1909, Shackleton found a letter stating that Nimrod would sail on February 26. In response, the crew burnt the camp to attract the departing ship's attention. The ploy succeeded, and on March 1, 1909, Shackleton departed for home and returned to the United Kingdom a hero. He was knighted for reaching the furthest south of any human at that time. Regarding the failure to reach the South Pole, Shackleton remarked to his wife: "Better a live donkey than a dead lion." It would be three more years before Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first to reach the South Pole, followed shortly by Robert Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition.

Endurance Expedition (1914–16)

Main articles: Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and Ross Sea Party

File:Shackleton Endurance Aurora map.png

Map of the sea routes of Endurance, James Caird, and Aurora, the overland supply depot route of the Ross Sea Party, and the planned overland route of the Weddell Sea Party led by Ernest Shackleton on his trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914–15
Red: voyage of Endurance
Yellow: drift of Endurance in pack ice
Green: sea ice drift after Endurance sinks
Blue: voyage of James Caird
Turquoise: planned trans-Antarctic route
Orange: voyage of Aurora to Antarctica
Pink: retreat of Aurora
Brown: supply depot route

Although Amundsen reached the South Pole in 1911, interest in the Antarctic continued. Shackleton, who wanted to launch a trans-Antarctic expedition to carry the British flag across the continent from the Weddell Sea on the Atlantic side to the Ross Sea on the Pacific side by way of the pole, solicited investment from donors. The largest contribution, £24,000, came from James Key Caird. Shackleton was also able to acquire funds from the British Government (£10,000), the Royal Geographical Society (£1000), Dame Janet Stancomb-Wills, daughter of a tobacco tycoon, and Dudley Docker of the Birmingham Small Arms Company. Interest in the expedition was enormous: Shackleton received more than 5,000 applications for participation. Fifty-six men were chosen and divided into two groups, and Shackleton acquired the two required ships: Endurance for a Weddell Sea team and Aurora for a Ross Sea Party.

Working to free the Endurance.

Endurance departed Plymouth on August 8, 1914, for the Antarctic with 28 men. As Endurance approached Antarctica, ice conditions worsened, until on January 17 Endurance became frozen in place, and Shackleton ordered the ship wintered.

In May, the Antarctic sun set for the last time before winter, and Endurance kept its position until spring in the hope that warmer weather would free the vessel from the ice. When spring arrived, however, the breaking of the ice and subsequent movement of giant ice floes splintered the ship's hull. Although Endurance withstood considerable stress, on October 24 she was forced against a large floe, and water began pouring in.. After a few days, on October 27, Shackleton gave the abandon-ship order, and on November 21, 1915, Endurance finally slipped beneath the ice at 69° 00′ S, 51° 30′ W.

For roughly five and a half months, Shackleton and his men made attempts to sledge the approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) to Paulet Island. However, because of terrain difficulties and the constantly buckling sea ice, the party was unable to reach the island and only succeeded in using many of their valuable rations. This proved to be a problem as local animals disappeared; food became scarce, and the men resorted to eating their dogs. Additionally, Mrs. Chippy, the carpenter's beloved cat, was shot because Shackleton did not think he would survive the ordeal.

On April 9, an ice flow broke their camp into two, and Shackleton decided that the crew should enter the lifeboats and proceed to land. Initially, Shackleton had planned to lead the crew to Deception Island, about 320 kilometres (200 mi) away. However, after a few days in the boats, the crew members realised that their scarce resources would not allow them to make that journey, and Shackleton opted for the closer Elephant Island. After seven days at sea, the men landed there.

Voyage of James Caird

File:250px-South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands.png

Inhospitable ocean region around the South Sandwich Islands group and its largest island, South Georgia

Launching James Caird from the shore of Elephant Island, April 24, 1916

Elephant Island was an inhospitable place far from any shipping routes and thus a poor point from which to await rescue. Consequently, Shackleton felt it essential that he set out immediately upon arrival, and to him, it was obvious that he must head back to South Georgia, even if it meant traversing 1,287 kilometres (800 mi) of open ocean in one of the lifeboats. The lifeboat James Caird was chosen for the trip.

The waters that Shackleton was to cross in his boat of 7 metres (23 ft) are among the most treacherous in the world. Weather reports confirm that gale-force winds of 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph) to 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) are present in the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica on an average of 200 days per year; they cause ocean swells of 6 metres (20 ft), and the ship's captain, Frank Worsley, suggested that waves of 16 metres (52 ft) were not uncommon. Of the journey, Shackleton wrote:

At midnight I was at the tiller and suddenly noticed a line of clear sky between the south and south-west. I called to the other men that the sky was clearing, and then a moment later I realised that what I had seen was not a rift in the clouds but the white crest of an enormous wave. During twenty-six years' experience of the ocean in all its moods I had not encountered a wave so gigantic. It was a mighty upheaval of the ocean, a thing quite apart from the big white-capped seas that had been our tireless enemies for many days. I shouted, "For God's sake, hold on! It's got us!" Then came a moment of suspense that seemed drawn out into hours. White surged the foam of the breaking sea around us. We felt our boat lifted and flung forward like a cork in breaking surf. We were in a seething chaos of tortured water; but somehow the boat lived through it, half-full of water, sagging to the dead weight and shuddering under the blow. We baled with the energy of men fighting for life, flinging the water over the sides with every receptacle that came to our hands, and after ten minutes of uncertainty we felt the boat renew her life beneath us.

— Ernest Shackleton, South

Shackleton had refused to pack supplies for more than four weeks, knowing that if they did not reach land by that time the boat would be lost. And indeed, after 14 days, the crew was within sight of South Georgia. Leaving the others at the landing point on South Georgia, Shackleton and two men travelled over mountainous terrain for 36 hours to Stromness. No man had previously been able to venture more than 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) inland on the island. Staggering into Stromness, Shackleton and his team were welcomed into the whaling manager's house.

Shackleton returned to Elephant Island in August 1916, and found that all 22 men left behind had survived.

Rescue

Shackleton's first three attempts to rescue his men on Elephant Island failed. Desperate, he finally appealed to the Chilean government, which offered the help of Yelcho, a small seagoing tug from its navy. Yelcho reached Elephant Island on August 30, and Shackleton, in a quick operation, evacuated all 22 men, who had been stranded for 105 days. Meanwhile, the Ross Sea Party was still stranded at Cape Evans on Ross Island because Aurora had been stuck in ice for 10 months and could not reach them. Shackleton met Aurora in New Zealand and returned to rescue the Ross Sea Party. In all, every member of his expedition team survived.

World War I

Shackleton returned to England in May 1917, finding Europe in the midst of the First World War. He suffered from a heart condition, most likely due to the fatigue of his arduous journeys. He was too old to be conscripted, but nevertheless he volunteered for the army, repeatedly requesting to be sent to the front in France as a transport captain. Instead he was sent to Buenos Aires to boost British propaganda in South America. Unqualified as a diplomat, he unsuccessfully tried to persuade Argentina and Chile to enter the war on the side of the Allies. He returned home in 1918.

Shackleton was then asked to be the leader of a mission to Spitsbergen, an island above the Arctic Circle and to the north of Norway, in order to establish a British presence in that territory in the guise of a mining operation. However, in Tromsø, Shackleton suffered a heart attack and had to return. Despite this, he joined a military expedition to Murmansk, Russia, in the autumn of 1918; however the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, two weeks after he landed in Russia, and Shackleton returned home to publish the book South, about his adventures in Antarctica.

Quest Expedition and death (1921–22)

Main article: Shackleton-Rowett Expedition

Despite the events of the Endurance Expedition, Shackleton travelled again to the Antarctic aboard Quest. Although some of his former crew members had not received all of their pay from the Endurance Expedition, many of them signed on with their former "boss". The trip's purpose was to circumnavigate Antarctica by sea. However, when the party arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Shackleton fell ill after a heart attack. Even so, he refused to return the ship to England or seek treatment, and Quest continued south.

On January 4, 1922, the ship arrived off the coast of South Georgia. In the early morning hours, expedition member Macklin was called to Shackleton's cabin and noticed that he was ill. Macklin suggested to Shackleton that he "take things easier in the future", to which the reply was: "You are always wanting me to give up something, what do you want me to give up now?"

Sir Ernest Shackleton's grave in Grytviken, South Georgia

These would be the last words spoken by Sir Ernest Shackleton. A few moments later, at 2:50 a.m. on January 5, 1922, he suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 47. His men offered to return his body to Britain; however a message was received from Shackleton's wife asking that he be buried in South Georgia. On March 5, 1922, Ernest Shackleton was buried at Grytviken, South Georgia.

Legacy

Statue of Ernest Shackleton by Charles Sargeant Jagger outside the Royal Geographic Society Headquarters

Although Shackleton was not immediately recognised for his achievements after the Endurance Expedition, in later years his life's work has been the focus of many books, television shows, charities, and memorials. Among these are the James Caird Society, organised in 1994, which was set up to preserve the memory of Shackleton's achievements. The society is named after Shackleton's benefactor, who was also honoured by the naming of the lifeboat of 7 metres (23 ft) used to travel between Elephant Island and South Georgia Island. Its first life president was Shackleton's younger son, Edward Shackleton, and his granddaughter, Alexandra Shackleton, has been life president since 1995. James Caird itself is at Dulwich College in London.

Additionally, Sir Ernest Shackleton is the subject of Shackleton, a two-part Channel 4 drama directed by Charles Sturridge and starring Kenneth Branagh as the explorer. The same story is related in greater detail in the book Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing,and Shackleton is also the subject of a documentary, The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, produced and directed in 2000 by George Butler and narrated by Liam Neeson.

Shackleton's grave, near the former whaling station at Grytviken on South Georgia, is frequently visited by tourists from passing cruise ships. The British Antarctic Survey's logistics vessel RRS Ernest Shackleton (the replacement for RRS Bransfield) is named in his honour. Further, in May 1998 the Shackleton Memorial Library opened at the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. He is also commemorated with a statue outside the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, London, designed by the sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger. Finally, in recent years interest in Shackleton has revived, and he has become an icon of successful leadership for some modern business writers, who have published books extolling his leadership style. In addition, many books focus on the explorer's work.

Expedition advertisement

The following advertisement is said to have appeared in The Times to recruit crew members for one of Shackleton's expeditions. It described the conditions of the trip as follows:

Men Wanted: For hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success. Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Although the advertisement has been widely attributed to Shackleton, its existence has not been confirmed in The Times or other contemporary London sources.

References

• Davis, John King (1962). High Latitude. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
• Huntford, Roland (1998). Shackleton. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0786705442.
• Johnson, Rebecca L. (2003). Ernest Shackleton: Gripped by the Antarctic. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 0786705442.
• Kimmell, Elizabeth Cody (1999). Ice Story: Shackleton's Lost Expedition. Clarion Books. ISBN 0395915244.
• Mill, Hugh Robert (2006). The Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1428655271.
• Morrell, Margot and Capparell, Stephanie (2003). Shackleton's Way. Nicholas Brealey. ISBN 1-85788-318-7.
• Perkins, Dennis N.T. (2000). Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctica Expedition. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. ISBN 0814405436.
• Preston, Diana (1998). A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole. Houghton Mifflin Books. ISBN 0618002014.
• Rubin, Jeff (2005). Antarctica. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1740590945.
• Shackleton, Ernest. South (1919). The story of Shackleton's 1914–17 expedition. Available at Project Gutenberg.
• Speake, Jennifer (2003). Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1579584241.
• Swan, R.A. (1999). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University.ISSN 1833-7538.
• Turley, Charles (1915). Voyages of Captain Scott. Retold from Robert Falcon Scott's "The Voyage of the Discovery" and "Scott's Last Expedition". New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.
• Watkins, Julian Lewis (1950). The 100 Greatest Advertisements. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0486205401.
• Worsley, Frank A. (1999) Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393319946.
• Worsley, Frank A. (1998). Shackleton's Boat Journey. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393318648.

External links

• Site dedicated to Ernest Shackleton. Managed by the Shackleton family.
• Detailed biography
• Shackleton page at Dulwich College
• The James Caird Society
• The Shackleton Centenary Expedition. Includes details about the Shackleton Foundation.
• Speech in 2001 by former Boeing executive Harry Stonecipher. Asserts that Shackleton's grace under pressure teaches how to make right decisions in hard times.
• PBS:Nova - Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance
• National Public Radio documentary, Walking Out of History. John Rabe hosts, with voices of survivors, diaries and memoirs, and modern explorers Ann Bancroft and Will Steger.
• e-text of Shackleton's book South Recounts the expedition of 1914–16.
• Did Shackleton ever place the famous ad?
• Ernest Shackleton's cylinder recording, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara library.