Frank Worsley was captain of a ship during the war, and a German submarine was sunk under his command. After he returned from the Quest expedition, he went on to pursue more adventure in the Arctic and the South Pacific. He tried to return to service for the Second World War but was rejected when it was discovered he was almost seventy years old. He died of lung cancer at age seventy in 1943.
Harry McNeish continued to work as a ship's carpenter. When he retired, he lived with his son's family for a while, then decided to move to New Zealand. He had a drinking problem and eventually wound up homeless, living on the docks in Wellington. The other sailors there respected him for having been on the Endurance, and all chipped in to take care of him. They finally got him into a rest home, where he died in 1930 at the age of fifty-six.
The Crew of the Aurora (The Ross Sea Party), under the command of Aeneas Mackintosh, succeeded in laying the depots of food and fuel that Shackleton would have needed in the crossing of the continent. They endured many hardships and suffered the loss of three men. Much like his brother Frank, Ernest Wild was a quietly heroic figure who many considered responsible for their accomplishments. “There are some things that have great value but no glitter,” another expedition member wrote about Ernest in the Report of the Ross Sea Party. “Consistent … long-suffering, patient, industrious, good-humoured, unswervingly loyal, he made an enormous contribution to our well-being.”
SOURCES
ON THE ENDURANCE EXPEDITION
Alexander, Caroline. The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition. New York: Knopf,1998.
Bakewell, William. The American on the Endurance: Ice Sea and Terra Firma Adventures of William L. Bakewell. Munising, MI: Dukes Hall Publishing,2003.
Huntford, Roland. Shackleton. New York: Carroll & Graf,1985.
Hurley, Frank. South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, 1914–1917. New York: Simon & Schuster,2001.
Hussey, L. D. A. South with Shackleton. London: Sampson Low,1949.
Lansing, Alfred. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. New York: Carroll & Graf,1959.
Shackleton, Ernest. South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage. New York: Carroll & Graf,1998.
Smith, Michael. Tom Crean: Unsung Hero of the Scott and Shackleton Antarctic Expeditions. Seattle: Mountaineers Books,2001.
Worsley, Frank. Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure. London: Philip Allan,1931.
GENERAL BACKGROUND
Cameron, Ian. Antarctica: The Last Continent. Boston: Little, Brown,1974.
Gurney, Alan. Below the Convergence: Voyages Toward Antarctica, 1699–1839. New York: Penguin,1998.
Kamler, Kenneth. Surviving the Extremes: A Doctor's Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance. New York: St. Martin,2004.
Murray, George, ed. The Antarctic Manual for the Use of the Expedition of 1901. Johannesberg: Explorer Books (Facsimile Edition),1994.
Stoner, George W. Handbook for the Ship's Medicine Chest, 1900. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,1900.
UNPUBLISHED SOURCES
The Antarctic Chef: The Story of the Life of Charles Green. 1999. Compiled by Green's nephew, Roy Cockram.
Diary of H. McNeish, Carpenter with Shackleton's Expedition, 1914–1916. 1916. Transcribed by Shane Murphy from microfilm G512, National Library of Australia, Canberra, courtesy of Robert Stephenson.
Diary of Thomas Orde Lees. 1916. Transcribed by Margot Morrell, from the collection of Robert Stephenson.
Shackleton's Photographer: The Standard Edition. 2001. Composite of the diaries of Frank Hurley, Frank Worsley, Thomas Orde Lees, and others, edited by Shane Murphy.
WEB SITE
www.Antarctic-Circle.org
TIMELINE
1914
Aug. 8 The Endurance leaves England.
Oct. 9 The Endurance arrives in Buenos Aires.
Oct. 26 The Endurance leaves Buenos Aires.
Nov. 5–Dec. 5 Shackleton waits at South Georgia Island for the pack ice to open.
Dec. 7 First sight of pack ice.
1915
Jan. 6 Sally delivers puppies.
Jan. 19 The Endurance trapped by ice.
Jan. 24–Feb. 14 Open leads appear, and the men make several attempts to free the ship.
Feb. 24 Shackleton declares the ship is now a winter station.
May 1 The sun sets for the winter.
June 22 Midwinter's Day—longest night of the year.
July 26 The sun peeks above the horizon again.
Aug. 1–3 Ice begins to move—first major attack of pressure ice.
Aug. 26–Sept. 2 Second major attack of pressure ice.
Oct. 17 The Endurance floats in a small open lead but cannot break out.
Oct. 18–27 Pressure crushes the ship; the men work valiantly to save her.
Oct. 27 The Endurance is abandoned.
Oct. 30–31 Attempt to march toward Paulet Island, hauling two lifeboats and all supplies.
Nov. 1–Dec. 23 “Ocean Camp”—the men make scavenging trips to the wrecked ship for more supplies and the third lifeboat.
Nov. 21 The wrecked Endurance sinks completely.
Dec. 23–29 Second attempt to march—covers only about ten miles.
1916
Dec. 29, 1915–April 9, 1916 “Patience Camp.”
April 9 Set off in the three lifeboats.
April 15 Land on Elephant Island.
April 17 Sail to safer location on Elephant Island, set up camp on “Cape Wild.”
April 24 Shackleton and five men leave in the James Caird for South Georgia Island.
May 10 They arrive on South Georgia Island.
May 19–20 Shackleton, Crean, and Worsley walk across the mountains to the whaling station.
April 17–Aug. 30 Remaining men live under two lifeboats on Elephant Island.
May 23–28 First rescue attempt from South Georgia in the Southern Sky.
June 15 Perce Blackborow's toes amputated.
June 17–25 Second rescue attempt from Falkland Islands in Instituto de Pesca No 1.
July 12–Aug. 3 Third rescue attempt from Punta Arenas aboard the Emma.
Aug. 25 Fourth rescue attempt aboard the Yelcho departs from Punta Arenas.
Aug. 30 Shackleton rescues all men on Elephant Island.
Sept. 3 The Yelcho arrives in Punta Arenas, Chile.
Oct. 8 Shackleton leaves for New Zealand.
Dec. 20 Shackleton sails for Antarctica aboard the Aurora to rescue the Ross Sea Party.
Dec. 22 Perce Blackborow arrives home in Wales.
1917
Jan. 10 The Aurora arrives in McMurdo Sound. Three of the men in the Ross Sea Party have died.
Jan. 17 After several searches for the bodies, the Aurora leaves Antarctica.
May 29 Shackleton arrives home in England.
1921
Sept. 17 Shackleton sails from England aboard the Quest.
1922
January 5 Shackleton dies aboard the Quest, which is anchored by Grytviken whaling station on South Georgia Island.
March 5 Shackleton is buried in the whalers' cemetery at Grytviken.
Members of the 1914–1916 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Name Position Nickname Birthplace
Sir Ernest Shackleton Leader Boss Ireland
Frank Wild Second in command Frankie England
Frank Worsley Ship's captain Skipper, Wuzzles New Zealand
Lionel Greenstreet First officer Horace England
Thomas Crean Second officer Tom, Irish Giant Ireland
Alfred Cheetham Third officer Alf England
Hubert T. Hudson Navigator Buddha England
Louis Rickinson First engineer Rickey England
Alfred J. Kerr Second engineer Krasky Scotland
Dr. Alexander H. Macklin Surgeon Mack England
Dr. James A. McIlroy Surgeon Mickey England
James M. Wordie Geologist Jock Scotland
Leonard Hussey Meteorologist (b
anjo player) Uzbird England
Reginald W. James Physicist Jimmy England
Robert S. Clark Biologist Bob Scotland
James (Frank) Hurley Photographer The Prince Australia
Thomas H. Orde Lees Motor expert (storekeeper) Colonel, Old Lady England
George Marston Artist Putty England
Harry McNeish Carpenter Chips, Chippy Scotland
Charles Green Cook Doughballs England
Walter How Able seaman Hownow England
William Bakewell Able seaman Billy, Bakie United States
Timothy McCarthy Able seaman Tim Ireland
Thomas McLeod Able seaman Stornoway Scotland
John Vincent Able seaman Bosun England
Perce Blackborow Steward Blackie Wales
Ernest Holness Fireman* Holie England
William Stevenson Fireman* Steve England
*Firemen on a ship take care of the engines.
FURTHER READING
FOR YOUNGER READERS:
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance, by Jennifer Armstrong. Crown, 1998.
FOR OLDER READERS:
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing. Orion, 2000.
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, by Caroline Alexander. Knopf, 1998.
FOR THE TRULY ADDICTED:
Shackleton, by Roland Huntford. Carroll & Graf, 1985. Provides a fascinating and comprehensive (774 pages) history of polar exploration.
OTHER POLAR EXPLORATIONS:
The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. Pimlico, 2004. A great book, telling the story of a young man's experience on Robert Scott's expedition to the South Pole.
Victoria McKernan started hitchhiking around the world at the age of eighteen and has had a lifelong interest in the sea. Since learning to scuba-dive on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, she has worked as a scuba instructor, dive master, underwater model, and support diver for Hydrolab, an underwater research habitat. She is also the author of four novels for adults.
Victoria McKernan lives in Washington, D.C., with a dog, two cats, and one boa constrictor.
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