Ryan Metke
The Endurance, 2014
Acrylic on canvas
44 x 59 in
111.8 x 149.9 cm
111.8 x 149.9 cm
Signed & dated on verso
Copyright The Artist
Shackleton and Shinbone Peak Ernest Shackleton was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. In 1914 Shackleton led a crew of 28 men and 69 sled...
Shackleton and Shinbone Peak
Ernest Shackleton was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. In 1914 Shackleton led a crew of 28 men and 69 sled dogs on what was intended to be the first Trans-Antarctic crossing. Their ship initially was christened 'Polaris' (eponymous with Polaris, the North Star) but was later christened the 'Endurance' for the Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Tragedy struck in late January of 1915 when the Endurance was trapped in the heavy pack ice of the Weddell Sea. For ten months the crew were left helpless, waiting for the South Oceans Currents to cycle the pack ice back out to open waters. Their plan was working until the pressure of the pack ice snapped the timbers of the Endurance's hull like a frozen twig. The team was left with few options at this point. They set out with all the provisions and materials they could salvage from the Endurance. Not before Frank Hurley, the expeditions photographer insisted on diving into the frigid water, down to the broken bow of the ship to recover some of his glass photographic negatives.
After months of dragging the three wooden life boats and their supplies through the tundra, they were finally able to launch their boats into the broken sea. Following the trunk of the Antarctic Peninsula they set out for Elephant Island. Rowing the small boats through the maze of ice sheets, they had finally made it to the small island populated only by penguins, seals and small sea birds. Shackleton led his crew one step closer to survival but knew that it would be highly unlikely that a whaling ship would travel that far down into the South Ocean to come to their aid. If anything, the search parties would be looking for the crew across the continent on the Pacific side of Antarctica, because that was the intended end point of the expedition.
After close to a year of eating frozen seal meat in below freezing temperatures, Shackleton decided he needed to make a calculated risk. He ordered his men and the expeditions carpenter to cannibalize two of the life boats, using the extra timbers to reinforce the one life boat Shackleton planned on sailing to civilization. South Georgia Island is far from civilized, but there is a small whaling station on the north side of the island. Most mariners would agree that it is suicide to enter the South Ocean in early spring, let alone in a dingy. The two man crew and Shackleton were determined to reach it to the rocky shores of South Georgia Island. Using primitive navigational equipment and dead reckoning, the exhausted crew managed to sail the 935 kilometers (581 Miles) through multiple storms. After sixteen days at sea and very little sleep, the crew miraculously made it to the shores of South Georgia. The only problem was that they ended up on the southern shore of the Island.
The beat up three man team drove nails into the bottoms of their soggy boots and set out on the thirty six hour hike. Armed with not much more than fifty feet of rope and a carpenters adze, the crew climbed throughout the night. Northward! With Polaris as their beacon. Upon summiting the spine of the unforgiving terrain, Shackleton then knew they were going to make it. Shackleton has said in reference to the last legs of this marathon that he had felt the presence of a fourth man, the man above. Blistered, bruised and completely spent, the crew stumbled into the whaling station camp. The whalers could barley recognize the men as humans, even though they had met two years before at the beginning of the Endurance's voyage.
It still took Shackleton three and a half months to arrange an Argentinian steamer to set out for Elephant Island to rescue the rest of the crew. After the 900th time listening to " The Gaby Glide " on their Edison Phonograph, the marooned crew on Elephant Island awoke to an unfamiliar sound. "Everybody loves the sound of a steamship in the distance, everybody thinks it's true.......". Paul Simon said that, something like that.
Back to it.
Not one member of the 28 person crew perished over the two years on the coldest continent.
Shackleton's original posting advertisement in the newspapers of the day read:
"MEN WANTED
for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success."
All but the "Honor and Recognition," rang true. The world itself was on some thin ice in 1916. With young soldiers losing their lives in the trenches of World War I, not many people were quick to make heroes out of anyone. Years later, following the safe return of Shackleton's crew, he returned to the South Ocean. Ernest Shackleton suffered a heart attack while at sea and was laid to rest on South Georgia Island.
Ernest Shackleton was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. In 1914 Shackleton led a crew of 28 men and 69 sled dogs on what was intended to be the first Trans-Antarctic crossing. Their ship initially was christened 'Polaris' (eponymous with Polaris, the North Star) but was later christened the 'Endurance' for the Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Tragedy struck in late January of 1915 when the Endurance was trapped in the heavy pack ice of the Weddell Sea. For ten months the crew were left helpless, waiting for the South Oceans Currents to cycle the pack ice back out to open waters. Their plan was working until the pressure of the pack ice snapped the timbers of the Endurance's hull like a frozen twig. The team was left with few options at this point. They set out with all the provisions and materials they could salvage from the Endurance. Not before Frank Hurley, the expeditions photographer insisted on diving into the frigid water, down to the broken bow of the ship to recover some of his glass photographic negatives.
After months of dragging the three wooden life boats and their supplies through the tundra, they were finally able to launch their boats into the broken sea. Following the trunk of the Antarctic Peninsula they set out for Elephant Island. Rowing the small boats through the maze of ice sheets, they had finally made it to the small island populated only by penguins, seals and small sea birds. Shackleton led his crew one step closer to survival but knew that it would be highly unlikely that a whaling ship would travel that far down into the South Ocean to come to their aid. If anything, the search parties would be looking for the crew across the continent on the Pacific side of Antarctica, because that was the intended end point of the expedition.
After close to a year of eating frozen seal meat in below freezing temperatures, Shackleton decided he needed to make a calculated risk. He ordered his men and the expeditions carpenter to cannibalize two of the life boats, using the extra timbers to reinforce the one life boat Shackleton planned on sailing to civilization. South Georgia Island is far from civilized, but there is a small whaling station on the north side of the island. Most mariners would agree that it is suicide to enter the South Ocean in early spring, let alone in a dingy. The two man crew and Shackleton were determined to reach it to the rocky shores of South Georgia Island. Using primitive navigational equipment and dead reckoning, the exhausted crew managed to sail the 935 kilometers (581 Miles) through multiple storms. After sixteen days at sea and very little sleep, the crew miraculously made it to the shores of South Georgia. The only problem was that they ended up on the southern shore of the Island.
The beat up three man team drove nails into the bottoms of their soggy boots and set out on the thirty six hour hike. Armed with not much more than fifty feet of rope and a carpenters adze, the crew climbed throughout the night. Northward! With Polaris as their beacon. Upon summiting the spine of the unforgiving terrain, Shackleton then knew they were going to make it. Shackleton has said in reference to the last legs of this marathon that he had felt the presence of a fourth man, the man above. Blistered, bruised and completely spent, the crew stumbled into the whaling station camp. The whalers could barley recognize the men as humans, even though they had met two years before at the beginning of the Endurance's voyage.
It still took Shackleton three and a half months to arrange an Argentinian steamer to set out for Elephant Island to rescue the rest of the crew. After the 900th time listening to " The Gaby Glide " on their Edison Phonograph, the marooned crew on Elephant Island awoke to an unfamiliar sound. "Everybody loves the sound of a steamship in the distance, everybody thinks it's true.......". Paul Simon said that, something like that.
Back to it.
Not one member of the 28 person crew perished over the two years on the coldest continent.
Shackleton's original posting advertisement in the newspapers of the day read:
"MEN WANTED
for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success."
All but the "Honor and Recognition," rang true. The world itself was on some thin ice in 1916. With young soldiers losing their lives in the trenches of World War I, not many people were quick to make heroes out of anyone. Years later, following the safe return of Shackleton's crew, he returned to the South Ocean. Ernest Shackleton suffered a heart attack while at sea and was laid to rest on South Georgia Island.