A NATIONAL Geographic film opening in cinemas today will give viewers a remarkable new look at Sir Ernest Shackleton’s famous ship HMS Endurance which sank more than a century ago.
Endurance went down in 1915 after becoming trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea. The wreck was discovered two years ago on the bed of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica.
Using around 25,000 digital scans taken since the stricken vessel’s discovery, National Geographic will be showcasing the incredible images in the film which will also demonstrate how the ship has been preserved.
Despite the three kilometre descent, even smaller objects remain where they were left on Endurance’s deck. Among the rigging and detailed woodwork, dinner plates and a knee-high leather boot believed to belong to Frank Wild – Shackleton’s deputy – can be seen.
The high-res images even picked out the flare gun fired by Endurance’s resident photographer Frank Hurley.
“Hurley gets this flare gun, and he fires the flare gun into the air with a massive detonator as a tribute to the ship,” explained Dr John Shears who led the 2022 expedition that located the resting place of HMS Endurance.
“And then in the diary, he talks about putting it down on the deck. And there we are. We come back over 100 years later, and there’s that flare gun, incredible.”
The expedition, funded by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, to digitally record the wreck used technology from Voyis Imaging and Deep Ocean Search to create 3D scans. Both organisations deployed underwater robots to map Endurance from every possible angle in order to create a digital replica of the 44 metre ship.
The documentary – directed by Chai Vasarhelyi, Natalie Hewit and Jimmy Chin (who last week found the boot and sock of 1924 Everest climber Sandy Irvine) – tells the story of two expeditions.
Firstly, it depicts the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition where Shackleton’s ship became stuck and, second, the Endurance22 expedition that located the vessel on March 5, 2022.
Endurance22 was headed up by Dr Shears with Nico Vincent as the manager of the underwater operation.
“The release of the National Geographic documentary is a milestone for the Trust,” said Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust chairman, Donald Lamont.
“As well as locating, surveying, and filming the wreck, our aim was to bring the stories of Shackleton and of his ship to new generations.
“They are stories of grit and determination that we hope will inspire people across the globe with the qualities of leadership and perseverance in the face of adversity. The stories of both expeditions are set in the hostile environment of the Antarctica, a continent whose changing features affect us all.”
The discovery of the sunken ship, however, is not necessarily the headline act in the National Geographic documentary. There is, of course, the work of Ernest Shackleton himself that must be acknowledged. Which it is, in the documentary’s synopsis leading with the legendary adventurer’s outstanding qualities as a leader and a survivalist…
In a legendary feat of leadership and perseverance, polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton kept his crew of 27 men alive for over a year despite the loss of their ship in frigid pack ice. Over a century later, a team of modern-day explorers sets out to find the sunken ship. From National Geographic Documentary Films and directed by Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin and Natalie Hewit, ENDURANCE tells the inspiring stories of these two landmark expeditions, bound by their shared grit and determination.
ENDURANCE will be available in cinemas today.
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