Shackleton's Boat Journey
"The Weddell Sea might be described as the Antarctic extension of the South Atlantic Ocean. Near the southern extreme of the Weddell Sea in 77° south latitude Shackleton's ship Endurance, under my command, was beset in heavy pack ice. The temperature in February fell to 53° of frost -- an unusually cold snap for the southern summer of 1914-15.The pack ice froze into a solid mass. We were unable to free the ship and she drifted northwest, 1,000 miles during the summer, autumn, and winter. The Endurance was crushed, and sank in 69° S."These are the dramatic opening words of Frank Worsley's gripping adventure story, hardly hinted at by his book's unassuming title. Worsley was the captain of the Endurance, and the matter-of-fact tone that pervades this book serves to heighten rather than diminish the astounding accomplishments of Ernest Shackleton and his crew, who were attempting an Antarctic Expedition. When the Endurance became trapped, the task of the expedition changed from one of exploration to one of survival. Manning the three lifeboats, the crew attempted to reach land, but their way was blocked by the same sort of ice that had just crushed the Endurance. They were forced to set up camp on giant ice floes, and remained drifting for five months.
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4recommend
4mentions
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2018–2024years
100% recommend
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What Hacker News says
- Shackleton's Boat Journey by Worsley (the captain) is the way to go.
- Two more I would recommend in addition to Lansing's that focus more on different specific aspects of that expedition are "Shackleton's Boat Journey" by Frank Worsley (who served as captain of Endurance) and "Shackleton's Heroes: The Epic Story of the Men Who Kept the Endurance Expedition Alive" by Wilson McOrist.
I think anyone with an interest in sailing or maritime navigation will appreciate Worsley's first-hand account of the crossing from Elephant Island to South Georgia in a modified lifeboat[0]. Worsley covers the subsequent crossing of South Georgia's mountainous interior in great detail as well.
And often left out from popular accounts is mention of the Ross Sea Party[1], who endured terrible conditions on the other side of the Antarctic continent to ensure that Shackleton and his crew would have had enough supplies to survive the final stretches coming from the other side of the continent.
- "Shackleton's Boat Journey" by F. A. Worsley is a first hand account of the journey, written by the Captain of the Endurance.
No fluff in this book, it gets directly to the action. Worsley has a very direct writing style which is easy to read.
- Also, the aforementioned Frank Worsley (Shackleton's navigator) wrote a terrific book called 'Shackleton's Boat Journey', an account of their (successful, as it were!) attempt to rescue the crew after the pole-traversal expedition ran into problems. Reads almost like a thriller.
Also, Apsley Cherry-Garrard wrote a quite harrowing account of Scott's expedition. Highly recommended.
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