Shackleton's Endurance Found!

Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship ‘Endurance’ has been found in the Weddell Sea 107 years after it was crushed by ice and sank to the freezing depths. Last month we excitedly relayed the news of the Endurance22 expedition setting off from South Africa in search of this famous shipwreck, and we are so thrilled to see these incredible photos documenting their successful discovery of the wreck 3008 meters below the ice.

The wreck is in a brilliant state of preservation – the masts are down and in a tangle but the hull looks strong, the anchors are present, and the subs even spied some boots and crockery! The ship’s name – ENDURANCE – is arced across its stern.

This has to be one of the hardest shipwreck searches ever undertaken, but the icy and inhospitable waters of the Weddell Sea (despite causing difficulty for the mission) has meant that wood eating organisms are not present resulting in such an incredibly intact wreck which is almost frozen in time.

Congratulations to Endurance22 on their successful voyage! If you are interested in why this wreck means so much, especially to us here at Arthur Beale, then read our previous blog post where we covered the incredible survival story of Shackleton and his men after the Endurance sank (and his relationship to Arthur Beale too). It is truly the stuff of legend.