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JAMES CAIRD SOCIETY JOURNAL NO 5
THE NEW JOURNAL IS NOW READY
Stephen Scott-Fawcett, the editor of the James Caird Society Journal, is delighted to announce the publication of issue no. 5.
The Journal is designed to complement with in-depth articles the news element to be found in the James Caird Society Newsletter.
Stephen Haddelsey, aithor of lives of Frank Bickerton and J.R.Stenhouse, describes the process of researching and writing about some of the leading figures in Antarctic exploration.
Robert Stephenson has produced a fascinating and well-researched article on Shackleton's American lecture tour in 1910 following the Nimrod expedition.
Michael Smith writes about the activities of the masters of the Erebus and Terror on the pioneering Ross-Crozier expedition of 1839-43.
For fascinating detail about the movement aned composition of polar ice J.M.Wordie's own report, published in 1920 and focusing on Wordie's careful and astute observations on the Endurance coould scarcely be bettered. Wordie's original is reproduced here.
THE AURORA AUSTRALIS AND AURORA BOREALIS
News of dramatic pictures from space of the Antarctica's Aurora Australis and her northern equivalent, the Aurora Borealis, can be found at the BBC's Science and Technology site, and also at the superb National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Library site.
ANTARCTIC PHOTOS AT GERMAN ONLINE SITE
Antarctic Link has also drawn our attention to the valuable and intriguing collection of photos of Antarctica which can be found at a German language site, &-Online, including some taken by Pete Bucktrout, the British Antarctic Survey's photographer.
LEADING ANTARCTIC EXPLORERS: SHIRASE, DE GERLACHE, NORDENSKJöLD, FILCHNER, WILKINS
The 'South Pole' site is also a very useful source for biographies of the main competitors in the history of Antarctic exploring, both early pioneers and those who were part of the second great age of Antarctic exploration.
Read about Ross's career in exploration
The completion of the great British naval expedition of 1839-43, under the command of James Clark Ross on HMS Erebus and Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier on HMS Terror brought to an end the era of early Antarctic exploration. On the other hand, a significant number of sealing and whaling voyages were undertaken by a variety of nations in the years leading up to the end of the century.
In July 1895, the Sixth International Geographical Congress met in London and adopted a resolution: 'That this congress record its opinion that the exploration of the Antarctic Regions is the greatest piece of geographical exploration still to be undertaken. That in view of the additions to knowledge in almost every branch of science which would result from such a scientific exploration the Congress recommends that the scientific societies throughout the world should urge in whatever way seems to them most effective, that this work should be undertaken before the close of the century'.
Read about Shirase's career
Read about the Nobu Shirase Memorial Museum
Just such an undertaking was already under preparation by a lieutenant in the Royal Belgian Navy. He was 29 years old and his name was Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache. a 250-ton barque was purchased for 70,000 francs in Norway. The three-masted whaler Patric had been built for the icy waters of the north. Extensive refitting was done and subsequently re-christened as the Belgica. On July 29, 1896, de Gerlache received a letter from a 25-year-old Norwegian wishing to sail, unpaid, aboard the 'Belgica'. His request was accepted and thus Roald Amundsen was added to the ship's crew.
Read about de Gerlache's 'Belgica' expedition at Cool Antarctica
Read about the 'Belgica' expedition on the Belgian website
Adrien de Gerlache and the Belgian expedition aboard the 'Belgica', 1897-9
The stories of other great figures in the history of Antarctic Exploration can also be found there. They include Otto Nordenskjöld, the Scandinavian who was also the discoverer of the North East Passage (north of Russia to the Bering Strait) and who also suffered a disaster to his ship and threat to his and his men's lives comparable to Shackleton's loss of the Endurance.
Otto Nordenskjöld, the sinking of the 'Antarctic', and the marooned men rescued by Carl Larsen 1901-3
Indeed Nordenskjöld's disaster, and the remarkable story of the saving of his men, together with other stories of ship-loss and survival (or non-survival) from earlier in the century and in the early years of Polar exploration, will have had a strong influence on the planning of men like Shackleton, Nansen, Scott and Amundsen.
Other prominent expeditions included those from the United States, from many parts of Europe, including the Scandinavian countries, France and Germany, with Russia and China in pursuit, and also from Japan:
William Bruce and the 'Scotia' expedition 1902-4
Scott's 'Discovery' Expedition 1901-3
The Japanese explorer Nobu Shirase, who led a contemporary expedition to Scott and Amundsen
Scott's last expedition aboard the 'Terra Nova', 1910-13
Jean-Baptiste Charcot, the 'Gentleman of the Antarctic', 1903-5 and 1908-10
It was with the assistance of Shackleton, Nordenskjöld and Amundsen that the great German explorer Wilhelm Filchner, after whom the Filchner Ice Shelf was named, secured the use of the Norwegian ship the Bjorn, which earned fame when renamed the Deutschland. The ship left Buenos Aires on 4th October 1911 and arrived on the 18th at South Georgia.
The German crew spent the next 48 days at the Norwegian whaling station at Grytviken. While there, they boarded the Undine and investigated the coasts, making new charts, and re-opened the observatory at Royal Bay. They also made an exploratory trip to the South Sandwich Islands.
Read about the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf
Visit the Solar Navigator's page on Shackleton - a first-rate summary
Filchner's ship and crew departed for the Weddell Sea on December 11, 1911. What with the life-threatening experience of Nordenskjöld before him, Filchner wrote, "None of us knew if we would ever come back alive".
Sir Hubert Wilkins (1888-1959), who served on Shackleton's Quest expedition, was one of the great Australian Polar explorers who followed in the steps of Sir Douglas Mawson. His first Polar expedition, to the Arctic, was in 1913. He was an eminent photographer who recorded Australia's wartime contribution, including at Ypres uner fire, and returned to film the Gallipoli battlefield where the Anzacs made their famous stand, after the war.
The Australian explorer Hubert Wilkins
Wilkins' many ventures included Antarctic flights and an attempt to take a submarine, the Nautilus, under the North Pole in summer, 1931. Despite the failure to achieve his planned end, he did succeed in proving that submarines are capable of operating beneath the polar ice cap, and this important discovery paved the way for successful submarine exploratory trips thereafter.
Wilkins' other bold endeavours in the Arctic included a pioneering flight to Spitsbergen from Alaska across the Arctic Sea. Later he and his colleague and pilot, Carl Ben Eielson, were the first to make flights over the Antarctic (exploring the Graham Land Pensinsula starting from Deception Island - this was the first time ever that a plane had been used to map uncharted territory).
Read about Wilkins and his wartime record
Read about Wilkins' polar air feats
However Wilson was unsuccessful in his ernest bid to become the first to fly to the South Pole.
Explore Sir Hubert Wilkins's life and career at his 'own' website
Read about Sir Hubert Wilkins' achievements at Wikipedia
After the 1919 Air Race (says Sir Hubert.com) Wilkins returned to England strongly determined to continue polar exploration. He joined Dr John Cope on the Imperial Antarctic Expedition. It was Wilkins' first trip to the Antarctic, but the expedition lacked funds and achieved relatively little.
Next, Hubert Wilkins was appointed Naturalist on what was to prove Sir Ernest Shackleton's last expedition to the Antarctic, aboard the Quest. The ship gave trouble on the way out, and had to be repaired in South America. Wilkins went on ahead to South Georgia to photograph the flora and fauna. It was only when the Quest arrived six weeks later that he learned the tragic news that Shackleton had died on board ship
Many years later, after Wilkins' death in 1958, a ship was named after him. The Sir Hubert Wilkins is an ice-strengthened ship which was formerly the state launch of Finland. It was purchased in 2000 by Antarctic veterans Don and Margie McIntyre, of the Australian based company "Ocean Frontiers". She was converted in October 2000 and a helicopter landing pad was added. She is now based in Tasmania and operates from there south to the Antarctic mainland in the Australian Antarctic Territory and the Ross Dependency, providing logistic support for both private and government-sponsored Antarctic expeditions.
Many of Hubert Wilkins's papers have been collected and archived by the Byrd Polar Research Center at the Ohio State University. Their site is well worth a visit, and gives details of the collection held and samples of the photos, of which a large number can be obtained on CD at low cost.
Visit the Byrd Polar Research Center for a wide range of Polar activities and documentation
Read a Wilkins chronology at the Ohio site
Read about Wilkins' life at the Ohio State University archives
Read an alternative biography at the Ohio site
'VIRTUAL SHACKLETON' DISPLAY AT THE SCOTT-POLAR WEBSITE
Welcome to Virtual Shackleton! This exciting new section of the Scott-Polar Research Institute's website responds to the tremendous popular interest in the life and expeditions of Sir Ernest Shackleton.
Virtual Shackleton allows you to view a selection of the SPRI's unique archive and museum treasures and aims to provide a scholarly resource as well as an introduction to the Institute's wealth of historical documents and artefacts.
One of many fascinating and intriguing items is a pair of snow goggles, used by Sir Ernest Shackleton during the Endurance expedition. As the accompanying article records, 'After the successful crossing of South Georgia to reach the safety of the whaling station at Stromness, Shackleton gave these goggles to a Norwegian whaler from Sandefjord called Harald Nilsen. The whalers knew Shackleton well and were enormously helpful both before the expedition left for the Antarctic and also when he returned in May 1916, to set about rescuing his men.' Another is a chronometer (a very accurate watch used for navigation). This was used by Worsley during the open boat journey, aboard James Caird, from Elephant Island to South Georgia in 1916, which remains one of the greatest boat journeys ever accomplished. 'Worsley's skill in navigating is remarkable. Using only a sextant and chronometer they reached the safety of King Haakon Bay in South Georgia on 10 May 1916 and saved the lives of the men stranded on Elephant island.'
Explore the SPRI's 'Virtual Shackleton' pages to view documents and correspondence
There are items relating to five expeditions of which Shackleton took part or which he led. They are: Discovery (Scott's 1901-4 Antarctic expedition), on which Shackleton served; Nimrod; Endurance: Aurora (the support party to the Endurance expedition); and Quest (Shackleton's uncompleted last expedition of 1921-2). Virtual Shackleton, the SPRI explains, is an ongoing project and more articles will be added in the future.
See the list of objects and correspondence held by the SPRI
A prize possession is Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance diary, along with his diaries from the Nimrod and the Quest. There are also the deck logs from the Nimrod and Quest, and two other valuable Shackleton diaries: one being the diary he kept on Captain Scott's Discovery expedition, together with the scientific notes he made on that, his first expedition; the other being his first Antarctic sledging diary The many other treasured items include a sheet of instructions from Shackleton on what each of the men should do if the ice brokeup around 'Ocean Camp', one of the Endurance party's temporary (though nonetheless trusty and enduring) resting places on the ice; a telegram from Queen Alexandra to Emily Shackleton upon the news of Shackleton's safe arrival in the Falklands; a letter from Shackleton to his wife; a letter from Sir James Caird, sponsor of the Endurance expedition; a letter from the Liptons tea company about supplies for the Aurora; the chart used by Shackleton's ten men stranded in the Ross Sea at the same time as the Endurance expedition (and currently on loan to the French maritime exhibition); a list of provisions and letter from Capt. Aeneas Mackintosh, commander of the Aurora; and sections of the diary of Dr. Alexander Macklin charting the crew's arrival at Elephant Island.
See Dr. Macklin's diary
See another letter from Shackleton on the 'Nimrod' expedition to his wife Emily
See Shackleton's instructions regarding Ocean Camp
There is a testimonial letter introducing Shackleton from Sir Clements Markham, RGS President; a humorous article by Captain Scott published in the South Polar Times; a spirited letter of request from three young ladies, Peggy Pegrine, Valerie Davey and Betty Webster, to join Shackleton's Endurance expedition.
The letter from the three daring young ladies begins: 'We "three sporty girls" have decided to write and beg of you to take us with you on your expedition to the South Pole. We are three strong, healthy girls and also gay and bright, and willing to undergo any hardships that you yourselves undergo. If our feminine garb is inconvenient, we should just love to don masculine attire.....We do not see why men should have all the glory, and women none, especially when there are women just as brave and capable as there are men.'
Of particular interest are a map drawn from memory by Frank Worsley of the route he, Shackleton and Crean took across the mountains of South Georgia; the deck log from the Quest, including Worsley's poignant, to-the-point entry in the early morning of 5 January 1922: "3am. Sir Ernest Shackleton died suddenly of heart failure. Drs. Macklin and MacIlroy in attendance.' Shackleton died in his cabin aboard the Quest.
The SPRIs Virtual Shackleton was proposed by former JCS member and much-missed leading light of the Scott-Polar, the late William Mills (see obituary below) and implemented by Caroline Gunn with the assistance of the SPRI's Webmaster. The project is funded by The Gladys Kreible Delmas Foundation and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.
How to visit the Scott-Polar Research Institute (SPRI)
ANTARCTICA PROJECT - ANTARCTIC COALITION
Scientific and research information about the Antarctic Ice Shelves can be found at the site of The Antarctica Project - the secretariat of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) which contains nearly 230 organizations in 49 countries and leads the national and international campaigns to protect the biological diversity and pristine wilderness of Antarctica, including its oceans and marine life.
INTERNATIONAL ANTARCTIC NEWS
'The Antarctican', a striking and attractive new Antarctic News website, has recently been founded. The site, published in Tasmania, aims to deliver the latest news and comment on 'Antarctic life, South Polar endeavour, the world of the ice, and the Southern Ocean around it.'
LOCATIONS WITH ANTARCTIC CONNECTIONS
A useful list of antarctic-related sites outside Antarctica, taken from the publication A Low-Level Antarctic Gazeteer can be found at the Antarctic Circle site, which also includes perhaps the most extensive and valuable list of Antarctic links.
PILOT PARDO, A RELUCTANT HERO
RESOURCEFUL CHILEAN CAPTAIN WHO RESCUED SHACKLETON'S MEN MAROONED ON DISTANT ELEPHANT ISLAND
Following their dramatic 800 mile voyage aboard the 23 foot whaler or lifeboat the James Caird to South Georgia, Shackleton and his two principal companions, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean, immediately set about the task of securing the rescue of their 22 comrades marooned on distant Elephant Island under the leadership of the party's second in command, Frank Wild, from their icy prison, where the men had survived on a diet of seal and penguin and mugs of steaming hot gruel, known as hoosh.
However despite all Shackleton's efforts the first three attempts were unsuccessful, the rescue boat being beaten back by the ice on each occasion. There was no way they could break through to Elephant Island, even though it was one of the most northerly islands off the Antarctic Peninsula with the best chance of being reached. It was only on the fourth attempt that Shackleton, once again with Chilean practical help and moral support, and with the full backing of the Chilean government and navy, managed to break through the now receding ice and reach his main party, even more isolated because of the absence of powerful enough radio communications at that time.
The hero of that hour was the skilled acting commander of the Chilean navy ship the Yelcho - a redoubtable small ship that was well familiar with performing duties in Antarctic waters - and that man was Pilot Luis Alberto Pardo Villalon (1992-1935). It was Pilot Pardo's experienced and masterly navigation, with Frank Worsley in close attendance, that guaranteed the ship was able to navigate a channel through the pack ice and secure a safe approach to and hasty retreat from Elephant Island, with all the men safely onboard.
The crew of the Yelcho for that mission consisted of: 2nd in Command: Leon Aguirre Romero; Chief Engineer: Jorge L. Valenzuela Mesa; 2nd Engineer: Jose Beltran Gamarra; Engineers: Nicolas Munoz Molina and Manuel Blackwood; Firemen: Herbito Cariz Caramo, Juan Vera Jara, Pedro Chaura, Pedro Soto Nunez, Luis Contreras Castro; Guards: Manuel Ojeda, Ladislao Gallego Trujillo, Hipolito Aries, Jose Leiva Chacon, Antonio Colin Parada;
Foreman: Jose Munoz Tellez; Blacksmith: Froilan Cabana Rodriguez; Seamen: Pedro Pairo, Jose del C. Galindo, Florentino Gonzalez Estay, Clodomiro Aguero Soto; Cabin Boy: Bautista Ibarra Carvajal.
Shackleton and his rescued men were feted upon their return to Punta Arenas, in the far south of Chile, and later at Valparaiso, the home of the Chilean Navy which ordered Pardo to set out on the rescue mission, and Chile was delighted to have succeeded where neighbouring Uruguay had tried but unfortunately failed, and ahead of its rivals the Argentinians, with whom Shackleton was also on good terms having made many arrangements while in Buenos Aires.
The welcome they received on arriving at Punta Arenas was unbelievable. Shackleton wrote: "Everything that could swim in the way of a boat was out to meet us". Almost the entire population had turned out to welcome them. As can be seen from the picture below, the throng was vast and enthusiasm and excitement gripped the whole city.
Yet even this seemed restrained compared to the wild reception they would receive when the Yelcho arrived at Valparaiso on 27th September. At least 30,000 people thronged around the harbour and nearby streets. This was a moment not only of welcome for the saved British crew, but of patriotic pride for the whole Chilean nation.
Punta Arenas’s emerging naval museum (Museo Naval y Marítimo), Pedro Montt 981, Punta Arenas, is relatively new (founded in 1995) and features interactive exhibits, such as a credible warship’s bridge, a selection of model ships, and material on the naval history of Chile and exploration and settlement in the area of Magellanes province and the Chilean Antarctic territories.
The national Museo Naval y Maritimo, the Chilean Naval and Maritime museum in Valparaiso, the country's chief port and home to the nation's navy (armada), has a splendid display covering the nation's maritime history. It includes a fine modern portrait of Lt. Pardo, which hangs amongst the country's admirals other distinguished naval personnel. On board the cutter Yelcho, it recalls, with neither heat, electricity, nor radio in foggy and stormy winter weather, Pardo saved the lives of the crew of the Endurance and brought them back safely to Punta Arenas and Valparaiso. (Pardo, incidentally, later served as Chilean consul in Liverpool).
Visit the website of the Museo Naval y Maritimo, Valparaiso
The Naval Museum (Paseo 21 de Mayo Nº45, Cº Artillería, Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Tel: (+56 -32) 2437651/2437046) is housed in one of the most imposing buildings of Valparaiso. A virtual tour, giving a panoramic view of each room of the museum, can be enjoyed by those visiting the Naval Museum's website. The complete fully illustrated catalogue is also available (under 'publicaciones') and can be read in .pdf form on the website. There is plenty of enthralling material, although as yet no mention of the Shackleton and Pardo story. However a search under 'Pardo' reveals his striking modern portrait in the 'Sala Marinos Ilustres'.
Pilot Pardo himself became a national legend. However this was reluctantly, for he was a modest man who maintained he had only done his duty like any other naval officer. He was promoted to Pilot, first class, and a ship (see above) was in due course named after him; but Lt. Pardo declined the handsome special remuneration (25,000 pounds) offered him on by the Chilean authorities on behalf of the British government, in recognition of his achievement and its international status.
Captain (or Pilot) Pardo was further honoured with a Chilean stamp bearing his likeness. His name - he is still always referred to as Piloto Pardo', and in the Pardo School of Navigation.
Pardo was further honoured, in that his name was given not only to the prominent ridge on Elephant Island that bears his name, and also to a Chilean naval vessel, the Piloto Pardo. Built in Holland, the Piloto Pardo served the Chilean Navy for many years as an Antarctic vessel.
The Piloto Pardo was subsequently renamed the Antarctic Dream, and - under this new name and handsomely refitted - is used by several Antarctic Cruise companies (such as Ladatco, Patagonia Cruises and Scantours) to take visitors to the Southern Islands of the Weddell Sea, the South Shetlands and the South Sandwich, the Bransfield Strait and the Antarctic Peninsula.
In the old Chilean Antarctic map on the left below, the name 'Pardo Island' seems to be attached to Elephant Island, as if in tribute to the distinguished mariner whom Chile still regards as a national hero.
The map on the right draws attention to the substantial Argentine Antarctic territories claim, which conflicts both with the Chilean claim and with the present E.U.-recognised (but not U.S.-) of British Antarctic Territories. The Chilean caption to the map reads 'Proyección argentina sobre el Territorio Antártico Chileno, desde sus pretensiones sobre las islas Falkland, Georgias y Sandwish del Sur... Una consecuencia que las autoridades entreguistas de Chile no han considerado las veces que apoyaron el expansionismo argentino contra las islas inglesas': an interesting postscript on the Falklands War.
Shackleton and his men were toasted, wined and dined in the British Club and other locations in Punta Arenas, and later in Valparaiso following their equally rapturous welcome there.
Shackleton and Pardo were both greeted and congratulated by President Sanfuentes, who had assumed the presidency of Chile just a year earlier. 'Ambos personajes de singular celebridad fueron recibidos por el Presidente de la República, don Juan Luis Sanfuentes. Allí aprovechó Shackleton de agradecer el auxilio prestado por Chile.' (La Revista Marina).
It was President Sanfuentes who personally took a crucial step which finally led to Lt. Pardo's saving of the 22 men. On Saturday evening (8th July), while Shackleton, Worsley and Crean were in Punta Arenas, the Governor of the Territory, Señor Urrutia Semir, while presiding at a dinner in the Gobernación, received the following telegram from the President: "Please greet Sir Ernest Shackleton and place the Government patrol boat Yelcho at his disposition, in order that this celebrated explorer, who I hope will be extremely successful, may be able to rescue his gallant comrades." (Sgd.) SANFUENTES. (This was in fact not the final (August) attempt, but the rescue bid Shackleton, Worsley and Crean made aboard the Emma. The Yelcho was authorised to escort and tow the Emma to a point 200 miles south of Cape Horn.)
The signatures of Shackleton, Worsley and Crean appear in the visitors' book of the British Club in Punta Arenas, founded in the 1890s (and can also be seen in their place on the actual page in the Punta Arenas article below).
A district (Barrio) in Castro, southern Chile, has been renamed 'Piloto Pardo' in honour of both the man and the ship named after him; and a street has also been named 'Piloto Pardo' street. There is also a 'Piloto Pardo' Street in Puerto Williams, and 'Yelcho Street' is that town's principal thoroughfare.
Read about Pardo Street
Read about Pardo district
CENTENARY OF THE NIMROD EXPEDITION
Following his return from thw Dicovery expedition in 1904 and several years as Secretary to the Royal Scottish Geographical Association in Edinburgh, Ernest Shackleton purchased the Nimrod - an old Scottish sealer which had been used in Newfoundland - on a trip to Norway. She was an old ship, almost the same age as Shackleton himself, built in Dundee some 40 years earlier. He paid an initial £5,000 for her, and spent a further £7,000 in refitting her for the "British Antarctic Expedition". The Captain of the Nimrod was to be Rupert England; and the First Mate, John King Davis. He relied heavily on private sponsorship, bank loans and a large number of individual creditors.
Professor Douglas Mawson, who would later lead his own Antarctic Expedition, joined the ship in Australia, and the Australian government offered a further grant of £5,000 and the New Zealand government, £1,000. In return, it was understood that the Nimrod would undertake oceanographic work between Australia and Antarctica. Nimrod also carried two men recommended to Shackleton by his friend William Bruce, who had commanded the recent expedition aboard the Scotia (1902-4): James Murray was a biologist from Glasgow; and Alistair Forbes Mackay signed on as the Nimrod's second doctor/surgeon.
On July 30, 1907, the Nimrod sailed from London's East India Docks for Torquay. Having diverted back to Cowes for inspection by His Majesty King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, the Prince of Wales (later George V), Princess Victoria, (later Edward VIII) Prince Edward and the Duke of Connaught on Sunday 4 August, the Nimrod sailed from Torquay on 7 August 1907. After calls at the isle of St. Vincent and Cape Town, she proceeded to Australia and New Zealand. Her final port was Lyttelton, in South Island. Thereafter, for five months she was escorted under tow by another ship, the coal-fired Koonya, supplied by the New Zealand Government, which left Nimrod at 4 p.m. on 1 January 1908 as she entered the ice. Conditions proved harsh and around 20 of the party, notably Marshall, Mawson and Pristley, were appallingly seasick.
The Nimrod skirted the Barrier until finally on 25 January Shackleton gave up all hope of reaching his planned destination, King Edward VII Land. The pack-ice was too thick as well as being interspersed with giant icebergs. It seemed impossible to reach land, and the shortness of coal, the leaky condition of the ship, and the absolute necessity of landing all the stores and putting up the hut before the vessel left them made the situation extremely anxious for Shackleton.
Given the heavy and unstable pack ice affecting Barrier Inlet and also the Bay of Whales, and fearing becoming trapped in the ice with limited coal supplies and a leaking ship, Shackleton could see no alternative to steering west towards McMurdo Sound, where Scott had also been based, thus breaking a written agreement he had recently made with Scott and earning Scott's extreme displeasure, causing a temporary breach between the two men. The Nimrod stayed some sixteen miles offshore: Shackleton established his base not at 'Hut Point' but on Cape Royds, on Ross Island, where Shackleton's hut (now on the list of the World Monuments Watch's 'hundred most endangered sites') was erected, some 20 miles north of Scott's hut. Within a month (the start of February 1908)it was possible to unload supplies as the sea ice receded. The ponies and a motor car were unloaded, although the horses were in very poor shape and one, "Nimrod", had to be shot. The Nimrod left the landing party and headed back towards New Zealand on 22 February.
The party proceeded to winter over in preparation for the South Pole attempt the following Antarctic summer (January-March 09). Scientific experiments and observations were begun, and a six-man party Including Mawson) succeeded in the first ascent of the nearby Mount Erebus, the active volcano on Ross Island rising to over 13,000 feet (4,023 metres), and measuring the crater before descendeing rapidly by sliding down the 5000 feet in four hours). The others pursued their special interests: Adams wound the chronometers, checked instruments and did other meteorological work; Marshall, the surgeon, tended to medical needs and exercised the ponies; Wild, the storekeeper, issued food to the cook, opened the cases of tinned food and dug the meat out of the snowdrifts (penguin, seal or mutton); Joyce fed the dogs and trained them for sledge-pulling; David spent time on geological studies; Priestley and Murray worked at dredging; Mawson studied the Aurora Australis, ice structures and measured atmospheric electricity. (for a fuller version of their activities, see the useful account at www.south-pole.com, from which some of these details are derived).
Attention now focused on the South Pole. The main plan was that four men, Shackleton, Adams, Marshall and Wild, would make for the South Pole. Because of poor success with dogs during Scott's 1901–1904 expedition, Shackleton arranged to use Manchurian ponies for transport. In advance of the main group a second party consisting of Edgeworth David accompanied by Mawson and Mackay, would set out on the somewhat shorter journey to reach the Southern Magnetic Pole, a round trip of 1,260 miles. These three men left on 25 September 1908 and despite considerable privations achieved the Magnetic Pole, the first men ever to do so, by 15/16 January 1909.
Shackleton and his three comrades left in bright sunshine a month later, on 29 October 1908, equipped with ponies. Their route took them up a vast glacier, subsequently named after their sponsor, the Greenwich-born Scottish ship builder William Beardmore (1856-1936), later a pioneer in armaments manufacture during the First World War. (Beardmore's Arrol-Johnston company also supplied the car used by the expedition). However although they took food for 91 days (3 months), rations on the journey were meagre and the four men soon became hungry. On 5 November Wild, Adams, Marshall and the pony "Grisi" were all rescued from crevasses (Marshall twice). Three days later Marshall and Wild pitched their tent right next to an unseen crevasse. The next day another pony slipped into an abyss and was narrowly saved from death. They shot "Chinaman", the weakest pony, on 21 November 21; part was eaten, part preserved in crucial supply depots for the return. Adams, unable to sleep for days from a toothache, let Dr. Marshall extract it without the use of tooth-pulling equipment. On 26 November 1908 they passed the previous 'Furthest South' point achieved by Scott, Shackleton and Wilson in 1902.In early December two more ponies were shot. Shackleton, with his soft heart for animals, believed he heard the last pony, "Socks", whinnying "all night for his lost companions. On 7 December he too was lost in a crevasse, and the four began man-hauling. They were by now eating pony maize.
It was by now Christmas and Shackleton records that the four of them enjoyed a memorable Christmas celebration at 9,500 ft and still 250 miles from the Pole, with 'plum pudding, brandy, cigars and a spoonful of creme de menthe.' By two days later they had arrived at the Polar Plateau, some 10,000 feet up, with blizzards blasting them, and suffering from a lack of food (just 3 weeks' supply of biscuits) and frostbite. Shackleton was aware of their limited time and the men's worsening physical state. They battled southwards into the wind; blizzards and white-outs sometimes kept them in their sleeping bags all day. On 30 December they made just four miles in a blizzard.
By 2 January, 1909, Shackleton was near the breaking point. "I cannot think of failure yet. I must look at the matter sensibly and consider the lives of those who are with me...man can only do his best..." Two days later he wrote, "The end is in sight. We can only go for three more days at the most, for we are weakening rapidly". They fought through a blizzard on 4, 5 and 6 January. On 7 January, only 100 miles from the pole, a howling blizzard kept them in their sleeping bags all day. It was the same next day. The end of their southern journey began at 4 am on January 9. They left the sledge, tent and food at the camp and took only the Union Jack, a brass cylinder containing stamps and documents to mark their farthest south, camera, glasses and a compass.
Finally at 9 a.m. on 9 January they reached their Furthest South point - 88°23'S, 162°E, just 97 miles from the South Pole. Once a flag had been planted and the appropriate photographs had been taken, the four men turned and headed for home. It was a tough and brave decision by Shackleton to forsake the prize and turn about when so awesomely close to their goal. I thought you'd think, my dear, he wrote to his wife Emily, "that a live donkey is better than a dead lion." She agreed. On the return journey with the wind behind them and a sail erected they once (on 19 January) made 29 miles in a single day. By the morning of 26 January they had only tea, cocoa and a little pony maize left. But the carefully laid depots supplied them with a wealth of food and horsemeat. That same day they travelled 16 miles over "the worst surfaces and most dangerous crevasses we have ever encountered". On 27 February 27 Shackleton decided to leave Marshall, who was suffering badly from dysentery, and Adams behind while he and Wild took off for Hut Point. The two reached Hut Point on 28 February just in time to catch the Nimrod, still sheltering close by, but on the very point of sailing (a message warned them it had intended to sail on 26th). A fire signal summoned the boat and the pair were safely aboard by 11 a.m. At two in the afternoon Shackleton led a rescue party to recover Marshall and Adams. At 1 a.m. on March 4, all four of the Southern Party were at last safe on board the Nimrod.
As the Nimrod made its way past Cape Royds, Shackleton wrote: "We all turned out to give three cheers and to take a last look at the place where we had spent so many happy days. The hut was not exactly a palatial residence...but, on the other hand it had been our home for a year that would always live in our memories...We watched the little hut fade away in the distance with feelings almost of sadness, and there were few men aboard who did not cherish a hope that some day they would once more live strenuous days under the shadow of mighty Erebus".
While the Nimrod expedition did not make it to the pole, largely because it was defeated by the appalling weather and blizzards which allowed only pitifully slow progress, played havoc with their schedule and dangerously used up their rations, Shackleton, Adams, Marshall, and Wild covered (as Shackleton recorded) precisely 1,755 miles and 209 yards, and were the first humans to traverse the Trans-Antarctic mountain range and set foot on the South Polar Plateau. They also located and pioneered the Beardmore Glacier route into the interior.
Upon his return to the United Kingdom in summer 1909 Shackleton was hailed as a hero and was knighted by the king. A government grant helped defray some of the large outstanding costs of the expedition.
The Nimrod party consisted of:
Sir Ernest Shackleton: Expedition Leader
Jameson Boyd Adams: Expdition Second in Command, Meteorologist (also on Furthest South)
Lt Rupert England, RHR: Ship's Master
John K Davis: First Officer
Aeneas Lionel Acton Mackintosh: Second Officer (also captained Aurora)
Alfred Cheetham: Third Officer and Boatswain (also on Endurance)
Henry J L Dunlop: Chief Engineer
Edgeworth David: Director of Scientific Staff, Geologist
Sir Philip Lee Brocklehurst: Assistant Geologist, i/c Sea Current Observations
Prof. Douglas Mawson: Physicist
James Murray: Biologist
Raymond E Priestley: Geologist
Dr. Alistair Forbes Mackay: Assistant Surgeon
Dr. William Arthur Rupert Michell: Surgeon
Dr. Eric Stewart Marshall: Surgeon, Cartographer (on Furthest South)
George Edward Marston: Official Artist (also on Endurance)
Bernard Day: Electrician and Motor Mechanic
Ernest Joyce: Storeman, Dogs, Sledges, Zoological Collections
Frank Wild: i/c Provisions (also Deputy Leader on Endurance)
William C Roberts: Ship's Cook
Bertram Armitage
THE 'YELCHO': A NAME CELEBRATED IN MARITIME HISTORY
A GRATEFUL TRIBUTE TO THE PLUCKY AND GALLANT CHILEAN SHIP WHICH SAVED THE LIVES OF SHACKLETON'S 22 MEN
The Chilean naval vessel the Yelcho was built in 1906 by the Scottish firm G. Brown and Co. of Greenock, on the River Clyde, 120 ft long and 23 ft wide (that, coincidentally, was the length of the Greenwich-built James Caird). She had a top speed of 10 knots. She continued in service till 1945, ten years after the death of Pilot Pardo, who commanded the fourth rescue mission to Elephant Island mounted by Shackleton in 1916. The boat was decommissioned some time after World War II but survived until 1962, when she was finally scrapped.
The name of the Yelcho, the gallant ship which finally brought the men home safely, was fittingly preserved and honoured on several ways: perhaps most importantly, by the subsequent naming of one of Elephant Island's most prominent forelands 'Cape Yelcho'.
The name 'Yelcho' was also given to the main street of Chile's southernmost coastal town, Puerto Williams, and it is there that the prow of the Yelcho has been preserved and is prominently displayed as a tribute to Captain Pardo's ship, his crew, and the successful rescue mission of 1916.
In front of the Yelcho's prow is a plaque which explains: 'Above this plaque is displayed the prow of the Escampiva Yelcho, a ship of the Chilean Navy, which under the command of Pilot Luis Pardo Villalon secured the rescue from the HMS Endurance the members of the British Expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton on Elephant Island, in the Chilean Antarctic, 28th of August 1916. Donated to the City of Punta Arenas, 21st of May 1970."
The name 'Yelcho' (which has no meaning in Spanish) also features prominently in an area of outstanding scenic beauty to the South of Chile, between Chaitenand Futaleufu. This includes Lake Yelcho, the Yelcho River, the Yelcho Bridge, the Yelcho Glacier, the Yelcho Walk, a Yelcho bus company and the attractive hospitality lodge set up to welcome travellers to the area, known as the Hotel Yelcho de Patagonia. Walking and fishing are especially popular in this area, to which a number of tour companies offer holidays.
The Yelcho region lies to the south of Chile, not far inland from the Pacific Ocean. It seems highly appropriate that an area of such outstanding natural beauty should bear the name of the small tug which under Pilot Pardo's command retrieved Shackleton's 22 men from the equally beautiful, yet desolate and forlorn, Elephant Island.
The upper hinterland of the southern Andes here, and in particular areas like the impressive and beautiful 'hanging' glacier known as 'Ventisquero Yelcho', capture something of the icy climes experienced by this southern region of Chile and its Antarctic offshoots during winter.
The views in the Yelcho region, for instance from the high 'ridge' on the Yelcho Hill, are sometimes as dramatic as those high up in the mountains of South Georgia,or of Antarctica itself.
The Yelcho region is also home to some of Chile's wines, which - both white and red - are now among the most widely consumed in the world. You can now drink 'Yelcho Chardonnay', 'Yelcho Merlot' and 'Yelcho Carmener Reserve' Red, from grapes grown in Chile's Rapel Valley.
MAJOR EVIDENCE OF ANTARCTIC DISINTEGRATION
Pine Island Glacier, one of the biggest on Antarctica, may be on the verge of slipping into the sea far faster than anyone previously thought, according to the preliminary results of a survey mission to the White Continent.
The team of scientists from Chile's independent Centre for Scientific Studies and the US space agency (Nasa) has teamed up with the Chilean Navy to make a series of flights over some of Antarctica's most important and unexplored regions. Their aim has been to create the most detailed maps ever made of the ice surface and the underlying geology, so scientists can accurately measure the impact of climate change.
Pine Island, a massive block of ice pushing out into the ocean in the remote and relatively unexplored western corner of Antarctica, stretches some 50 kilometres across in places, with ice up to four kilometres deep. Its mouth is protected by the Antarctic sea ice; it lies at the most remote part of the entire Antarctic continent, where Antarctica is also most unstable. Here any small changes in the Earth's temperature as a result of global warming are likely to have a big impact on the ice. The unexpectedly rapid rate of glacial disintegration has surprised the scientific community.
ANTARCTIC PHOTOS
Some excellent photos of Antarctica and a good outline of the Shackleton story can be found on Paul Ward's 'Cool Antarctica' site.
STUCK IN THE ICE, LIKE SHACKLETON
It didn't only happen in Shackleton's day! The '70South' antarctic website and the website Antarctic Philately from New Zealand reported that the American icebreaking research ship Nathaniel B Palmer took a leaf out of Endurance's book by becoming stuck fast in the ice near the Antarctic Peninsula for several days during late October 2001. The ship was about 60 miles from the ice edge and wedged between Adelaide and Alexander Islands, with rafts of sea ice 65 feet deep around it. However a few days later it succeed in freeing itself and headed safely for Punta Arenas.
The Nathaniel B. Palmer was named to commemorate the American credited with being the first to see Antarctica. Nathaniel Brown Palmer, then only 21 years old, commanded the 14-meter sloop Hero, which on 16 and 17 November 1820 entered Orleans Strait and came very close to the Antarctic Peninsula, reaching about 63° 45' South. Later in life Palmer won wealth and fame as a pioneer clipper ship master and designer.
FIRE IN ANTARCTICA
The Bonner Laboratory at the British Antarctic Survey's Rothera Research Station was completely destroyed by fire at the end of September 2001.
Happily, no-one was killed or injured.
SLOW COLLAPSE OF LARSEN B ICE SHELF
Satellite images have revealed the collapse of Larsen B ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, fulfilling predictions made by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists. The collapse of the 3250 square kilometre ice shelf is the latest drama in a region of Antarctica that has experienced unprecedented warming over the last 50 years.
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) group3-02.jpg "Sir Ernest Shackleton with a group of Sea Scouts: two Sea Scouts were selected for places on the Quest")
 400 500.jpg "The Yelcho returns triumphant")
