Lost and Found

    There is a true story that I have studied from multiple sources. I have read a few books, a couple of documentaries and some podcast episodes. I looked back at all of my blog posts to see if I had already shared the story on my blog. It turns out, I started one with a paragraph, which is what I do when there is something I want to do a blog post about, but don't actually sit down and write the whole thing, just a reminder paragraph. It's one of the most incredible stories where truth is better, and stranger, than fiction. I want to write about it, like I was going to a little over a year ago, but something new about it has emerged, well, submerged, but then found. 

    I'm talking about Sir Ernest Shackleton and his ship The Endurance. 

    Ernest Shackleton was a sea captain and explorer who wanted to be the first man and crew to cross Antartica, and shipped out right before World War I in 1915. The idea was to travel through the Weddell Sea, and go through Antarctica with his ship, The Endurance, but something else happened. While traveling through the Weddell Sea that is in the Northern part in Antarctica, the ice flows got to be too strong for the ship to break through and continue sailing. 

    The Endurance was stuck in the ice flow, and even though the crew had gone out onto the ice and used tools to try and break the ice up to help the ship move forward, there was just too much ice. They were stuck. After a few months, the ice flows were so strong that they crushed The Endurance, and the crew were forced to jump ship, and set up camp around the ship. Eventually, the ice flows crushed the ship so much that it broke up and started to sink. 

    There were a couple of dozen men, a team of sled dogs, and whatever there was on the ship to help the men survive, but not everything was going to last forever. Ernest Shackleton addressed the men, and told them that he was their captain, and that they were going to survive, even if it killed him. He set out with few men, and one of the rescued rescue boats, lol, "rescued rescue", I didn't plan that. Anywho, Shackelton and a few men set out to try and find a way to be rescued. There I go again with that word. 

    So, Shackleton and a few of his men walked and carried the lifeboat, and sailed in it where conditions were permitting. They eventually found open sea, and they knew that there was a whaling station, I know, I hate whales being killed, but anyway, they found a small island where there was a whaling station. The only thing about it was they were on the furthest eastern part of the island, while the station was on the furthest west part of the island.

    The other thing about the island was that it was basically an iceberg with a lot of ice canyons and ice cliffs. Shackelton and his men took the lifeboat apart, took the screws, and sharp pieces of wood, shoved the screws through the souls of their shoes, making their shoes climbing shoes where the screws would grip the ice, and hold them in place. They also had some rope, and the wood to help climb a little easier. 

    They crossed the whole island, made it to the whaling station, and were able to give them the coordinates to where The Endurance crew was, and where the ship had been crushed and sunk. It took almost two years, from the start of the expedition, to the time where they were found. Not a single man was lost. The poor men had to survive eating penguin and seal meat. They kept the dogs, which still, sounds kind of gross, but the men were all found alive, and made it back home. 

    The Endurance sunk 107 years ago, and this is neat!

    They sent an expedition at the start of the year, 2022, and sailed to the coordinates that the ship's navigator had written in his journal. They did close to 30 dives in the coldest water on the planet, and finally, just a few days ago, they found the wreckage almost two miles deep under the ice flows of Antarctica, right where the navigator recorded 107 years ago. The water is so cold, that the ship is actually in great condition. The Titanic has a lot of rust, and sea life that are stuck to it, but the waters where The Endurance was found is so clod, things like that can't form very well, so it's in great shape, well, great shape that a crushed ship can look. 

    The whole story is an incredible one, and the details I just gave you is just a brief synopsis of the whole story. There are a few great books out there. Also, on board the ship was a photographer, who shot a lot of different pictures before the ship sank. Some during the day, and even some at night. The night photos are haunting, and look almost like a ghost ship. I will go through some and post them below, so you can see what the ship, and what Erenst Shackleton looked like. 

    If you are interested, like I said, this barely scratches the surface of what I just wrote, and there are lots of books with all of the pictures and stuff like that. There is actually a short film clip of the mast breaking that that the photographer had shot, with film being a brand new medium at the time. There aren't many film clips available, but the photographs are awesome. Here are a few....

Sir Ernest Shackleton

The Endurance

The crew of The Endurance playing a game to pass the time.

The Lifeboat

Found 107 Years Later

This is the best book about the voyage. You can order it from Amazon Here.

    

This is the cover of the book I have, but they released a new 100th Anniversary edition with a different cover than the one pictured here, but the link will take you right to the new one. It's paperback, and a great price. If you are interested in the story, I highly recommend the book. It's very detailed, and has all 120 photographs that were taken during the voyage. It's a fantastic read, and it reads like a novel, and not just a boring history book.

    Anywho, I am getting tired, and ready to get ready for bed. I hope you are all doing well. I hope that you are all praying for Ukraine, and not just them, but the whole world in general. I had a friend that was complaining about the high gas prices, and that she has to sacrifice doing some things because she can't afford the gas to go do recreational things. I told her, I know that sucks, but to look at it this way. She still has her freedom to be able to get in her car, even if it is only to work and back, and to the store and back, and that at least she isn't separated from her family, and her house isn't being bombed, and all of her family and friends are safe and happy here. It's easy to get lost in your own world at times, but our freedom, safety, family,  friends, and properties are all safe and intact. I have been praying for everything to be settled. I don't know when, or even if it ever will be. We have had to fight Covid-19, and while people are still getting sick and dying from it, and with the war starting up, who knows what the future holds for us. I pray for Russia to get the real stories of what is happening, and not their evil propaganda that they are being force fed, and that they will have courage to do what is right. I pray for the strong and courageous people staying in Ukraine to fight for their freedom and rights, and not letting a terrible person and government just come in and take it without contest. 

    Okay, I am ready for bed. I hope you enjoyed this blog post. It's one of my all-time favorite stories from history, and I never get tired of hearing it, and I can't believe that the ship was found. It's awesome!