Shackleton is most noteworthy for leading the unsuccessful Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, often known as the "Endurance Expedition", between 1914 and 1916. Although Shackleton failed to achieve his goal of crossing the Antarctic continent on foot, he demonstrated the qualities of leadership for which he is best remembered when the expedition ship Endurance became trapped in the ice and was destroyed. Shackleton, known by his contemporaries as "the Boss", led his men to refuge on Elephant Island before heading across of the Southern Ocean to South Georgia, in an open boat with five other men. Upon reaching the remote island, Shackleton and two others crossed severe, mountainous terrain to reach a whaling station, from which he was able eventually to rescue his men on Elephant Island. All the men on Endurance survived their ordeal after spending 22 months in the Antarctic, although three men of the supporting Ross Sea Party lost their lives.

Shackleton was a key figure in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration alongside Roald Amundsen, Douglas Mawson, and Robert Falcon Scott, each of whom is famed for exploits that captured the public imagination. In recent times, he has become known for his leadership skills, and is the topic of many books and films that focus on the explorer's ability to lead men through challenging conditions.

Life

Childhood

Ernest was schooled by a governess until the age of 11, when he entered Fir Lodge Preparatory School in West Hill, and was educated from ages 13 to 16 at Dulwich College, a public school for boys. The young Shackleton did not distinguish himself as a scholar and was said to have been "bored" by his studies. He was quoted later as saying:

In his final term at the college, however, he was able to achieve fifth place in his class of thirty-one. Furthermore, from early childhood Shackleton was a voracious reader, which sparked a passion for adventure .

Maritime career

In 1900, while serving as Third Officer aboard the troopship Tintagel Castle, Shackleton met Cedric Longstaff, son of the Antarctic expedition donor Llewellyn Longstaff. Shackleton used this acquaintance to procure an interview with Longstaff senior, with a view to obtaining a place on Robert Falcon Scott's forthcoming expedition to the Antarctic, which was then being organised. Longstaff, impressed by Shackleton's keenness, recommended him to Sir Clements Markham, the expedition's overlord. Shackleton was soon accepted as a member of the National Antarctic Expedition. He was also commissioned Sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve.

Expedition years

Discovery Expedition (1901–02)

The British National Antarctic Expedition, also known as the Discovery Expedition after the ship RRS Discovery (1901–04), was led by Robert Falcon Scott with the purpose of undertaking scientific research and exploration along the coast of the Ross Sea in Antarctica. It was the first time Scott had led an expedition, and his command experience in the Royal Navy ran to a brief spell in charge of a Torpedo Boat in 1893, which he managed to run aground. Shackleton was assigned the duty of outfitting Discovery for the expedition. Scott and Shackleton had different backgrounds, with Scott having trained in the Royal Navy and preferring strict discipline. As a result, the relationship between Scott and Shackleton was tense.

Discovery departed London on 31 July 1901 for Antarctica. The team spent two summers in Antarctica, and between October 1902 and February 1903 Shackleton joined Scott and Edward Wilson, assistant surgeon and vertebrate zoologist, on a southern journey to achieve the highest possible latitude. The journey proceeded under difficult conditions as food was in short supply, the dogs were weakened by tainted food, and the party was forced to relay its sledging loads. The team reached a farthest south at on 31 December 1902, but were unable to continue southward because of terrain, severe conditions, and the onset of scurvy. Shackleton also suffered from heart and lung ailments. Notably, they were from the Pole and farther south than any human had previously travelled.

Shackleton was sent home by Scott aboard the relief ship Morning because of illness, even though he had almost fully recovered. Roland Huntford (a noted critic of Scott) has posited that Scott resented Shackleton's popularity and used health as an excuse to remove him. Indeed, Shackleton had been well-liked among his men, whereas Scott had reduced rations during marches and required naval discipline, having the crew mop the decks despite the water freezing immediately. Diana Preston quotes a story told years later by Albert Armitage, the expedition's second-in-command, that when Scott was confronted by the ship's doctor with evidence that Shackleton was not particularly sick he said, "If he does not go back sick he will go back in disgrace." There is no evidence of this beyond Armitage's word, the accusations, Preston asserts, of a bitter man. Scott's biographer Ranulph Fiennes claims that there is little evidence that the two were unfriendly and that Shackleton was indeed sent home because he was ill. Regardless, Shackleton and Scott continued on friendly terms in subsequent correspondence, although the Discovery experience is described as a "defining moment of Shackleton's life" and profoundly disappointing. Though they were publicly amicable, Shackleton and Scott continued to rival one another's exploits and compete for monetary resources and staff throughout their lives.

Between the Discovery and Nimrod expeditions

Shackleton left The Discovery on 28 February 1903 to cheers from her crew, and set off on Morning for Lyttleton, New Zealand. In mid-June 1903, he returned to London to a good reception, particularly from Sir John Murray, president of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and Sir Joseph Hooker, a botanist from Sir James Clark Ross's 1839–43 Antarctic expedition. They presented him as the first "praiseworthy" person to return from the Discovery Expedition. Additionally, Shackleton noticed that Londoners had an unquenchable desire for his tales of the Antarctic, which helped him lay the groundwork for further expeditions.

In search of regular employment, Shackleton applied for a commission in the Royal Navy but despite the sponsorship of Sir Clements Markham, President of the Royal Geographical Society and President of the Royal Society, he was not successful. With Markham's blessing he accepted a temporary post assisting the outfitting of the Terra Nova for the second Discovery relief operation but turned down the offer to sail with her as chief officer. He also assisted in the equipping of the Argentinian gunboat Uruguay, which was being fitted out for the relief of the stranded Nordenskiöld Antarctic Expedition.. He was then offered, and accepted, the secretaryship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. On 9 April 1904 he married 35-year-old Emily Mary Dorman, with whom he shared a love of literature, particularly Robert Browning. The marriage produced three children. Shackleton wrote long letters to his wife during his explorations, but also engaged in several extramarital affairs, including one with the American actress Rosalind Chetwynd.

In 1905 Shackleton became a shareholder in a speculative company that aimed to make a fortune transporting Russian troops home from the Far East. Despite his assurances to Emily that "we are practically sure of the contract" nothing came of this scheme. He also ventured into politics, unsuccessfully standing in the 1906 General Election as the Liberal Unionist Party's candidate for Dundee. Meantime he had taken a job with wealthy Clydside industrialist William Beardmore (later Lord Invernairn), with a roving commission which involved interviewing prospective clients and entertaining Beardmore's business friends. Shackleton by this time, however, was making no secret of his ambition to return to Antarctica at the head of his own expedition.

Beardmore was sufficiently impressed with Shackleton to offer financial support, but other donations proved hard to come by. Nevertheless, in February 1907 Shackleton presented his plans for an Antarctic expedition to the Royal Geographic Society, the details of which, under the name British Antarctic Expedition, were published in the Royal Society's newsletter, Geographic Journal. The aim was the conquest of both the geographical South Pole and the South Magnetic Pole. Shackleton then worked hard to persuade others of his wealthy friends and acquaintances to contribute, including Sir Phillip Lee Brocklehurst, who subscribed £2,000 (2008 equivalent £100,000) to secure a place on the expedition, author Campbell Mackellar, and Guinness baron Lord Iveagh whose contribution was secured less than two weeks before the departure of the expedition ship Nimrod.

Nimrod Expedition (1907–09)

On 1 January 1908, Nimrod sailed for the Antarctic from Lyttleton Harbour, New Zealand. Shackleton's original plans had envisaged using the old Discovery base in McMurdo Sound to launch his attempts on the South Pole and South Magnetic Pole. However, before leaving England he had been pressured to give an undertaking to Scott that he would not base himself in the McMurdo area, which Scott was claiming as his own "field of work". Shackleton reluctantly agreed to look for winter quarters either at the Barrier Inlet or at King Edward VII Land.

To conserve coal, the ship was towed by Koonya to the Antarctic ice. Shackleton arranged for the expense to be split between the New Zealand government and the Union Steamship Company. Upon arrival at the Barrier on 21 January 1908 it was found the former Barrier Inlet had expanded to a large bay—the Bay of Whales—and that ice conditions precluded a safe base there. A search for an anchorage at King Edward VII Land proved equally fruitless, so Shackleton was forced to break his undertaking to Scott and establish his winter quarters in McMurdo Sound. As Discovery's old base was inaccessible because of sea ice, Shackleton's base was eventually established at Cape Royds, about north of the planned site. The party was in high spirits despite difficult conditions and the sickness of some crew members. Shackleton's inclusive leadership style built strong cameraderie, and it was during this voyage that he acquired his nickname "The Boss".

The South Pole was not attained, but on 9 January 1909 Shackleton and three companions reached a new farthest south latitude of , a point only from the Pole. The South Pole party also discovered the Beardmore Glacier route (named after Shackleton's patron) to the South Polar Plateau, and were the first persons to set foot on the plateau. They arrived back at McMurdo Sound after subsisting on half-rations for much of the perilous return journey; at one point the Boss gave the one biscuit allotted for the day to Frank Wild. The expedition's other accomplishments included the first ascent of Mount Erebus, and a journey to the approximate location of the South Magnetic Pole, reached on 16 January 1909 by Edgeworth David, Douglas Mawson, and Alistair MacKay.

Shackleton returned to the United Kingdom as a hero and was knighted. Soon after, he published a book about Nimrod's expedition titled The Heart of the Antarctic. Regarding the failure to reach the South Pole, Shackleton remarked to his wife: "Better a live donkey than a dead lion.

Endurance Expedition (1914–16)

Although Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole in 1911, public interest in the Antarctic continued. From early 1913 onwards Shackleton sought financial backing from donors to enable him to launch his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which would carry the British flag across the continent from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea by way of the Pole. The largest contribution, £24,000 (2008 equivalent approximately £1.05million), came from James Key Caird. Shackleton also obtained funds from the British government (£10,000); from the Royal Geographical Society (£1,000); from Dudley Docker of the Birmingham Small Arms Company (£10,000); and from tobacco heiress Dame Janet Stancomb-Wills, an undisclosed sum. In due course Shackleton would acknowledge the generosity of these private donors by naming geographical features after them, including the Caird Coast and the Stancomb-Wills Promontory

Interest in the expedition was enormous: Shackleton received more than 5,000 applications for participation. Fifty-six men were finally chosen and divided into two groups for the two expedition ships: Endurance for the Weddell Sea team and Aurora for the Ross Sea party. He chose people he considered the most qualified candidates, either from his personal experience—eight came from the Nimrod expedition—or on the recommendation of his colleagues. Shackleton's interviewing methods sometimes seemed eccentric; he believed that character and temperament were as important as technical ability, and might ask unconventional questions. Thus physicist Reginald James was asked if he could sing; others were accepted on sight because Shackleton liked the look of them, or after the briefest of interrogations. This means of selection was meant to ensure compatibility and camaraderie during the difficult journey ahead. Shackleton also loosened some traditional hierarchies, expecting all men, including the scientists, to take their share of ship's chores, even tasks such as scrubbing the decks.

Endurance left Plymouth for the Antarctic on 8 August 1914. After stops at Buenos Aires and South Georgia she departed for the Weddell Sea on 5 December. As the ship moved southward early ice was encountered, which slowed progress. Deep in the Weddell Sea conditions gradually grew worse until, on 17 January 1915, Endurance became frozen fast in an ice floe, and on 24 February, realising that she would not now break free until the following spring, Shackleton ordered the ship wintered.

In May, the Antarctic sun set for the last time before winter. When spring arrived, however, the breaking of the ice and subsequent movement of giant ice floes splintered the ship's hull. Although Endurance withstood considerable stress, on 24 October she was forced against a large floe, and water began pouring in. After a few days, on 27 October, with the position at 69°05'S, 51°30'W, Shackleton gave the abandon-ship order and the men, provisions and equipment were transferred to the ice. Mrs. Chippy, the beloved cat of the carpenter, Harry McNish, and the youngest of the pups born during the expedition were shot soon afterwards because Shackleton did not think they would survive the prolonged ordeal ahead. On 21 November 1915, the wreck finally slipped beneath the ice.

For almost two months, Shackleton and his men camped on an ice floe hoping that it would drift towards Paulet Island approximately away. On 23 December Shackleton decided to start sledging towards the island, but because of the constantly changing sea ice the party only managed to march a few miles before Shackleton decided to set up another more permanent camp (Patience Camp) on another floe, and trust to the drift of the ice to take them in the right direction. By 17 March, their ice camp was within of Paulet Island but, separated by impassable ice, they were unable to reach it as the floe continued to drift north. On 9 April the ice floe that they were camped on broke into two, and Shackleton decided that the crew should enter the lifeboats and head for the nearest land. After seven days at sea in the three small lifeboats, the men landed at Elephant Island.

Voyage of the James Caird

Elephant Island was an inhospitable place far from any shipping routes and thus a poor location to await rescue. Consequently, Shackleton felt it essential that he set out to find help immediately upon arrival, and to him, it was obvious that he must head back to South Georgia, even though it meant traversing of open ocean in one of the lifeboats. The lifeboat James Caird was chosen for the trip. To prepare for the journey, Shackleton chose his strongest sailors to accompany him, John Vincent and Timothy McCarthy, as well as experienced officer Thomas Crean. Shackleton also selected McNish, who immediately made improvements to the open lifeboat. Morrell argues that Shackleton chose McNish and Vincent to accompany him not only for their talent and toughness, but also because they were noted malcontents. He did not want the atmosphere on Elephant Island to be disrupted. Shackleton had frequently chosen to have the most rebellious crew members close to him, in order to quell discontent amongst the party. The difficult task of navigating the crossing was left to Frank Worsley. Ensuring they were on the correct course was of utmost importance as missing their target would certainly have doomed the team.

The waters that Shackleton had to cross in his boat of are among the most treacherous in the world. Weather reports confirm that gale-force winds of to are present in the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica on an average of 200 days per year; they cause ocean swells of , and Frank Worsley later commented on the poor weather conditions which complicated the task. Celestial navigation readings were only possible at four times during the journey. He also noted that waves of were not uncommon. Of one hair-raising moment of the journey, Shackleton wrote:

Shackleton had refused to pack supplies for more than four weeks, knowing that if they did not reach land by that time the boat would be lost. And indeed, after 14 days, the crew was within sight of Cave Cove, South Georgia. To avoid a night landing on an unfamiliar shore Shackleton ordered the boat to sit out at sea until first light, during which time a storm with hurricane-force winds blew up. After battling against the storm for nine hours they were finally able to land. Leaving McNish, Vincent and McCarthy at the landing point on South Georgia, Shackleton travelled with Worsley and Crean over mountainous terrain for 36 hours to Stromness. No man had previously been able to venture more than inland on the island; Shackleton's party were the first people to cross South Georgia. The next successful attempt was not until 1955. Staggering into Stromness, Shackleton and his team were welcomed into the whaling manager's house.

Rescue

World War I

Shackleton was then asked to lead a mission to Spitsbergen, an island above the Arctic Circle and north of Norway, in order to establish a British presence there in the guise of a mining operation. However, in Tromsø, Shackleton suffered a heart attack and had to return. Despite this, he joined a military expedition to Murmansk, Russia, in the autumn of 1918. The Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918, two weeks after he landed in Russia, and Shackleton returned home to publish South, his own account of the Endurance expedition.

Shackleton-Rowett Expedition and death (1921–22)

Despite the events of the Endurance expedition, Shackleton set out again for the Antarctic aboard Quest intending to circumnavigate Antarctica by sea. Although some of his former crew members had not received all of their pay from the Endurance expedition, many of them signed on with their former "Boss". However, when the party arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Shackleton fell ill after a heart attack. Even so, he refused to return the ship to England or seek treatment, and Quest continued south.

On 4 January 1922, the ship arrived off the coast of South Georgia. In the early morning hours, the expedition's physician, Alexander Macklin, was called to Shackleton's cabin and noticed that he was ill. Macklin suggested to Shackleton that he "take things easier in the future", to which the reply was: "You are always wanting me to give up something, what do you want me to give up now? These were Sir Ernest Shackleton's last words. A few moments later, at 2:50 a.m. on 5 January 1922, he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 47.

Macklin, who conducted the autopsy, concluded that the cause of death was atheroma of the coronary arteries exacerbated by "overstrain during a period of debility". Leonard Hussey, a veteran of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition, offered to return his body to Britain; however, while he was in Montevideo en route to England, a message was received from Shackleton's wife asking that her husband be buried in South Georgia. Hussey returned with the body, and on 5 March 1922, Ernest Shackleton was buried at Grytviken. Although Shackleton had been generous to the family of crew by providing for them in the case of accidental death, he did not sufficiently protect his own family: his wife was required to live on her own resources following his death.

Legacy

Although Shackleton was not immediately recognised for his achievements after the Endurance expedition, in later years his exploits have been the focus of many books, television shows, charities, and memorials. Among these are the James Caird Society, organised in 1994, which was set up to preserve the memory of Shackleton and his achievements. The society is named after Shackleton's benefactor, who was also honoured by the naming of the whaleboat used to travel between Elephant Island and South Georgia. Its first life president was Shackleton's younger son, Edward Shackleton, and his granddaughter, Alexandra Shackleton, has been life president since 1995. The James Caird itself is at Dulwich College in London.

Additionally, Sir Ernest Shackleton is the subject of Shackleton, a two-part Channel 4 drama directed by Charles Sturridge and starring Kenneth Branagh as the explorer. The same story is related in greater detail in the book Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing and Shackleton is also the subject of a documentary, The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, produced and directed in 2000 by George Butler and narrated by Liam Neeson. PBS made a documentary entitled "Shackleton: Voyage of Endurance" narrated by David Ogden Stiers. Shackleton is also a minor character in a 1958 Soviet fiction novel 'Iz Tupika' (From the Deadlock) by Valentine Pickul, who addressed Shackleton's participation in the British intervention in Northern Russia of 1918-1919. In this novel, Shackleton is depicted as a British imperialist dreaming of making Russian North another colony of the British Empire.

Shackleton's grave, near the former whaling station at Grytviken on South Georgia, is frequently visited by tourists from passing cruise ships. The British Antarctic Survey's logistics vessel RRS Ernest Shackleton (the replacement for RRS Bransfield) is named in his honour. In May 1998 the Shackleton Memorial Library opened at the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. He is commemorated with a statue outside the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, London, designed by the sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger. In recent years interest in Shackleton has revived, and he has become an icon of successful leadership for some modern business writers.

Shackleton's death marked the end of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, a period of discovery characterized by journeys of geographical and scientific exploration in a largely unknown continent, without any of the benefits of modern travel methods or radio communication. Shackleton has been cited as an exemplar of this age; in the preface to his book The Worst Journey in the World Apsley Cherry-Garrard, one of Scott's team on the Terra Nova Expedition, wrote: "For a joint scientifiic and geographical piece of organization, give me Scott; for a Winter Journey, Wilson; for a dash to the Pole and nothing else, Amundsen: and if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time".

Expedition advertisement

Although the advertisement has been widely attributed to Shackleton, its existence in The Times or other contemporary London sources has not been confirmed.

Notes

Works cited

• Alexander, Caroline Endurance. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 074754123X.
• Capparell, Stephanie; Morrell, Margot (2001). Shackleton's way: leadership lessons from the great Antarctic explorer. New York, N.Y: Viking.
• Crane, David (2005). Scott of the Antarctic. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 978 0 00 715068 7.
• Davis, John King High Latitude. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
• Fiennes, Ranulph (2003). Captain Scott. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 0-340-82697-5.
• Fisher, Marjorie and James (1957). Shackleton. James Barrie Books Ltd.
• Hince, Bernadette (2000). The Antarctic dictionary: a complete guide to Antarctic English. Collingwood, VIC, Australia: CSIRO Publishing.
• Huntford, Roland Shackleton. Carroll & Graf.
• Hurley, Frank South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition 1914-1917, the photographs of Frank Hurley. Bloomsbury.
• Johnson, Rebecca L. Ernest Shackleton: Gripped by the Antarctic. Twenty-First Century Books.
• Kimmell, Elizabeth Cody Ice Story: Shackleton's Lost Expedition. Clarion Books.
• Lansing, Alfred Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
• Mickleburgh, Edwin (1987). Beyond the frozen sea: visions of Antarctica. London: Bodley Head.
• Mill, Hugh Robert The Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton. Kessinger Publishing.
• Morrell, Margot and Capparell, Stephanie (2003). Shackleton's Way. Nicholas Brealey. ISBN 1-85788-318-7.
• Perkins, Dennis N.T. Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctica Expedition. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
• Peter, Murray; David Poole, Grant Jones Contemporary Issues in Management and Organisational Behaviour. Thomson Learning Nelson.
• Preston, Diana A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole. Houghton Mifflin Books.
• Rainey, Lawrence S. (2005). Modernism: an anthology. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Rubin, Jeff Antarctica. Lonely Planet.
• Shackleton, Ernest; Hugh Robert Mill, Tannatt William Edgeworth David The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic .... J.B. Lippincott Company.
• Shackleton, Ernest South: The story of Shackleton's 1914–17 expedition. Project Gutenberg.
• Speake, Jennifer (2003). Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. .
• Turley, Charles (1915). style="font-style : italic;">Voyages of Captain Scott Retold from Robert Falcon Scott's "The Voyage of the Discovery" and "Scott's Last Expedition". New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.
• Watkins, Julian Lewis (1950). The 100 Greatest Advertisements Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0486205401.
• Wheeler, Tony (2004). Lonely Planet Falklands & South Georgia Island (Lonely Planet Falklands and South Georgia Island). Hawthorn, Vic., Australia: Lonely Planet Publications.
• Worsley, Frank A. (1999) Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393319946.
• Worsley, Frank A. Shackleton's Boat Journey. W.W. Norton & Company.

External links

• Site dedicated to Ernest Shackleton Managed by the Shackleton family.
• Detailed biography
• Shackleton page at Dulwich College
• The James Caird Society
• The Shackleton Centenary Expedition Includes details about the Shackleton Foundation.
• Speech in 2001 by former Boeing executive Harry Stonecipher. Asserts that Shackleton's grace under pressure teaches how to make right decisions in hard times.
• PBS:Nova - Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance
• National Public Radio documentary, Walking Out of History John Rabe hosts, with voices of survivors, diaries and memoirs, and modern explorers Ann Bancroft and Will Steger.
• e-text of Shackleton's book South Recounts the expedition of 1914–16.
• Did Shackleton ever place the famous ad?
• Ernest Shackleton's cylinder recording, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara library.
• (mini-series starring Kenneth Branagh)
• (A 1919 documentary film about Shackleton's 1914-16 Antarctic expedition)