The Irony of Ernest Shackleton’s Life and Death
.jpg "Photo by Liam Quinn - Bruce Luyendyk")
Why is Ernest Shackleton’s birthday significant?
British explorer Ernest Shackleton came into the world on February 15, 1874, in County Kildare, Ireland, 149 years ago. He is a remarkable historical figure due to his leadership during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917. Historians widely regard Shackleton’s leadership as exemplary and a model for leadership in extreme situations. A series of disasters plagued his expedition, which aimed to cross the Antarctic continent from the Weddell Sea on its South Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast and McMurdo Sound. Many consider Shackleton’s determination to face these difficulties the gold standard of courage.
In a recent post, I wrote about my visit to Shackleton’s hut in McMurdo Sound in the Ross Sea. He and his team built that hut for an earlier expedition in 1907-1909 when they sought the South Pole and failed. Because Roald Amundsen and then Robert F. Scott found the Pole in 1911 and 1912, Shackleton came up with a new Antarctic quest: to cross the continent.
What made Shackleton a great leader, possibly the greatest?
Scholars consider Shackleton’s leadership exemplary in the history of exploration. Despite the loss of the expedition’s ship, the Endurance, Shackleton managed to maintain the morale of his crew and ultimately led them to safety. One key example of his leadership is how he responded when the Endurance became trapped in sea ice, was crushed, and sank. Shackleton immediately focused on the survival of his men. He guided them through a perilous journey across the Southern Ocean and the inhospitable Antarctic seas. His ability to remain calm under pressure and make swift, effective decisions saved the lives of all his crew members.
Shackleton’s leadership was characterized by his ability to inspire and motivate his men, even in the most challenging circumstances. He kept their spirits high and instilled a sense of hope and determination, which was crucial for their survival. Shackleton’s leadership and determination ultimately led to the survival of all his crew members.
What happened after Shackleton lost his ship, the Endurance?
Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, became trapped in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea of Antarctica during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917. The drifting, growing, and thickening ice crushed the ship; it sank in the dark winter of November 1915, leaving Shackleton and his crew stranded and lost to civilization.
Shackleton and his men camped on the sea ice for several months and tried to drag the ship’s lifeboats to open water. He then led his men on a journey across the ice and waters of the Weddell Sea in search of land, eventually reaching Elephant Island in the northern Antarctic Peninsula in April 1916.
Shackleton and a crew of five from Elephant Island set out in one of the lifeboats, the James Caird, to seek help. They navigated through more than 700 miles of menacing seas of the Drake Passage between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. They eventually reached their goal, South Georgia Island, in May 1916. The small crew on the Caird had landed on the west side of South Georgia. A whaling station from where they had left months before lay across a brutal mountain range on the island’s east side. Shackleton and two others crossed that range and found the station. They organized help and began rescuing the remaining crew stranded on Elephant Island in August 1916.
The irony of the death of Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton died of a heart attack on January 5, 1922, while on board a ship, the Quest, bound for Antarctica on his fourth expedition to the region. He was only 47 years old at the time of his death.
Shackleton had suffered from angina during his earlier expeditions but was determined to continue his explorations of the Antarctic. On his last voyage to Antarctica, he became ill in Rio de Janeiro. After reaching South Georgia island from where he planned to launch his expedition, he had a heart attack and died in the early morning of January 5. His colleagues set out to transport his body to England. His wife intervened and asked that they bury him in South Georgia, which they did.
Shackleton is remembered as one of the greatest explorers of the 20th century and a hero of Antarctic exploration. A signature irony of his life is that he died in South Georgia, where only a few years before, he had saved the lives of himself, the crew of the Caird, and ultimately, that of the Endurance.
