Antarctic heros heartbreak over iconic sunken ship

Shackleton's ship 'Endurance' found off the coast of Antarctica

Sir Ernest Shackleton is one of the world’s greatest-ever explorers – and is responsible for three daring expeditions to the Antarctic during his storied career.

But his granddaughter has confirmed that behind the tenacity of the great man was an emotional individual best exemplified by his relationship with his iconic ship, Endurance, reports The Daily Express US.

The Endurance sank after becoming trapped in pack ice in the Wendell Sea off Antarctica in 1915 and has remained on the ocean floor for more than 106 years until a search team, Endurance22, found it last year.

Alexandra Shackleton, the granddaughter of the explorer, who died aged 47 in 1922, confirmed her ancestor would have been racked with emotion at the sad fate of his beloved vessel.

Speaking to The Daily Express US, Ms Shackleton said her grandfather found the sinking of Endurance difficult to accept – despite being a man who did not “easily get upset”.

She said: “When the ship Endurance was crushed in the ice, and they were in a terrible situation – nobody of course knew where they were because there were no communications whatsoever.

“Endurance was down, his ship had gone and he was heartbroken.

“He wrote that he could not write about it, and he gathered his shipmates together and said the ship guard would go home. And his goal then, he said a man must set himself to a new mark, and let old one go. And his new mark got everyone from the expedition home alive.”

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The famed ship got trapped in pack ice before it succumbed to its fate on November 21, 1915. Despite the deadly temperatures and trials of eating whatever food they could find – including their dogs and penguins – astonishingly, each of the 28 men to take on the Endurance challenge survived.

Shackleton and his skipper Frank Worseley took a crew of four men on an inspired rescue mission as they travelled 800 miles to South Georgia from Elephant Island in order to secure help to rescue their 22 surviving colleagues.

Remarkably the team succeeded despite only using the small James Caird boat to do so – in what is now described as the greatest ever small-boat journey.

Ms Shackleton concluded: “I think his legacy can be summed up in one word: Leadership – the way he led his men.

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“He made a great point of getting to know his men… and in some ways, it’s even more impressive because there was an enormous educational gap in those days between the men and the officers.”

She added: “He died 100 years ago last year, and I’m not the sort of person who makes out someone like that as an idol… I don’t think he was perfect, I don’t think he was a saint, but I think he was a very great man.”

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