[HN Gopher] The harrowing journey to Elephant Island by Ernest S...
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The harrowing journey to Elephant Island by Ernest Shackleton and
Endurance crew
Author : CapitalistCartr
Score : 46 points
Date : 2022-01-19 12:48 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.atlasobscura.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.atlasobscura.com)
| dhbradshaw wrote:
| One of my favorite quotes is by Amundsen, who led the group that
| first reached the South pole:
|
| "Adventure is just bad planning."
| jfk13 wrote:
| While it's a cute saying, it's not entirely fair. Luck also
| plays a large role.
|
| The Antarctic could perfectly well have killed Amundsen, too,
| just like it killed Scott. It's true his journey was better
| planned and prepared, but that didn't mean his success -- or
| indeed survival -- was guaranteed.
| Dowwie wrote:
| Scott brought machines and ponies to Antarctica. He brought
| an additional crew member without having sufficient resources
| for him. He also had the men sled-haul supplies. Amundsen
| brought dogs and just enough crew. The dogs pulled the sleds
| and the crew ate the dogs as they went along, and as
| according to plan. Amundsen earned his victory.
| hcrisp wrote:
| "For scientific discovery give me Scott; for speed and
| efficiency of travel give me Amundsen; but when disaster
| strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray
| for Shackleton." - Antarctic explorer, Sir Raymond Priestly
| sec400 wrote:
| If you like history and stories like this you'll probably also
| enjoy "Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey
| into the Dark Antarctic Night"
| (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54900051-madhouse-at-the...)
|
| A 1897 expedition that ends up wintering (stuck floating in the
| ice) in a time just before radio communication.
| hcrisp wrote:
| I just finished reading "Endurance", Alfred Lansing's classic
| account of Shackleton's doomed quest. Harrowing is exactly the
| word to describe it. And even more harrowing than the trip to
| Elephant Island was the 800-mile voyage Shackleton took with five
| other crewmen from Elephant Island back to civilization in South
| Georgia. To navigate it he had to cross the dreaded Drake Passage
| (the latitudes between Antarctica and South America where winds
| swirl unimpeded by large landmasses) in an open lifeboat relying
| only on a compass and occasional stars in life threatening
| weather. Upon arriving in South Georgia they ditched on the
| uninhabited South shore and had to cross mountains by foot to
| reach the whaling station. All survived.
| Someone wrote:
| And then, Shackleton not only organized the rescue party for
| the three crewmen he had left behind on the other side of the
| island, but also organized and led all four attempts to rescue
| the crew left on Elephant Island.
|
| And no, he didn't take time to recover from the journey to
| South Georgia before doing that.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-
| Antarctic_Exped...: _"He first left South Georgia a mere three
| days after he had arrived in Stromness"_
|
| 3 days to organize a ship, a crew and supplies.
|
| And of course, once back in England, he and most of his crew
| volunteered to serve in World War One. He was denied that, but
| several of his crew died in that war. They already had offered
| to do that when, IIRC in Buenos Aires they heard war had broken
| out, but had been told by the king to continue the expedition.
| ftkftk wrote:
| Excellent book - came here to recommend it as well.
| gwintrob wrote:
| Ditto. One of my favorite books ever. Shackleton was a master
| at maintaining a positive mental attitude.
| aborsy wrote:
| The drake passage open boat voyage is considered a great
| achievement to this date. I recommend reading it.
|
| Shackleton died some 7 years later in a subsequent expedition.
| anjbe wrote:
| The journey of Shackleton and his crew is one of the most
| exciting stories of survival and leadership I've ever
| encountered. Shackleton himself wrote an autobiographical
| account, and its copyright has expired, so it's now in the public
| domain:
|
| https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/ernest-shackleton/south
|
| https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/ernest-shackleton/south/te...
| spaetzleesser wrote:
| "survival and leadership "
|
| And loads of luck. There were so many occasions where if
| something had gone only slightly wrong they would all have
| died. But you have to admire their persistence to never give
| up. Not giving up is all you can do.
| [deleted]
| cconcepts wrote:
| The Book "South" which is something like an edited version of
| Shackelton's diary, has this journey in reasonable detail. It had
| a profound impact on me; that people could be that tough and
| resilient against massive odds. I think about it often when I am
| feeling stressed - how would someone like Shackelton handle this
| so the fear didn't impair their judgement.
| gherkinnn wrote:
| The ordeal he and his men went through is truly outlandish.
|
| A memorable element was the mens' reaction to WW1. Them asking
| "who won?" felt awfully like one would ask about a football
| game.
|
| But I found Ernest endlessly describing every depth measurement
| and the stomach contents of every penguin they killed hard to
| get through.
| grumblepeet wrote:
| My partner's great uncle Perce was on that expedition, he was a
| stowaway and eventually became carpenter and cook. He adopted the
| ships cat who was called 'Mrs Chippy' because it followed him
| everywhere (chippy being slang for carpenter). Lost most of his
| toes to frostbite but survived to make it back to Britain. His
| first cousin was still alive until a few years ago and she
| recounted him saying that he would never leave Newport again.
| d_silin wrote:
| "Wooden ships and iron men". What an adventure!
|
| Great that there is another age of exploration coming up - the
| interplanetary one.
| [deleted]
| SOMA_BOFH wrote:
| "Shackleton's Boat Journey" by F. A. Worsley is a first hand
| account of the journey, written by the Captain of the Endurance.
|
| No fluff in this book, it gets directly to the action. Worsley
| has a very direct writing style which is easy to read.
| Dowwie wrote:
| seems to go by another title, "Endurance: an epic of polar
| adventure"
| anjbe wrote:
| I concur, Worsley's account of the voyage is excellent and
| highly worth reading.
| jfk13 wrote:
| Most definitely agreed; I read it many years ago as a
| youngster, and have never forgotten it.
|
| For a different telling of the expedition more generally,
| _Mrs Chippy 's Last Expedition_ is worth a look:
|
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128731.Mrs_Chippy_s_Last.
| ..
| evan_ wrote:
| Immortalized in song by Beastie Boys: Like Ernest
| Shackleton said to Orde-Lees: "I'll have dog pemmican with
| my tea"
|
| https://genius.com/1510527
| ajwingert wrote:
| Does anyone else only know about Ernest Shackleton from Atypical?
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