Striking images show the well-preserved wreck of Shackleton’s fateful ship

Slowly breaking through the dense ice floes of Antarctica’s Weddell Sea is the giant icebreaking research vessel SA Agulhas II (pictured below). It was part of explorer Ernest Shackleton’s successful Endurance 22 expedition in 2022 to discover sunken ships.

Trapped on an ice floe during his first voyage in 1915, his endurance diminished and he and his crew of 27 were stranded with little hope of rescue. “The survival story of Shackleton and the crew of Endurance is a legendary feat of leadership, grit, determination and perseverance against all odds,” said Nico Vincent, deputy leader of the Endurance 22 expedition. with a new book endurance, He and shipwreck mission leader John Sears detail the search for the lost ship.

A stunning bird’s-eye view (pictured above) shows members of Endurance22’s underwater team crowding the returning underwater self-driving vehicle into position at the stern of the ship before bringing it back on board.

But, fittingly, center stage (above) is taken up by an astonishing mosaic of more than 25,000 images of the shipwreck itself. It reveals an incredibly well-preserved ship, with its mast, anchor and steam engine funnel all still present, and the hull also sitting upright on the ocean floor, intact. Sears and Vincent hope this ship’s story will provide new generations with a new perspective on this epic tale.

Endurance: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Legendary Ship by John Sears and Nico Vincent will be published on November 5th.