# Shackleton's epic voyage - 100th anniversary **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258 "2016-05-20T22:10:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/1 "2016-05-20T22:10:58Z")
On May 20, 1916, Earnest Shackleton, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean walked into the office of the manager of the Stromness whaling station on South Georgia Island. It was the end of a near-impossible journey in a small boat from Elephant Island (part of Antarctica) where much of his crew was marooned, awaiting rescue. The final stage of the journey was a 36-hour walk over the spine of this severely mountainous island, itself a most improbable feat. Altogether, this journey and the eventual successful rescue of all his men ranks as one of the greatest human feats in history. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/2 "2016-05-21T00:20:51Z")
I saw a documentary on this year’s ago. It is quite a story! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/3 "2016-05-21T01:31:16Z")
I read _Endurance_ when I was in High School. I thought it was one of the most engaging stories - fact or fiction - that I’d ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/4 "2016-05-21T01:45:22Z")
A friend of mine is a many great-nephew of Shackleton. He gave an interesting talk on him at the local Imax a few years ago before the screening of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/5 "2016-06-27T18:54:24Z")
Bumped. This 2014 three-part documentary about retracing Shackleton’s route will air beginning July 31 in the U.S. Check local listings: [http://www.pbs.org/program/chasing-shackleton/](http://www.pbs.org/program/chasing-shackleton/) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/6 "2016-06-27T19:01:59Z")
Thanks for the bump. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/7 "2016-06-27T20:00:12Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I read _Endurance_ when I was in High School. > I thought it was one of the most engaging stories - fact or fiction - that I’d ever read. Same here. My parents (particularly my dad) were so affected by the story that after they retired, they traveled to South George island to visit Shackleton’s grave, and also to London to gaze upon the [James Caird](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_James_Caird). ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/8 "2016-06-27T22:52:02Z")
The re-creation is worth watching IMHO. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/9 "2016-08-04T01:38:47Z")
Just remembered, I was involved in a _Star Trek_ role-playing game a few years back, and one of the starship’s shuttlecraft was the _Shackleton_. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/10 "2016-08-04T04:32:51Z")
That story would be unbelievable if it wasn’t true. On top of everything else, everybody survived. The guys who sailed to South Georgia were amazing, but all the guys back in Antarctica had to wait around for what must have been an eternity with no idea if the boat crew every reached anyplace. It was a few months after the rescue boat set off before they returned for the rest of the crew, what a wait. I’ve seen the re-creation, and I think there was a Nova stand alone episode. I watch that in awe of the perseverance those men had. To not just give up when faced with an almost zero chance of doing anything but just freezing or starving. Hard to think of a more heroic undertaking. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/11 "2016-08-04T04:37:06Z")
Well, almost everybody. The Ross Sea Party did lose two members, but the fact that any of them survived is yet another incredible survival story in this saga. Can you imagine the jubilation at picking up the Elephant Island survivors, but then realizing. . . they have to go back to Antarctica because there could be (and were) others.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/12 "2016-08-04T14:12:01Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Well, almost everybody. The Ross Sea Party did lose two members, but the fact that any of them survived is yet another incredible survival story in this saga. Can you imagine the jubilation at picking up the Elephant Island survivors, but then realizing. . . they have to go back to Antarctica because there could be (and were) others.:eek: I must have been just thinking of the Elephant Island guys, thanks for jogging my noggin. I do remember that one guy was pissed because Shackleton made him kill his cat. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/13 "2020-01-22T16:14:12Z")
Bumped again. One of the names under consideration for NASA’s next Mars rover is Endurance. It just got my vote - you’ve got five days to cast yours!: [Mars 2020 rover: These are the nine potential names you can vote for | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/21/world/mars-2020-rover-naming-finalists-scn-trnd/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/14 "2020-01-22T20:32:18Z")
Voted. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/15 "2020-01-23T01:42:53Z")
Shackleton has been one of my heroes ever since I first read about his amazing voyage. > [@Shackleton](#): > > “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.” Apparently this quote is apocryphal … which is a damn shame. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/16 "2020-01-23T01:56:23Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Bumped again. > > One of the names under consideration for NASA’s next Mars rover is Endurance. It just got my vote - you’ve got five days to cast yours!: [https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/21/world/mars-2020-rover-naming-finalists-scn-trnd/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/21/world/mars-2020-rover-naming-finalists-scn-trnd/index.html) Better than Rovey McRoveface. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/17 "2020-01-23T05:03:28Z")
Several years back a friend and I watched a documentary about the expedition at the Mugar Omni Theater, and said documentary included a lot of footage of the crew. Playing with their dogs featured heavily in the first third of the film. And then towards the end they revealed that miraculously none of the crew left behind starved while the others had gone off for help. The dogs, however, were never mentioned again. The adults in the audience sadly connected the dots, but as we were leaving a little boy of about eight loudly asked his parents “what happened to the dogs?” Um… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/18 "2020-01-23T05:20:02Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Better than Rovey McRoveface. NASA wisely didn’t have a wide-open and publicly-readable nomination process. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shackletons-epic-voyage-100th-anniversary/755258/19 "2020-01-24T16:20:56Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Better than Rovey McRoveface. Or _Terra Nova_.