Endurance Case

"Endurance"

It's hard to imagine that not more than 100 years ago or more, that there were no airplanes or cars in the world, and the way people conducted their business was by ship. Great efforts were made to explore new lands and find passages or shortcuts making routes better because ship journeys took so long. The people who went out exploring these new "shortcuts" were heroes around the world. One of these great explorers was Ernest Shackleton. His adventure is told in the book Endurance by Alfred Lansing, and the New York Times calls this book "One of the great adventure stories of all time."

This book concerns the voyage of a ship called "The Endurance" on its voyage to the Antarctic which is at the bottom of the world. Ernest Shackleton wanted to be the first person to walk across the Antarctic. While on this voyage, some remarkable things happened. During these long voyages, the men would go out fishing, trading and exploring, and the women would stay at home and cook and clean. The women would pass the time by singing songs, and when the men would come back and tell their stories, the women would incorporate them into song. These songs would be passed down through generations, and that is sometimes how stories are retold. The men had to be fearless during their journeys, and there was none more fearless than Ernest Shackleton.

They set out even though the whalers warned of the worst ice they had seen in years. The Endurance was very strong with a 4ft bow. The ship was used like a battering ram cleaving the ice. For 6 weeks Endurance either dodged ice or ran through it. As they headed deeper into the Weddell Sea, the ice compressed around the ship. The temperature then dropped sharply and froze the Endurance in a sea of ice. This was before the radio, so they couldn't call for help. Shackleton decided to wait until spring to sail the rest of the way. Once the ice started to move, it didn't free the ship; instead the ice started to crush it. Shackleton knew it was going to sink so he gave the orders to bring a lifeboat down and get it ready. Shackleton's new goal was to save every life. From Elephant Island, Shackleton set out on a 22ft. lifeboat rigged by the carpenter with a few volunteers. The boat was named the James Caird. He hoped to reach South Georgia some 800 miles away.

The sea that they traveled was one of the worst for gale force winds and waves. The island of South Georgia was small enough to miss completely. 15 days later they sighted land and made It to South Georgia. But a hurricane during the night almost sunk their lifeboat. This was not the last of the dangers. The James Caird was so damaged that the six man crew had to hike across the island. They hiked until they heard the sound of a work whistle. This was the first sound from the outside world in 17 months. Shackleton had made it to the