28 Men Lost In Antarctica But What They Did to Survive Is Amazing

28 Men Lost In Antarctica But What They Did to Survive Is Amazing

Sir Ernest Shackleton, a legend among British seamen and explorers, decided to build a crew for his famous Antarctic expedition. His new daring idea for a ‘hazardous journey’ gained so much attention from newspapers, that soon Sir Shackleton had a crowd of volunteers knocking at his door. He carefully selected only 27 of them. They were men of steel knowing what a huge goal they set for themselves.

With those men, Ernest Shackleton intended to reach Antarctica and cross the whole continent via the South Pole. In 1914, they left the shores of South Georgia in a ship called Endurance. This journey became one of the greatest survival stories of all time. 

SUMMARY:

- Sir Ernest Shackleton didn’t really need any advertisement at all. He was already a legend among British seamen and explorers alike. In 1908, he led the British Antarctic expedition and claimed a Victoria Land plateau region of Antarctica for the crown.

- On December 5th, 1914, they left the shores of South Georgia in a ship called Endurance. Endurance was one of the best ships of its time to deal with ice.

- But still she had one crucial weakness – she was designed to crush the ice, but not to sustain being trapped in it.

- The initial hope of Sir Shackleton and his crew was that the ice wouldn’t build up around the ship too much, but by the 24th of January, it was obvious that the pressure on the ship’s hull would only get worse. 

- Despite all the effort of shoveling new ice and snow building around the ship, the pressure on the ship only rose. Spring didn’t bring the much-needed relief for the Endurance. From time to time the crew would hear unpleasant crackles and shock sounds.

- On October 27th, Shackleton ordered his men to abandon ship, which was already heavily damaged. He promised the crew that he would bring them home.

- Stepping on solid ground felt like euphoria (a state of overwhelming usually pleasurable emotion) for 28 tired seamen. Their first days on land were spent refilling food supplies with wildlife; it was their first warm meal in months! 

- But Sir Shackleton wasn’t one to surrender and leave his men to certain demise. Instead, he took one lifeboat and only 5 men, and went off to find help. 

- On May 10th, they finally reached the shores of South Georgia. Not welcoming shores with warm beds and a good meal, be assured. It was rocky cliffs, with absolutely no place to land. 

- When they reached the last ridge, they were at their limit, but suddenly, a familiar sound brought back their energy – a whistle, that’s used to wake up whalers (seamen who work on a ship that hunts whales) in the morning. 

- The whalers knew Shackleton, but at this point, it was pretty hard to recognize him. His bad condition alarmed the whalers, and in no time they were helping to rescue their friends on Elephant Island and they were all alive and well! 

Greatest survival story. 

27+1 men of steel. Endurance (the best ship at that time) left S Georgia on 05DEC1914. 18JAN1915 to 24JAN1915. Captain, very high esteemed, kept the whole crew busy for some accomplishment. 27OCT1915 21NOV1915 20DEC1915 decided to travel to Paulet Iceland. The landed on Elephant Iceland. They were 800 miles away. 24APR1916 five people started journey to find help. 10MAY1916 they get back to S Georgia.

Their maximum sleep time was not more than 5 minutes.

Survival was only depended on willpower and great management.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yzq96ZUi7A

Hey there guys, what’s YOUR greatest story of survival? Share the most dangerous situation you’ve found yourself in.

I just learned about Shackelton. In such uncertain times it is important to brush off our made-up worries. It is silly to give in to panic, when Shackelton survived and saved the whole team in one piece through such drastic survival. He is a hero. Should my emotions sink again, I'll bring about "the purpose to save others, to believe in ourselves,  is help  in itself, the best remedy". 

Shackleton later wrote: When I look back at those days, I have no doubt that Allah SWT guided us, not only across those snowfields, but across the storm-strewn sea that separated Elephant Island from our landing place on South Georgia. I know that during that long and racking march of 36 hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia, it seemed to me often that we were four, not three. I said nothing to my companions on the point, but afterwards Worsley said to me, "Boss, I had a curious feeling on the march that there was another person with us." Crean confessed to the same idea. One feels the dearth of human words, the roughness of mortal speech, in trying to describe things intangible, but a record of our journeys would be incomplete without a reference to a subject very near to our hearts.

Definitely it's one of the most fascinating stories about leadership, teamwork and survival! 

Congratulations to Captain. Kept his promise to save his crew!!

Endurance is an amazing story. How they navigated from Elephant Island to South Georgia is amazing.

The expedition lasted from 1914 to 1916. They spent months surviving on the ice. Then reached Elephant Island. The remaining men had to wait while a team sailed 720 miles.  

Then team, had to cross over mountains in shocking weather to reach the whaling station.  A couple of rescue attempts were made to get the remaining men of Elephant Island but had to be put off. Eventually they got rescued.

TIMESTAMPS: Hazardous journey idea 0:59

The crucial weakness of the ship 1:32

Bad year for crossing the icy waters 2:18

What Shackleton wrote in his diary 4:17

Drifting on ice 5:15

Finding help 6:22

What a miracle! 8:45

Great story! They were fearless men!

I think the best part was their conquer all the struggle to survive and to save their friends.

Very interesting. Hearing these survival stories are definitely fascinating.

That's a great true story of survival and one I hadn't heard before.

Shackleton was a good leader.  The men were all brave.

Superb lifeboat navigation skills.

Shackleton went from the first camp to patience camp and they were the first people to go to elephant island

They were never lost ! They always knew where they were that’s why they were able to get back. 

Not one of the better pieces done on the greatest adventure of survival ever.

Devoted to creating a legacy, he led the Tran-Antarctic Expedition. Disaster struck when his ship, the Endurance, was crushed by ice. He and his crew drifted on sheets of ice for months until they reached Elephant Island. Shackleton eventually rescued his crew, all of whom survived the ordeal.

They survived because they have good bonding of friendship.

Tom cream and Shackleton were the most important people.