[solemn music playing]
[dogs barking]
[Lionel Greenstreet] [revoice]
It was a dream.
It was a treasure hunt.
But I don't think
that Shackleton thought
anything about
the material side.
What the treasure can buy
isn't the answer.
It's the finding of it,
the looking for it.
[Dan Snow] Shackleton
once wrote to his wife,
said that he cannot describe
the excitement
of seeing places
and things
that no human's
ever seen before.
[Ernest Shackleton] [revoice]
Beloved.
This will be my last letter
before I go south
into the unknown.
I have not the slightest doubt
that we will get through.
[machinery whirring]
Why we go,
I cannot say.
What the impelling force is
that makes explorers,
I cannot describe.
[indistinct]
[Frank Hurley] [revoice]
January the 21st, 1915.
Our position is disquieting.
The fall in temperature
caused the small pools
around the ship to congeal.
It looks as though there was
a possibility of us freezing in
and becoming part
of the floes that menace us.
[Shackleton] Each step
taken into the unknown
unfolds a page of mystery.
And as long as there is
any mystery on this globe,
it is not only man's right,
but his duty
to try to unravel it.
[Mensun Bound]
The idea of exploration,
going for the prize,
and then taking
one step beyond,
is in all of us.
[ship creaking]
[Frank Worsley] [revoice]
We could hear
her beam snapping,
broken as easily
as matchsticks
by the irresistible
strength of the ice.
[Vincent] I like doing what's
never been done before.
As Shackleton said,
difficulties are just
things to overcome.
[wood creaking]
[Alexander Macklin] [revoice]
As long as we can come out
of this predicament
with our lives,
we shall not grumble.
And please, God,
we will succeed.
[dramatic music playing]
- Morning, Nico.
- [Nico Vincent] Morning, Mensun.
Lasse.
[Lasse Rabenstein]
Well, it's amazing, I mean,
it was taken from space.
When we have sunny weather,
we can get the optical imagery
which is super helpful
for navigation.
[machinery whirring]
Probably, we will move
on this area
because we are already here.
[John Shears] We've got to
provide all the support we can
to the AUV guys.
They are gonna be working 24/7
flat out to survey
that search box.
We've only got 12 days.
If the weather holds up,
we may be able to get
a 10-day extension.
But we have to get out before
the ice reforms and refreezes.
[intense music playing]
[Snow] We are near
the latitude and longitude,
given by Worsley,
the captain of Endurance,
as the place where
he estimates Endurance sank.
Success awaits.
Dive one, boys. Let's go.
[machinery whirring]
[Bound] The Endurance
is the most storied wreck
of all time,
perhaps even more so
than the Titanic,
which went down only two years
before the Endurance set sail.
I've been working on shipwrecks
all over the world,
from South China Sea
in the east
to Caribbean in the west.
Shipwrecks of all kinds,
all periods.
The wreck of
an ancient Greek ship
found inside a live volcano
off the coast of Sicily
could prove one of the greatest
finds of the century.
[Bound] A shipwreck is,
is just this huge artifact.
It's all there.
I mean,
the best time capsules
in the world are shipwrecks...
and shipwrecks
are all about people.
This is, um, Frank Worsley.
He was the captain
of the Endurance
and, uh, Harry McNish,
the carpenter,
James Wordie,
the geologist, Greenstreet.
So it's all to do
with their diaries.
The story of Shackleton
is really to be told
in the diaries.
I've read all the diaries and
most of them are not published.
This is first book
I ever read about Shackleton.
I... it's-it's...
I carry it with me.
It was a prize book
that was given to me for,
believe it or not,
attendance at Sunday School.
Growing up in
the Falkland Islands
felt like the continent
of Antarctica
was my backyard,
just several hundred
miles away.
The great man himself,
the boss,
Shackleton.
And I carry this with me.
[AUV engineer]
All good.
[whistles]
Yeah, all good.
[news anchor]
Uh, good luck with this, Dan,
but is this a needle
in a haystack?
How, how optimistic are you?
Well, I-I think it is
a needle in a haystack.
It's at 3,000 meters
beneath the surface
of the Weddell Sea.
The Weddell Sea is one
of the hardest places
on earth to operate.
The hope is, we do
find the shipwreck,
the Endurance shipwreck,
and it connects us
to an incredible story.
It's probably
the most isolated,
the most difficult shipwreck
on earth to find.
So this expedition is really
on the frontiers
of science and geography.
My job is to try
and spread the story
of what's being done here
on the Agulhas
all over the world.
It's to channel the spirit
of Shackleton and Hurley,
his photographer, to tell
the world what they were doing.
But use modern platforms
and tools,
like the internet,
like social media.
We're still talking
about Shackleton
because this is
the greatest tale of survival,
of leadership,
of teamwork in history.
And it's a story
about failure.
[light piano music playing]
[Bound] This was the great
age of exploration.
We hadn't descended to the
deepest depths of the ocean.
We hadn't yet climbed the
highest mountain of the world.
[Snow] Polar explorers
in this period
were global celebrities.
They were the rock stars.
[Bound] Shackleton was
on four expeditions
to the Antarctic.
He found himself in 1901
as the third officer
on Scott's great expedition,
the Discovery expedition.
[Shears]
Shackleton must've been
a very special character
even then,
in his 20s,
to persuade Scott,
as a Royal Navy officer,
to take this man
from the merchant marine
with him,
all the way to the Antarctic.
[Bound]
They suffered terribly.
They got back
by the skin of their teeth.
Shackleton in particular
was in a very bad way.
Shackleton is sent back
as an invalid to the UK,
which he was
terribly embarrassed by.
[Bound] He never forgot
or forgave Scott
for invaliding him
out of Antarctica.
[Shears] But Shackleton
was able, in 1907,
to secure enough funding
for his own expedition
to Antarctica,
called the Nimrod Expedition.
[Bound] Again, he was trying
to get to the South Pole,
and he got to within 97 miles.
He could've taken the prize,
but he didn't
because he knew if he went
that last bit of distance,
that men under him
would've died.
[Shackleton]
I cannot think of failure.
Yet I must look
at the matter sensibly
and the lives of those
who are with me.
[Bound] It must have been
a very difficult decision
for him to have made.
[Shackleton] After the conquest
of the South Pole
by Amundsen,
who, by a narrow margin
of days only,
was in advance of the
British expedition under Scott,
there remained
but one great main object
of Antarctic journeys:
the crossing of
the South Polar continent
from sea to sea.
[Snow] Shackleton managed
to convince enough people
the greatest Antarctic journey
was yet to be done.
People might have reached
the South Pole.
But the greatest journey
was crossing
the Antarctic continent
from one side
to the other.
[Bound] Shackleton
then found his ship.
The Endurance
was built in Norway
between 1911 and 1913.
When Shackleton
purchased the ship,
he changed her name
to Endurance
because it reflected
his family motto:
"By endurance we conquer."
[Snow]
He then assembled a crew.
Shackleton just sent
a letter to the newspaper.
And he would say,
anyone's able to apply.
He got 5,000 applicants,
including three women.
Some were scientists
who wanted to take part
in the kind of scientific
elements of the expedition.
Some were sailors.
[jaunty piano music playing]
[Worsley] I had joined
the expedition by accident.
One night, I dreamed
that Burlington Street
was full of ice blocks
and that I was navigating
a ship along it.
An absurd dream.
But sailors are superstitious.
And when I woke up
next morning,
I hurried down
Burlington Street.
A sign on the door post
caught my eye.
It bore the words "Imperial
Trans-Antarctic Expedition."
I turned into the building.
Shackleton was there.
The moment
I set eyes on him,
I knew that he was a man
with whom I should
be proud to work.
[Snow]
He took one scientist,
a meteorologist
who had just returned
from an expedition to Sudan.
[Leonard Hussey] [revoice]
There was one small matter
about which I was concerned:
it was whether I should
take my banjo with me.
His reply was emphatic.
"Certainly," he said.
So my banjo, the same one
on which I had played
to the audience in the Sudan,
formed part of my baggage.
[Snow] He didn't require
any Antarctic experience.
He took one guy because
he said he looked funny.
He was looking for character.
He was looking for toughness
and versatility.
So Shackleton ended up
with a crew
of 28 men,
including himself,
lots and lots
of dogs to pull sleds,
which no one ever had
any experience of doing.
And a cat.
On the other side
of Antarctica,
he was sending
another ship.
And they were gonna try
and lay food dumps
so that Shackleton
and his men could pick them up
and avoid starvation
as they made the second half
of their journey.
[Bound] It was the very eve
of World w*r I.
He did offer his ship
and its crew
to the service of the nation.
He sent a telegram
to Churchill,
but Churchill replied,
"proceed," and he did.
[Greenstreet]
The Endurance arrived
at Grytviken Whaling Station
in South Georgia
on 5th of November, 1914.
[Shackleton] The whaling
captains at South Georgia
confirmed the extreme severity
of the ice conditions.
[Greenstreet] The whaling
skippers advised us
to delay our start
as late as possible.
[Snow] Shackleton
ignored that advice.
He couldn't return home.
There was a w*r on,
he'd lose his crew,
he'd lose his funding.
He didn't have
the reputation
that would survive
another failure.
And I think he dragged his men
down there on a doomed quest
because he couldn't bear
to go home.
[Bound]
Shackleton left South Georgia
on the 5th of December.
Two to three days
after leaving,
they were in the ice.
The ice conditions that year
were very bad indeed.
They headed down towards
the shore of the Weddell Sea.
Ice conditions
got worse and worse.
They got to within
a hundred miles,
or one day's sailing,
from their destination,
of Vahsel Bay.
But then, on the 18th,
they became ice-bound.
[Snow]
His expedition had failed.
He wanted to walk
across Antarctica.
He hadn't even set foot
on Antarctica.
There you can see just
on the horizon there, can't you?
- [Capt. Freddie L.] Yeah.
- So there's a lot of sea ice
over there then.
[Freddie L.] Yes.
[Bound]
It's now minus eight degrees,
and you can see looking
at the open patches
that it is hardening up.
The ice gets all hard,
and old and gnarled
and mixed and hummocked,
and at that stage,
we are struggling.
And for me,
it's a make-or-break situation.
[Snow]
Mensun Bound is a legend.
He is one of the world's
greatest marine archeologists.
But at this point,
he doesn't want
his career
to end in failure.
[Bound]
We tried once before.
In 2019,
we came to Antarctica
to search for the Endurance.
[indistinct]
...we're within its range.
It felt like, you know,
my whole life had been,
uh, converging
upon that moment.
It was an incredible feeling.
The excitement,
the... exhilaration.
And then of course,
it all went wrong.
We actually got to the wreck
site, much to my amazement,
because we had very,
very tough, uh, ice conditions.
We managed
to put down the AUV,
AUV working perfectly fine.
But after 30 hours,
it suddenly
stopped transmitting.
We'd lost it, and we had no idea
what had happened to it.
We searched for three days,
didn't find it.
Uh, massive failure.
[Bound] The AUV we lost
cost millions of dollars.
And, all that planning,
years of work,
all down the tube, you know.
It was literally one of
the worst moments of my life.
You know, I never expected
that, uh...
I'd have a second chance
to go looking
for the Endurance,
that is for sure.
[Shears] We learnt
from our failures in 2019
that we needed a,
a different underwater drone
to search the seafloor.
It was Nico's choice to attach
this brand-new vehicle
to the surface
using a fiberoptic tether.
Nico's, in my mind, one of
the best subsea engineers
anywhere in the world
As the vehicle
surveys the seabed,
we'll see the Endurance
appear in real time
on the navigation screen.
[AUV crew] [on radio]
Robbie, that's the AUV
off the hook.
Okay, AUV in thrust mode,
all yours, Chad.
[Vincent] When you're
in the Weddell Sea,
the traditional sub-sea
methods don't work
because the ice rules.
[Shears] The massive challenge
is of launching under the ice
and searching on the seafloor
at 10,000 feet.
And no one had
ever done this before.
It was complete--
completely new
in terms
of sub-sea technology.
We've got 15 nautical miles
to run to the site.
Should be there
between 1700
to 1800 hours tonight.
And what about
the ice conditions, Lasse?
There's areas of,
of open water opening up,
but it will be
a little denser at the site.
So whatever we do
with the AUV operations,
the drift will be
super important.
Because you have
to park the ship
at the right side
of the search window
to drift over the wreck site
and not in the other direction.
In the Weddell Sea,
we have an ocean system,
which is called
the Weddell Gyre.
The sea ice goes clockwise
like a huge circle.
On average, it drifts
20 kilometers a day here.
And even the ship
will drift with the ice.
[Hussey] The ice was heavily
and firmly packed
around the Endurance,
extending in every direction
as far as the eye
could see from the masthead.
[Greenstreet]
As the weeks passed,
our drift was slowly
but surely
taking us northwards,
our track on the chart
showing a formation
like that of a drunken
man's wanderings,
crossing and recrossing
our own track.
[Shackleton]
My chief anxiety is the drift.
Where will the vagrant winds
and currents carry the ship
during the long winter months
that are ahead of us?
And will it be possible
to break out
of the pack early enough
to attempt the overland
journey next year?
[Snow] Shackleton's gamble
of racing south in 1914
and trying to beat
the winter had failed.
He now had to survive
a brutal winter
in the most inhospitable place
on planet Earth.
[Shackleton]
On February 24th,
we ceased to observe
the ship's routine
and the Endurance became
a winter station.
[Greenstreet]
Ice huts were built
on the floes
around the ship,
and the dogs, each one,
chained to a hut.
The working and training
of the dogs was taken in hand.
[puppies whimpering]
[Worsley] Most of
the public schools in England
helped the expedition
to purchase the dog teams.
And we named a dog
after every school that helped.
- [dogs barking]
- [men shouting, whistling]
[Snow] Shackleton
insisted on optimism
above all else,
and I think he was right.
Without that sense that
you are gonna survive,
without that sense of purpose,
you would give up,
you'd turn your face
to the wall.
And so they organized life
in a way
that would keep their morale up
and keep them alive.
[camera clicking]
[Worsley]
Hurley is a marvel.
With cheerful
Australian profanity,
he perambulates
the most dangerous
and slippery places
he can find.
He snaps his snaps
or works his handle,
turning out pictures of life
by the fathom.
[Snow] Shackleton was
generations ahead
of what young people
now know to be true.
If you haven't filmed it,
it hasn't happened.
And so of course
he took the latest,
cutting-edge technology,
moving film.
He took a documentary maker
with him.
[Hurley] I was in the wilds
of North Australia at the time,
making a film of
the primitive Aboriginal life.
A cable from
Sir Ernest Shackleton
invited me to join the staff
for his expedition.
I hadn't the remotest idea
of what it might involve
nor had I applied
for a post on the expedition.
However, Sir Ernest
had long been my hero,
and I was going
to follow him in anything
and to go anywhere with him.
[Snow] Shackleton was desperate
to get the story out there.
He lived and died
by publicity.
Shackleton could never be
confident of his funding.
He was always cobbling
this stuff together.
But, underneath it all,
he was hopelessly disorganized,
terrible with money.
To a certain extent,
it was a pyramid scheme.
He'd get given
20 pounds here,
and he'd immediately
have to pay, uh,
someone he'd owed
it to over here.
I think Shackleton is best
described by a keen observer,
fellow crew mate on
the second trip to Antarctica:
He said he was a outstanding,
plausible rogue.
[Bound]
Shackleton never really had
the standing that he wanted
in British society.
He didn't come
from the aristocracy,
he didn't go to university.
[Shears] Shackleton
grew up in Ireland.
His father was a farmer
first of all,
and then he decided to retrain
and became a doctor
and he moved the family
to London.
[Snow]
Shackleton spoke differently.
He was terribly bullied
at school,
when he went to school
in London.
He was desperate
to prove his worth.
He tried to make it
as a politician,
no one voted for him.
He tried to make it
as a businessman, it failed.
There were two Shackletons.
There was
the public Shackleton
that could quote,
he had a photographic memory
that could quote
long lines of poetry:
Shakespeare, Tennyson,
Browning at will.
He would provoke people
to tears
and cheers in public meetings.
The private one was insecure.
He had terrible
health problems.
He was wracked with nerves.
He wrote to his wife
and he said,
"I find that this is
too overwhelming."
[Shackleton]
Beloved, there are times
when I almost wish
that I had not gone south
but stayed at home
and lived a quiet life.
I suppose I am
a domestic failure
and not the ideal
married man.
I am just good as an explorer
and nothing else.
[Shears] But, uh, Emily stood
by him all the way through.
Emily Shackleton said,
"You can't keep
a wild eagle in a barn."
[Bound]
He must have been quite
a disappointed guy
in some respects.
None of his plans
worked out as he hoped.
[Snow] But he had
to keep going to Antarctica
because it was the only way
he could stay relevant,
that he could stay famous.
So it was like
a devil's bargain.
He had to keep going back
to the worst place on earth
to maintain his status at home.
Okay, Joe, the AUV levelin' out
at, uh, the seabed.
[Joe Leek] [on radio] Alright,
Roger that. Roger that.
[Robbie McGunnigle] Okay, guys.
We're good to start mission?
[Jeremie Morizet]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely.
This is the one.
Today's the day.
[laughs]
[Lars Lundberg]
Just tab the rolls?
You are not so affected now.
[Vincent] Oh! We're moving!
- [Vincent] Good, making data?
- [Clement Schapman] Yeah.
- [Vincent] That's good.
- [Schapman] The seabed.
The, the seabed is, uh,
is really flat,
which is
a very good point for us.
Through the depression
like that.
It's the perfect condition
for finding a wreck.
[McGunnigle] Exactly.
[Vincent] The only sonar data
in the world of the site.
We are the first one. Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
Your stupid plan
is coming together.
[all laugh]
[Vincent] So let's try
to review quickly,
with this vehicle on the seabed,
what we will see.
The primary sensor
is a side-scan sonar.
This is a low-frequency
side-scan sonar signature
of a wreck
which is roughly
the same size
as the Endurance.
It may not look like much,
but this is what the Endurance
will look like on the screen.
It will be two meters
below the surface,
40 meter astern.
[man]
Forty meters below the surface.
You will pull slowly
when I say...
[indistinct chatter]
To go to Antarctica, you
need an exceptional team.
I've been working with
the people on my team
for almost 25 years.
So we've gotten to know each
other and become very close.
We've got some pretty impressive
projects under our belt.
We have several world records.
For me, Endurance22 is my first
expedition to Antarctica and
this is the first time I've
been back out at sea
since the death of my wife.
I lost Svereine
in 2017 to cancer.
This was one of the most
difficult times of my life.
So going back out to sea is
really good for me.
And for us, we're
like a family.
I usually say I'm
the big brother,
but they don't agree with that.
So yes, I'm the
dad of this team.
[indistinct chatter]
[Vincent] [in English]
If we find the wreck,
it will be the team success.
But if we fail,
it will be my failure.
Because I was in charge.
[Shackleton]
About the middle of February,
the temperature dropped as low
as 20 degrees below zero.
All precautions were taken
to prepare the ship for winter.
But the Endurance's company
refused to abandon
their customary cheerfulness.
[Worsley] Certainly a good deal
of our cheerfulness
is due to the order and routine
which Sir E establishes.
[Hussey] We had our own
special duties to perform.
In my own case,
I was kept quite busy
attending to four-hourly
records of temperature,
noting atmospheric pressures,
wind force, and direction.
[Greenstreet] Our cabins
on deck began to get too cold
as the temperatures
dropped lower.
So the cargo was cleared
out of the tween decks,
and we built ourselves
cubicles there
and lived down there
throughout the winter months.
This was christened the Ritz,
the wardroom above
being known as the Stables.
The Ritz served as an area
in which members could relax,
read, play cards,
and while away the time.
It's a long way
to Tipperary
[Hussey]
Our appetites were tremendous
and the kind of food
we had a craving for
might make a little appeal
to civilized tastes.
Seal blubber, for instance,
was our greatest delicacy,
and I often used
to eat it raw.
[Hurley] It is our custom
to drink to sweethearts
and wives
every Saturday night,
which all hands do
with much fervor.
At midnight, we had cocoa
and wished Sir Ernest
many happy returnings
of his 41st birthday.
[wind whistling]
[Shackleton] We said goodbye
to the sun on May the 1st
and entered the period
of twilight
that would be followed
by the darkness of midwinter.
The disappearance
of the sun is apt to be
a depressing event
in the polar regions
where the long months
of darkness
involve mental as well
as physical strain.
[Hurley]
A form of midwinter madness
has manifested itself,
all hands being seized
with the desire
to have their hair removed.
[men laughing]
It caused
much amusement.
We resemble
a cargo of convicts.
[Worsley] Greenstreet,
the first officer,
at that moment,
knocked at the cabin door.
He said to Shackleton,
"The play can begin, sir,
whenever you are ready."
Shackleton said,
"In five minutes,
you can go back
and say so."
Greenstreet could never
have guessed
that a few minutes earlier,
the Great Explorer had broken
to me that tragic news.
He said, "The ship can't live
in this, Skipper.
"It is only a matter of time.
What the ice gets,
the ice keeps."
We would be cast homeless
upon the dreary waste of ice
from which so few returned.
To the men, Shackleton was
the cheery, happy chief
who was leading them
in a great
and successful adventure.
And a few minutes later,
sure enough,
we were in the Ritz
laughing heartily
at one of the burlesques
that our men had become
adept at producing.
The ship had become to them,
as to me,
the center of the universe.
How would they be
without the ship?
[Leek] I mean,
imagine being here
in a tiny little wooden boat.
No GPS, no... nothing.
And then the leader says, "Oh,
by the way, boys, we're stuck.
And, uh, we're gonna spend
the winter here."
You'd be like, "Ah, great,
well,
my wife's gonna k*ll me."
[all laughing]
Everything is
absolutely perfect.
The vehicle is ready.
Everything is ready.
The tether is ready.
However, the vessel
is stuck in ice.
This is really
frustrating.
We are not able to reach
the next position
for the next dive.
And we are losing time.
[Captain Knowledge Bengu]
Exercise patience.
[deck officer]
Patience, patience. Yeah.
[Bengu]
Yes, so they say.
[Shears] That's, um,
heli-helicopter fuel,
so it's got 20,000 liters
of helicopter fuel in it.
They use a special technique
where they're swinging
the container from side
to side across the bow
to roll the ship
and that then loosens it.
So they're bringing
the container back on now.
And then they'll
start moving forward.
[ice cracking]
[Rabenstein] I think we have
over the next two days
a very stable drift
in this direction,
but then something is happening,
we have a shift,
and you see, like,
every six hours
we get a new forecast.
So just to give you an idea
of the uncertainties
we have to deal with.
[Shears]
The environment of Antarctica
is a very special place.
You're completely distant.
It's as if you're stepping
out of the real world.
I've sort of lost count,
but I think this is
my 25th expedition
to Antarctica.
Going to Antarctica
is very addictive.
You can, you can ask
my wife about that.
Uh, it-it's something
that once you've seen it,
you know, you-you've got
this drive to always go back.
And Shackleton, you know,
he also had this drive
to go back to Antarctica.
[Snow] You'd be hard-pressed
to find a guy
with more Antarctic experience
than John Shears.
He was head of logistics for
the British Antarctic Survey,
which is
the British group responsible
for, um,
Antarctic operations.
He's been awarded
the Polar Medal
by Her Majesty the Queen,
which is the same medal
that Shackleton was awarded.
[Shears]
I started doing expeditions
then when I was about 17, 18,
and then continued
at university.
I come from a farming family
in Devon, in England.
I was very close
to my grandmother,
and my grandmother, um,
never had the opportunity
t-to travel.
And my grandmother,
as a small girl,
had gone into Exeter,
to the museum there,
and they had
an Antarctic presentation.
And she always
remembered that.
That was the first time
I heard
about Ernest Shackleton.
Gram was always wanting me
and my two brothers
to get experience of what
the world might be like.
And here I am, and I've been,
you know, to the Arctic,
to the Antarctic in the space
of two generations.
[Hurley]
August the 1st, 1915.
At 10:00 a.m., the floe began
to move in our vicinity,
driving tongues of ice
below the ship
and heeling us over
to starboard.
[Hussey]
We felt like pygmies,
as millions of tons
of moving ice crushed
and smashed inexorably
all around us.
I kept on thinking to myself,
how long can this last?
How long?
[Hurley] Every timber
was straining to rupture.
The decks gaped.
Doors refused to open or shut.
The floor coverings buckled,
and the iron floor plates
in the engine room bulged
and sprung from their seating.
Everything was in a state
of extreme compression.
[rumbling]
Oh, I met with
Napper Tandy
And he took me
by the hand...
[Snow] They were listening
to the gramophone
when it happened.
They felt this wave
of pressure building.
It was like an earthquake,
ship shuddering
as the ice pressed in.
[Worsley]
Pressure throughout the day,
increasing to terrific force
at 4:00 p.m.,
smashing rudder,
rudder post,
and stern post.
[ship creaking, rumbling]
[Shackleton] The ship was
making water rapidly aft.
I had the pumps rigged,
got up steam,
and started the bilge pumps
at 8:00 p.m.
[Worsley] We pumped
three days and nights
without sleep,
but we could not
pump her dry.
[Hussey]
It was at this time
that a strange occurrence
took place.
For some months, we had seen
no emperor penguins.
Now eight of them made
a sudden appearance,
walking slowly
towards the ship.
We had always considered
these birds
to be practically mute,
but on this occasion,
they proceeded
to utter cries
that sounded like
a dirge for the ship.
The effect of this death call
was ominous and startling.
[penguins squawking]
[Shackleton] On October 26th,
the end came.
All hopes of accomplishing
our objective vanished.
[Hurley]
Shackleton met the crisis
with complete composure.
He gave orders as though
we were setting out
on just
a sledging expedition.
[Snow] But to Shackleton,
not only was it
an incredibly
dangerous development,
they were now
in mortal peril.
But it was also a sign
of a complete failure
of the expedition.
This is probably Shackleton
at his lowest point.
I don't think
it can get any worse.
It can physically.
But for Shackleton,
I think this is the trough.
He knew this was
the end of his dreams.
[wind whistling]
[Worsley] There was
no protection to be had
from the angry world
of snows and wind.
[Snow]
They had a tough first night.
They bedded down on the ice.
They drew lots
for the fur sleeping bags.
They didn't have enough.
[Worsley]
Three times that night,
our floe cracked dangerously
under our tents.
Three times, we had to move.
[Shackleton] For myself,
I could not sleep.
I walked up and down
in the darkness.
The task now was to secure
the safety of the party.
[Snow]
He pivoted.
There was no more
walking across Antarctica.
In that 12-hour period,
he completely
flips his outlook.
And from that moment on,
he is laser focused
on getting those men home.
[wind howling]
[Worsley]
At dawn the next morning,
Shackleton and Wild,
like good Samaritans,
made hot tea for all hands.
This they took along
to the inmates
of the various tents.
Shackleton made
a characteristic speech,
the sort of speech
that only he could make.
He told the men
not to be alarmed
at the loss of the vessel
and assured them that
by hard effort, clean work,
and loyal cooperation,
they could make
their way to land.
This speech had
an immediate effect.
Our spirits rose.
[Greenstreet] It was decided
to try and march
across the floes
to a small island
called Paulet Island.
It would be necessary
to take the boats
as the last part of the journey
would be by water.
So everyone started to prepare
for the sledging journey.
[Worsley] Now a last change
of clothing was issued.
The dress consists
of Burberry overalls
over a suit of warm underwear,
a pair of ordinary trousers,
and a thick sweater.
[Hussey]
Shackleton decided to cut down
every ounce
of superfluous weight.
Once more,
he gave us the lead
when he threw away
a gold watch,
a gold cigarette case,
and several gold sovereigns.
[Shackleton] I tore
the fly leaf out of the Bible
that Queen Alexandra
had given to the ship
with her own writings in it.
The order was that
personal gear
must not exceed
two pounds per man.
And this meant that nothing
but bare necessities
were to be taken
on the march.
[Hussey] It was shortly
after leaving the ship
that I heard
Shackleton calling for me.
"What's that, sir?"
I asked.
"Your banjo,"
replied Shackleton.
This is the banjo
that Shackleton saved
just before the ship sank.
He called it
Vital Mental Medicine.
[dogs huffing, barking]
[Worsley] Next day,
we started a march
to the westward.
The dogs dragged the stores
on the seven smaller sledges.
I took charge of 16 men,
dragging our three boats
placed on the larger sledges.
[Greenstreet] The boats weighed
about one ton each with gear.
The going was frightful,
and the labor was appalling
and our progress all too slow
for the energy expended.
[Bound]
They didn't get very far.
Two days later,
they gave up
and they
established a camp.
[Hussey]
Our new camp,
to which we gave
the name Ocean Camp,
lay about a mile
and a half distant
from the watery grave
of the Endurance.
[Hurley] Well, the poor old
dark room was crushed.
And we found it was beneath
about six feet of mushy ice.
But what does one do
when you have buried treasure
to the value of 20,000 pounds
beneath six feet
of mushy ice?
I peeled off
and in an instant,
I was in that mushy ice
and roping for the cases.
The first case,
I got out in quick time.
I took a breather and down
underneath the ice again
and up
with the second case.
[ship groaning]
[Hurley] The ship began
to violently move
under the pressure
of the ice.
So there was nothing else
for us to do
but to make for the floe,
just for our dear lives
as quickly as we could.
[Snow]
Shackleton returned to the ship
for his final visit,
and he took the flare g*n.
[Shackleton]
Hurley, Wild,
and self went into ship,
said goodbye,
fired a b*mb in farewell.
[Bound]
It was Shackleton himself
who first saw the ship
begin its slide.
He just saw the funnel
just twitch.
[Worsley] We dashed
onto the lookout platform
that had been erected.
And from there, we watched
the death of the ship
that had carried us
so far and so well
and that had put up
such a brave fight
as ever a ship had fought.
Shackleton said
quietly to the men,
"She's gone, boys."
[Bound] Shackleton had
drummed into them
by then that what he expected
of every one of them
was optimism,
optimism, optimism.
How could they not,
at that moment,
think about what their chances
of survival really were?
And, you know,
it's got to be said,
chances of survival
were pretty negligible.
[machinery whirring]
Okay, let's find
the Endurance!
We need to catch it now.
I don't want the other, uh,
the other shift to have it.
[laughs]
[energetic music playing]
Okay, we called all the data?
[Leek] Yeah, we're ready.
Let's do this.
There's a kind of superstition
in our profession.
that if you don't have faith in
it it, nothing will happen.
So, despite everything.
we try to believe it and think,
"Okay, our luck's gonna change.
We have to be able to find it."
[Jeremie hums]
- [McGunnigle] Sinking location.
- [Onde] Yeah. Ooh.
- [laughter]
- [Onde] Ah, come on!
[McGunnigle]
That's a shipwreck.
Come on, boys!
Open the bar!
Open the bar!
Open the bar!
- [Bound] Yeah?
- Morning, Mensun.
- [Bound] Some news?
- Good news.
[knocking on door]
John!
[Onde laughs]
We're gonna be gutted
when it's a pile of boulders.
I'm just messing, this can't be,
it's not possible.
This is it.
This is the great moment.
We found the wreck
of Endurance.
Are we quite...
are we quite, quite sure?
Oh, geez. Yes!
[Bound laughs]
I'm only gonna believe it
when I see it.
- [Bound] Yeah...
- So about that point, precisely,
because the vehicle,
uh, is low in batteries,
we have not been able
to follow normal protocol
and make a video
of the wreck.
So now, we have
to secure the data...
- Mm-hmm.
- ...on the next dive.
Um, hi, gentlemen.
- Hi!
- Hello.
- Somebody please show me.
- Yeah, yes.
- Oh, my gosh!
- Just over there.
[Bound]
Look at that!
[Onde]
And she was just
400 meters north.
From the actual position
that Worsley gave?
- Yeah.
- I can see that,
I can't believe it.
Worsley really was an ace!
- We can't believe it as well.
- [Bound] I am stunned.
Guys, thank you all.
This is just
the best moment ever,
and I'm so pr-proud
and pleased to be able
to share it with you.
Yeah. Hurrah.
[JC Caillens]
Yay! Hoorah!
[all applauding]
[Snow] Mensun,
I don't know about you,
but I've been swinging
from optimism
to pessimism
over the last...
Yeah, it was like that.
Yeah.
But we're right
over the spot,
right where Frank Worsley
said he sank.
But that in all my life,
I've never known a wreck
to be where it said it was.
You know,
here it is.
What do you think, Nico?
I say that I don't know.
[Vincent] I have evidence
but no proof.
I do not like gray area.
I like black and white.
[Shackleton]
Sixty-five degrees,
sixteen and a half south.
Fifty-two degrees,
four west.
No news.
Patience.
Patience. Patience.
Our hope, of course,
was to drift northwards
to the edge of the pack
and then, when the ice
was loose enough,
to take to the boats
and row to the nearest land.
[Greenstreet]
February the 3rd,
the cocoa has been finished
for some time,
and the tea is
very nearly done.
Soon our only beverage
will be milk.
The food now is
pretty well all meat.
[Charles Green] We had to catch
penguins and seals first
before we could do
any cooking.
Now, to do cooking,
we had to make a stove.
We made a stove
out of the funnel.
We-we used biscuit tins
and, uh, a paint drum.
Well, it took me eight hours
to cook a meal.
Between those eight hours,
underneath used to melt,
and the stove used
to topple over.
Well, I didn't mind
that topping over
'cause I lost nothing
because I just gathered up again
and put it back in the pot.
And they had to have it
or go without.
[Greenstreet]
The monotony of life here
is getting on our nerves.
Nothing to do,
nowhere to walk.
That's the time
when morale breaks,
when there's nothing
whatsoever to do
and nothing you
can do about it.
[Bound] Then they
experienced squabbling.
[Macklin]
Tuesday, March the 28th.
This morning,
there was quite a lot
of unpleasantness on rising.
[Snow]
Greenstreet got
his precious ration
of hot milk spilt,
and he broke down.
Quietly,
everyone gathered around
and poured out
a tiny bit of milk
into his cup.
That really shows
how on edge they all were,
but also it shows they
looked out for each other.
[machinery whirring]
[Chad Bonin]
Perfect.
Okay. Robbie,
everything is secured
and all the slack
is off the deck.
You're clear to dive.
Okay. Copy that.
Diving to a 100 meters first.
[Snow] This dive could
well be the difference
between a claim
of finding a shipwreck
and seeing Endurance.
[inaudible]
[Bonin]
Are we...
going in
for a quick inspection
or what is...
what's the plan?
[Vincent]
Yes, please.
[Bonin]
Okay, I'll start turning around.
[indistinct]
[Vincent] We feel we are
on the target now?
[Morizet]
Yeah, I think this is it.
[Bonin] This just looks
like seabed to me, like...
[Morizet]
Stop, stop.
[Bonin]
Looks like a spoon
sticking out of something,
don't it?
Look at the shape of that.
[McGunnigle]
I think it's a rock.
[Bonin]
You got marine growth here.
- Yeah.
- Looks like a piece of wood.
[Bound] I was gonna say
it could be a heavy timber.
Could be a bit
of planking.
It's true that the videos
aren't extremely clear either,
but there's no wreck
or ship to be seen.
[Morizet] I think there is
no point to stay down here.
- [Bonin] Okay.
- [Morizet] Yeah, I think, uh...
[Bonin]
Continue the search.
[Morizet]
Resume the search.
[Bound]
There's no doubt about it.
We have a big debris field.
It's manmade,
it's from the wreck.
[Vincent] So it's part of the
vessel. Not the vessel.
[Bound]
Yeah.
I felt a big crack in my head
and in my heart.
I could hear Shackleton himself
laughing his head off there
somewhere in the,
in the background,
'cause we made fools
of ourselves.
And suddenly, the
clock that had stopped
just started again.
"Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick."
And we are back to racing
against the clock.
[AUV engineer]
Pull up!
[Bound] You know,
these, these side-scans
really can play you false.
We have made huge mistakes
before in the past.
We, we found the submarine,
but we didn't recognize it.
We thought it was wrong.
That was...
- [Shears] Uh, yes, yeah.
- ...an expensive mistake.
Mm. Sometimes
things don't go right
for you in life, you know.
I think we've all faced that,
and it's coming back
from that adversity
and in 2019,
it was a nightmare.
Absolute nightmare.
You put in your blog,
Mensun,
you said that we came back
with our tail between our legs.
- [Bound] Oh, yeah.
- I wouldn't have quite put it
in those words,
but that's what...
- We did.
- ...that's what you said.
And here we are.
And if sometimes you have
to fail to succeed.
[Worsley] We had food
only for four weeks.
We had nothing to keep out
the biting cold
save linen tents.
We are rusting and wasting
our lives away
while the whole world
is at w*r,
and we know nothing
of how it goes.
[Shackleton] Owing to
the shortage of food
and the fact that
we needed all
that we could get
for ourselves,
I had to order
the dogs to be shot.
[dogs whimpering]
[Macklin]
I shot Sirius today.
It went horribly
against the grain
to put an end
to this fine young animal,
which all the time was making
joyous overtures to me.
My hand was shaking so much
that I had to use
two cartridges
to finish him off.
Poor beast.
[Worsley] The youngest pups
that had been born on board
were shot,
and so was Mrs. Chippy,
the carpenter's cat.
[Shackleton] There was
not much fun in eating
the tough old dogs,
but the little puppies
were tender.
[Hurley]
A casual observer might think
the explorer
a frozen-hearted individual,
especially if he noticed
the mouths watering
when tears ought
to be expected.
Hunger brings us all
to the level of other species.
[Snow] On the 9th of April,
their ice floe splits again,
and it's untenable.
They cannot live on
these little slivers of ice,
and they take to the boats.
Getting into these open boats
is one of the most
terrible things you can do.
[Worsley] Shackleton took
command of one boat,
Hudson the smallest,
and I was in charge
of the third.
[Greenstreet]
Right from the very start,
we ran into trouble.
We were passing down
a long, very wide lead,
Shackleton in the leading boat,
when we heard him shouting
and pointing to port.
[rumbling]
I couldn't believe my eyes.
The ice was rushing towards us
just like a tidal wave.
We shouted to the boat astern
and pulled for our lives.
And both of us cleared
the point of impact.
[Snow]
The journey got very much
more difficult after that.
Men get terrible diarrhea,
their drinking
water's contaminated,
their clothes are
freezing solid on them.
Their feet are
completely submerged
in freezing seawater.
[Shackleton]
Hopes were running high
as to the noon observation
for position.
Worsley snapped the sun.
It was
a grievous disappointment.
[Bound]
Rather than making progress,
they found
to their absolute dismay
that they were 30 miles
to the east
of where they'd started from.
[Snow] Just given
the way the wind is pushing,
Elephant Island
quite quickly becomes
the most obvious
destination.
[Hurley] Sea and wind increase
and have to draw up
onto an old, isolated floe
and pray to God
it will remain entire
throughout the night.
No sleep for 48 hours,
all wet, cold, and miserable.
[Greenstreet]
When we woke next morning,
there was
a huge sea running.
The ice had all closed
round us,
and we were being battered
by the huge floes.
There seemed no chance
of saving our lives.
Then, to make matters worse,
a crack appeared
right through the center.
- [ice cracking]
- We thought this the very end.
And we were, all of us,
at the point
of shaking hands and saying,
"Well, cheerio, lads.
This is the end.
A great game
while it lasted."
When a miracle happened.
The ice started to recede
from our floe
by some trick
of the current
and left us in a big patch
of open water.
Just one of these
million-to-one chances
that sometimes come along
at the right moment.
[Hussey] Shackleton
was now very concerned
about the condition
of many of his men.
All of us had swollen mouths
and found that
we could hardly touch food.
[Shackleton] We were
dreadfully thirsty now.
We found that we could
get momentary relief
by chewing pieces
of raw seal meat
and swallowing the blood.
But thirst came back
with redoubled force,
owing to the saltiness
of the flesh.
[Snow] They spot
Elephant Island
in the afternoon.
They cannot risk
approaching at night.
So they choose to tie
the boats together
and wait out at sea.
[Macklin] I was seasick
during this night
and very miserable,
sodden, frozen, and sick.
McLeod growled
continually all night.
Men cursed each other,
and the sea, the boat
and everything curseable.
[Bound] That is when
Perce Blackborow
first got very bad frostbite
on his toes.
[Snow] They're in a state
of extraordinary misery.
Frank Wild said of that night
that half of the expedition
were insane, helpless,
and hopeless.
[Vincent] We have extended the
search to the north
and for now we have
found nothing.
Here, there is a part
of the Endurance.
Okay? This is the only thing
that we can say.
So now we have to do
the maximum of coverage
in the minimum of time
and try to cover
the entire search box.
[intense music playing]
[beeping]
So what do we have
to do to find the wreck?
[Leek]
Oh, I don't know.
Huh? What else?
[sighs]
[Bound] So I discussed
with the Falklands
Maritime Heritage Trust
about giving us an extension.
And, uh, they said yup,
we can take another 10 days
on the charter.
But all depending on
your judgment as captain
whether, uh, it's safe enough
for us to stay on site.
I'm not opposed to that.
The ice dictates
what needs to happen.
So, so we are thinking
that we review it
on an hourly basis with you.
[Bengu]
The only thing is,
I just have to make sure
that we don't stay here
and become a,
another Shackleton.
[chuckles]
[machinery whirring]
[indistinct chatter]
[Hurley] The coast
of Elephant Island presented
a barrier of sheer cliff
and glacier faces,
wild and savage
beyond description.
[Greenstreet] You would
never have recognized
the crowd of men that
landed on Elephant Island
from those that got
into the boats
a week previous,
haggard and drawn,
split with frostbite
from exposure.
We had aged 20 years
in a week.
[Hurley] Many suffered
from temporary aberration,
walking aimlessly about,
others shivering
as with palsy.
[coughing, groaning]
[Shackleton] They were
laughing uproariously,
picking up stones
and letting handfuls of pebbles
trickle between
their fingers,
like misers gloating
over hoarded gold.
[Hurley] Conceive our joy
on setting foot on solid earth
after 170 days of life
on a drifting ice floe.
[Greenstreet] The first thing
to do was have a drink.
If I live to be a hundred,
I shall never forget
the feeling
of that hot drink
going down my throat.
I wished that I had a neck
like a giraffe
so as to prolong
that exquisite feeling.
[Worsley] "Thank God I haven't
k*lled one of my men,"
Shackleton said in our
first confidential talk
on Elephant Island.
Shackleton had always insisted
that the ultimate
responsibility
for anything
that befell us
was his and his only.
His attitude was
almost patriarchal.
This may have accounted
for the men's
unquestioning devotion
to him.
[Hussey] Today, our first job
was to build a house.
We piled up some rocks,
turned the two small boats
upside down on top of them,
and packed ice and snow
into the cracks.
It was a dreadful little hut.
We had no light at first.
Then we made a little lamp
by stewing down
some seal blubber
with a piece of twisted
bandage for a wick.
The lamp burned
with a tiny smoky flame
that only made
the darkness seem darker.
[Bound] But Shackleton
very quickly realized
that they couldn't stay.
It wasn't a place
where the whalers went.
Nobody was going
to rescue them there.
[Hurley]
To remain meant death
from slow starvation
or from exposure.
The situation was desperate.
But again, our leader
rose to the occasion.
[Snow] He decides their only
realistic way of escape
is to take with him
five fit strong sailors
and then use
the prevailing winds
to undertake
an 800-mile journey
across the most terrifying
stretch of ocean
on the planet,
towards South Georgia,
where they can seek help
and hopefully come back
and rescue everyone
they've left behind.
[Worsley] "I'm afraid
it's a forlorn hope," he said.
"I don't ask
anyone to come
who has not thoroughly
weighed the chances."
The moment he ceased speaking,
every man volunteered.
Five of us were chosen.
[Snow] To give himself
slightly better odds,
he did make some changes
to the biggest
and most seaworthy
of their lifeboats,
the James Caird.
He put extra planking
on the side.
They covered some of
the open boat with canvas.
They filled up the bottom
of the boat with ballasts,
and they put the mast
of one of the other boats
down the keel
to stop it flexing so much.
[Hurley]
April 23rd.
The Caird
is nearing completion
and God willing
leaves tomorrow.
[Worsley]
It is a dreadful thing
to face your shipmates.
Men who have been through
thick and thin with you.
And to realize that
in all probability
it is for the last time.
And to know that
if you fail to come back,
they will starve to death.
[Hurley] By 12:30,
the Caird hoisted sail
to three ringing cheers
from the shore.
[Hussey] We all pretended
to have high spirits
as we cheered
and waved to our comrades.
Even though in our hearts,
we felt strangely forlorn.
[Bonin]
Woo!
[Morizet] Cold.
Cold. Cold. Cold.
[Kerry Taylor]
The ice is stopping it.
Just freezing.
[Shears]
It was bitterly cold.
And the guys
are working out there,
and they're not complaining,
they're just getting on with it.
But, you know,
they're getting tired,
and it's, um,
and it takes it out of you.
[intense music playing]
Come on,
come on, come on.
Just a bit of debris...
with an arrow
would be good.
[Shears] We're not finding
anything at all.
And the temperatures
are gonna go basically,
off a cliff
in the next few days.
And we'll have to call
the search off.
It's getting a bit,
sorta like
disheartening now, isn't it?
- Yeah.
- [Taylor] It's just like, pff.
Okay, we'll call that
end of line now. Yeah?
[Onde]
Okay. End of line.
So it was not there.
Y-you know,
your hopes go sky-high,
and then, you know, it's like
a right hook to the chin,
and, pompf, down you go.
[Bound] We are running out
of days, aren't we?
- [Onde] Yeah.
- [Morizet] Yeah.
[dramatic music playing]
[Snow] On the 24th of April,
Shackleton sets off,
and he wasn't a day too soon.
The following day,
Elephant Island
was surrounded by ice.
They'd have been trapped there
for another winter.
[Shackleton] The ocean
south of Cape Horn
in the middle of May
is known to be
the most tempestuous
storm-swept area
of water in the world.
[waves crashing]
[boat creaking]
[Shackleton]
So small was our boat
and so great were the seas
that often our sail
flapped idly in the calm
between the crests
of two waves.
[Worsley] A great sea
would break over us,
pouring water in streams
over everything
and making us feel
we were under a waterfall.
[man groans]
Gradually, the constant soaking
caused our legs and feet
to swell, turn white,
and lose
all surface sensibility.
[Shackleton]
Over on Elephant Island,
22 men were waiting
for the relief
that we alone
could secure for them.
Their plight
was worse than ours.
[Hussey]
Well, the hut was cramped
and dark and dirty,
and we were dark
and dirty too.
We had no bread
or biscuits
and sometimes days
and days would go by
without seal or penguin
appearing on the island.
I think that few people
in the world
have been as hungry
as we were and have survived.
[men coughing]
[Hurley] Life here is
almost beyond endurance.
We pray that the Caird
may reach South Georgia safely
and bring relief
without delay.
[Snow]
Worsley tells them the course
to steer if they want
to hit South Georgia.
If they sailed
past South Georgia,
there was nothing
till the coast of Africa
thousands of miles ahead.
They would perish somewhere
in the South Atlantic.
[Shackleton] At midnight,
I was at the tiller
and suddenly noticed
a line of clear sky.
I called to the other men
that the sky was clearing.
And then a moment later,
I realized that what I had seen
was the white crest
of an enormous wave.
I shouted,
"For God's sake, hold on!"
I had never encountered
a wave so gigantic.
[wave roaring]
[men yelling]
But somehow the boat
lived through it,
half full of water.
We bailed with the energy
of men fighting for life.
Not until 3:00 a.m.,
when we were all chilled,
almost to the limit
of endurance,
did we manage to get
the stove alight
and make ourselves
hot drinks.
[Snow] They started seeing
some positive signs.
They saw seabirds
they knew didn't venture
that far from land.
[Worsley] At 1 o'clock
in the afternoon,
we saw the peaks of
South Georgia straight ahead.
[Bound] But when they got
to South Georgia,
they were on the wrong side
of the island.
Where they wanted to be
was the other side,
which is where
the whaling stations were.
[Snow] Shackleton
thought that Vincent
and McNish
were at death's door.
He could not risk sailing all
the way around South Georgia.
They stopped
in the dying light
'cause they
couldn't go in shore
without being able
to see properly.
[Worsley] Suddenly,
the wind shifted on shore
and increased to a gale
of the most
extraordinary violence.
[Shackleton] The mast bent
with the force of it,
and at one moment,
we thought
it was going to snap.
[Worsley] The bow planks
on each side opened and closed
so that long lines of water
squirted into her.
[Shackleton]
The chance of surviving
the night seemed small.
I think most of us
had a feeling
that the end was very near.
Then, just when things looked
their worst, they changed.
The wind suddenly shifted.
I have marveled often
at the thin line
that divides success
from failure
and the sudden turn that leads
from certain disaster
to comparative safety.
[Snow] Then finally,
on the 10th of May,
they threaded
through some rocks.
They landed and they dragged
themselves up the beach.
One more night at sea and they
would've certainly perished.
It is remaining...
- Elusive.
- Yep.
The light blue line
is the area covered,
and the remaining large
area is the south channel
on the next dive it will be
most probably on this block
- and we start to
move to the east.
And then what?
Do you think we are going to
stay further to the south?
For the moment my order is
cover the box.
Okay.
[Bonin] This is it. We--
on this dive, right here,
we're gonna find
the Endurance.
[Rabenstein]
We have only a few days left.
Winter is coming.
Among all the people
on board,
we started to discuss a lot
about how does Worsley know
where the sinking position was.
He just estimated.
He hadn't been able to get
a site for three days before,
and it wasn't until
the day after the ship sank
that he was able
to get his next fix,
so what was the direction
of drift in between?
That was the challenge.
[Rabenstein] We just came up
with this idea now
during the cruise
to use a dataset called ERA-20.
It's a big European project
to, um, calculate the climate
and weather
of the past 100 years
based on weather station data
and physical models.
Then we calculated
the drift trajectory,
uh, the Endurance
might have had
around the 21st
of November.
So then the sinking location
would have been here
in the southern edge
of the box.
In addition, John and me,
we had the idea
to look into
the meteorological observations
of Hussey
from that day.
[Christian Katlein] The Hussey's
observations are great
because they
are real observations,
but they don't cover
the night.
So I just threw the data
into a model product
from re-analysis,
which is basically a,
a weather model
run backwards.
And actually we have
quite some confidence
that between the 18th
and the 22nd,
uh, the Endurance
somehow went south.
That Worsley had no means
of, of observing it.
So we do have to cover
that southern part
of the search area
in any case,
which is where
you're pointing us to.
Nico, you're very quiet though.
You're just ingesting it all.
Yeah.
You know,
I am like a old computer.
When I'm thinking too much,
the screen freezing.
[all laugh]
[Caillens]
Good?
[Vincent] For me, for the
sub-sea operation point of view,
the real question is why
we are discovering this now,
and not a year ago?
Thirty percent
of the box left
and now he makes this wonderful
flipping prediction.
If it's not in,
i-i-i-it's not
in a place
that we surveyed already.
So what he's basically said
is it's somewhere
that we haven't surveyed
or somewhere else.
Right. That--
i-it's is not a prediction.
I can make that prediction.
I didn't go
to flipping university
and learn about flipping
which ice goes best
in me gin and tonic.
[Bonin] What's our percentage
complete now? Roughly?
[Franois Mace]
Uh... 73%.
[Bonin] Starting to run out
of some area here.
[Vincent]
Now that we have, um,
a drift forecast,
we have to link this
with the reality of
the debris field that we have.
So if we apply
the drift model
on the large area
of debris of the wreck,
then the wreck might be
anywhere from here to here.
But all this area has
already been covered except...
[Bound] Except for
that little spot there.
[Vincent]
Except this little spot.
So we have
to search on this area.
The more the days go
by, the more I think,
"How can you be part of
Shackleton's story and give up?"
[squawking]
[Snow]
Shackleton was now
on the remote,
uninhabited side
of one of the most
isolated islands on earth.
He had to get round
to the whaling stations.
[Shackleton]
I realized that the condition,
particularly of McNish
and Vincent,
would prevent us
putting to sea again.
The alternative was
to attempt crossing the island.
The island of South Georgia
had never been
crossed by anybody.
The whalers regarded
the country as inaccessible.
[Snow] Shackleton knew
that the mountain crossing
was the desperate gamble
of dying men.
[Shackleton] Worsley and Crean
were coming with me,
and after consultation,
we decided to leave
the sleeping bags behind
and make the journey
in very light marching order.
[Worsley] Our equipment
was three days' food
slung around our necks
in a sock,
the old Primus lamp,
an ax to cut steps in the ice,
my little compass,
and a blueprint map
of South Georgia.
[Shackleton]
The carpenter assisted me
by putting several screws
in the sole of each boot,
providing a grip on the ice.
[Snow] He decided to make
a nonstop march
as soon as
the weather was clear.
Life on Elephant Island
was grim.
The men suffered terribly.
[Greenstreet] Very often,
we were almost down
to our last meal
when something would turn up.
A seal or some
storm-driven penguins
and we were safe again
for a few days.
[Macklin]
Today, McIlroy operated
on Blackborow,
amputating all toes
of the left foot.
We managed to sterilize
instruments pretty well.
We had no sterilized
overalls to get into.
We merely stripped
to our vest.
[Greenstreet] I was one
of the few who witnessed
the operation,
and it was most interesting.
The poor beggar
behaved splendidly,
and it went through
without a hitch.
[dramatic music playing]
[Worsley] At 2:00 a.m.
on Friday, May the 19th,
the weather was fine
and clear,
and the moon
was shining brilliantly.
Shackleton said,
"We will start now, Skipper."
[Snow] Shackleton insists
on breaking trail,
being the first to go
through the snow
so others behind
would have an easier trek.
[Shackleton] After two hours
steady climbing,
we were 2,500 feet
above sea level.
The bright moonlight
showed us
that the interior
was broken tremendously.
Then, as daylight came,
the fog thinned and lifted.
[Worsley] With the complete
clearance of the mist,
we saw,
to our sharp disappointment,
what we had taken
for a frozen lake
was an arm of the sea.
[Shackleton] So we retraced
our steps down the long slope
that had taken us
three hours to climb.
[Worsley]
Shackleton said, grimly,
"We shall have to go on
to the next, boys."
This happened three times.
[Shackleton]
We had now been
on the march
for over 20 hours,
only halting for
our occasional meals.
[Snow] At one point,
Crean and Worsley
dropped off to sleep
during one of their pauses.
Shackleton says he had
this irresistible urge
to join them in sleep,
but he knew
that sleep meant death.
[Shackleton] After five
minutes, I shook them
into consciousness again,
told them that they had
slept for half an hour,
and gave the word
for a fresh start.
[Snow]
And then, on the night
of the 19th of May,
they were high up
in the mountains
and they realized
they were gonna die.
It was far too cold
and exposed up there.
[Worsley] The situation
looked grim enough.
Fog cut off our retreat.
Darkness covered our advance.
It was useless to continue
in this fashion.
Shackleton said,
"We've got to take a risk.
We'll slide."
Slide down what was
practically a precipice
to meet... what?
Still, it was the only way.
Shackleton sat on
the large step he had carved,
and I sat behind him.
Crean did the same with me
so that we were locked
together as one.
Then Shackleton kicked off.
We seemed to sh**t
into space.
[Snow]
They simply tobogganed off
into the unknown.
[snow scraping]
[intense music playing]
[Worsley]
We finished in a snow bank.
We had shot down a mile
in two or three minutes.
We picked ourselves up
and shook hands all round.
"It's not good to do that
kind of thing too often,"
said Shackleton.
[Shackleton]
At 6:30 a.m.,
I thought I heard
the sound of a steam whistle.
I dared not be certain.
[Worsley]
Seven o'clock came,
and we listened intently.
Then, clear across
the mountains
in the still morning air
came the sound
of steam whistles
of the whaling factories
bidding the men.
It was the first signal
of civilization
that we had heard
for nearly two years.
[Worsley] Our old friend,
Captain Srlle,
who had entertained us
two years previously
when the expedition
had touched Stromness Bay,
failed to recognize us
as we stood on his doorstep.
[Shackleton] I said,
my name is Shackleton.
He was extremely
pleased to see us
and at once took us
into his house.
We had baths,
our beards came off,
and we felt like
human beings once again.
[Snow]
The very following day,
Worsley went round
in a small steam ship
to pick up
the other three men
who were still on the west side
of South Georgia.
[Shackleton] On the Tuesday,
we started out
in the same whaler
to try and reach my comrades
on Elephant Island.
[Worsley] We met
the pack ice 60 miles north
of the island.
To attempt to force
the unprotected steel whaler
through the masses
of pack ice
would have been suicidal.
[Shackleton] To admit failure
at this stage was hard,
but the facts
had to be faced.
[machinery rumbling]
[whirring]
[Leek] [on radio]
Thrusters enabled, all yours.
Copy.
[dramatic music playing]
[McGunnigle]
Today's the day.
And if it's not,
maybe tomorrow.
[indistinct]
[whirring]
It's sad that we
don't found her yet,
but, uh, yeah, there is still
five boxes remaining.
[Schapman] So our next
mission will be D10
and D09.
[Lars Lundberg] If the ice
had been more stationary,
it could work,
but there's, as it--
[McGunnigle]
Come on.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, come on, Ellie.
Come on, give us more.
Give us more.
- [Schapman laughs]
- Give us more.
It's got some height.
[Schapman]
Yeah, yeah.
[McGunnigle]
It's got some height.
Nico?
- [Vincent] Go ahead.
- Can you join us
in the survey room, please?
[Vincent]
Yes.
That's the Endurance.
[Schapman]
That's really interesting.
- [McGunnigle] Morning, Nico!
- Morning. How are you? You okay?
I'm good.
Another beautiful day.
[all chuckle]
[Bonin] There you go,
my friend.
That's a beauty.
[Bonin] There you go,
my friend.
[Vincent] I suggest that we
have a dive with camera.
[Bonin]
Verification.
John Shears, John Shears,
John Shears, Nico.
[Shears] [on radio]
Nico, Nico, go ahead.
Yes, please. John, could you
join me on the bridge?
And if you find Mensun,
could you come
with Mensun
on the bridge please?
[Shears]
Okay, I'll come straight up.
[Vincent]
Yes, please bring your,
bring your Mensun
with you, please.
[pensive music playing]
[Snow]
Shackleton made not one,
not two, not three
but four attempts to get back
to Elephant Island
to rescue his men.
He was turned back by storms
and frozen seas.
[Worsley] The wear and tear
of this period was dreadful.
In those four terrible months,
I saw deep lines
appear in his face,
and his hair turned gray.
On the fourth attempt,
the Chilean government
came nobly to the rescue.
They lent Shackleton
the little steamer Yelcho.
[Shackleton] This time,
providence favored us.
I found as we neared
Elephant Island
that the ice was open.
[Hussey] We were sitting down
to a magnificent meal
of old seal bones,
seaweed, and limpets
when, from the man
on duty outside,
we heard a sudden yell.
"Wild!" he shouted, "Wild!
There's a, there's a ship.
Haven't we better
light a flare?"
We forgot all about
our wonderful meal.
We made one dive
for the door.
Those who couldn't get
through the door
went through the sides,
and the wonderful meal
was kicked over in the rush.
[Snow] Suddenly, everyone
ran down the beach
waving and shouting
ecstatically.
Shackleton used his binoculars
to count the number of men.
Only when he was certain
he'd counted
all the right number
of people
could he relax and know
not a man
would be left behind.
[Worsley]
He put his glasses back
in their case
and turned to me.
It sounds trite,
but years literally seemed
to drop from him
as he stood before us.
I woke up this morning saying,
today's the day.
- [Schapman] Yeah...
- I can smell it.
- [Morizet] Yeah.
- [laughter]
Come on, you say
that every day.
[all laughing]
- Good time?
- [Shears] Yeah, yeah.
- [Vincent] Hey, Mensun.
- [Bound] Hey, Nico.
- [Vincent] So Mensun, John...
- [Bound] Yeah.
...I would like to introduce
the Endurance.
Ohh, yes! Oh!
- Oh!
- Brilliant.
Absolutely brilliant.
- Well done! Yeah!
- Oh, my gosh.
I was saying, I was saying
to Mensun on the ice.
I said it was gonna be
a good day.
I said it was
gonna be a good day.
The way you were looking,
I thought,
"They've lost the AUV."
That's what I thought.
Big kiss.
[all cheering and applauding]
Good morning!
[Onde] It's so beautiful! Oh, my
goodness, I can't believe it!
[Snow] The AUV
has been broadcasting back
the first images
from the seabed,
and Endurance
looks unbelievable.
It's all in one piece.
Researchers made
a stunning discovery.
The ship Endurance
finally found.
It's the most
extraordinary find.
The Endurance was found at
3008 meters under the sea.
[news reporter] It's a
once-in-a-lifetime discovery.
[cheering continues]
One of the biggest deep-sea
mysteries of our time
finally solved.
[Shears] My grandmother...
oh, she'd be, uh,
she'd be so proud.
So, so proud.
And so, so...
So part of what I do is, um,
is that sort of inspiration
from, from her.
From, uh, Gram.
[Shackleton]
We were given a welcome
none of us
is likely to forget.
[crowd cheering]
[Worsley]
The Chileans cheered us,
and we cheered
ourselves hoarse in reply.
When we landed,
they welcomed us so heartily
that they nearly pushed us
into the sea again.
[Hussey] Shackleton's last
journey into the Antarctic
was a failure,
but it was
a glorious failure.
[Shears]
That's Shackleton's cabin there,
right there.
Oh, wow, we got
the binnacle right there.
Oh, my God, the compass guard,
you can see it.
- [Vincent] Yeah.
- [Shears ] The tin mug.
- [Vincent] Yeah.
- [Shears] Plates.
[Bound] Plates.
Oh, and there's the flare g*n.
- [Pierre Le Gall] Yes.
- [Shears] Wow.
- [Le Gall] Yeah. There's a boot.
- [Bound] The boot.
Yeah, you see, it's even got
the buckle. Right there.
And if you look
at the picture,
conceivably,
that could be Wild's boot.
Look at that.
Identical, isn't it?
[Shears] You must be very,
very proud of your guys, Nico.
- Yeah, I am.
- [Shears] This is incredible.
Shackleton said that
when you go to the poles
you're touch by a kind of magic,
and you're changed forever.
[poignant music playing]
[Shackleton] We lived long,
dark days in the south.
We lived through
slow dead days of toil,
of struggle, dark striving,
and anxiety,
days that called not
for the heroism
in the bright light of day,
but simply for dogged,
persistent endeavor
to do what the soul
said was right.
I return to the wild
again and again
until I suppose, in the end,
the wild will win.
There is the fascination
of striving
after the almost impossible.
[Snow]
When they got back,
the First World w*r
was raging.
It just wasn't appropriate
for Shackleton
to have his moment
in the sun.
Nearly all of them signed up
for military service
straight away.
Tragically, two of them
are k*lled.
Several others
are badly wounded.
Shackleton himself
joined the military
in a logistics role.
[Bound]
When the w*r ended,
he finally had his moment.
He began touring
and lecturing.
The film South was released,
and it was a great success.
[Snow] Shackleton had one
more expedition left in him,
and in 1921,
he went back to South Georgia,
but he died of a heart attack
in early 1922.
[Bound]
It is an old clich
that Shackleton never achieved
any of the things
that he set out to do.
And it's true, he didn't.
But that was not
what Shackleton was about.
Shackleton was about
man's urge
to be always pushing
to expand his boundaries,
always striving
for the next thing,
always reaching
for the horizon.
That was Shackleton.
[Shears]
Shackleton was buried here
on the 5th of March, 1922.
And exactly
a hundred years later,
on the 5th of March, 2022,
we found his ship,
the Endurance,
on the seafloor
of the Weddell Sea.
I think Sir Ernest
would be amazed
and probably also rather jealous
of what we have achieved
and slap our backs and laugh
and applaud loudly
our efforts as a team.
When you walk away from here,
reflect on what you've done
and remember,
we're a symbol of how people
can achieve
the greatest of challenges
if they trust and work together.
[solemn music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
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Endurance (2024)
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