Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton CVO
(February 15, 1874 -- January 5, 1922)

Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish explorer, now chiefly remembered for his Antarctic expedition of 1914-1916 in the ship Endurance. He was born in Kilkee, County Clare, Ireland in 1874, and served as a merchant marine officer. He attended Dulwich College from 1887 to 1890.

Shackleton participated in the National Antarctic Expedition, which was organized by the Royal Geographical Society in 1901, and led by Robert Falcon Scott. The expedition was the first to penetrate the Ross Sea and reach the Ross Ice Shelf. It reached latitude 82°17'S on December 31, 1902, 463 nautical miles from the South Pole.

Shackleton organized and led the British Antarctic Expedition (1907-1909) to Antarctica. Its accomplishments included the first ascent of Mount Erebus, the active volcano of Ross Island, finding the location of the Magnetic South Pole, and locating the Beardmore Glacier passage. It reached latitude 88°23'S, 97 nautical miles from the Pole.

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set out from London on August 1, 1914 with the goal of crossing the Antarctic from a location near Vahsel Bay on the south side of the Weddell Sea, reach the South Pole and then continue to Ross Island on the opposite side of the continent. Its goal was abandoned when the ship, Endurance, was trapped and crushed by sea ice short of Vahsel Bay. The expedition personnel endured an epic journey by sledge across the Weddell Sea pack and then boat to Elephant Island. There they rebuilt one of their small boats and Shackleton with five others set sail for South Georgia Island for help. The 22 men who remained on Elephant Island were rescued by the Chilean ship Yelcho on August 30, 1916.

In 1921, Shackleton set out on another Antarctic expedition, but died of a heart attack on board his ship, the Quest, while anchored off South Georgia Island on January 5, 1922. Shackleton was buried there on March 5.

Works

• The Heart of the Antarctic
• South!
• Aurora Australis