Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton - A Successful Failure

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the Worldvividly recreates one of the most extraordinary adventure stories in history. In August 1914, Ernest Shackleton and 27 men sailed from England in an attempt to become the first team of explorers to cross the Antarctic continent from one side to the other. Five months later and still 100 miles from land, their ship,Endurance, became trapped. The expedition survived an Antarctic winter in the icebound ship, then, afterEndurancesank, five months camped on the ice followed by a perilous boat journey through storms and icebergs to remote and unvisited Elephnat Island, 600 miles from Cape Horn. From there, their only hope was for someone to fetch help. In a dramatic climax to this amazing survival story, Shackleton

A. Bad evaluation of circumstances and stubbornness instead of perseverance. Shackleton was ready to depart to Antarctica however; just when he was at South Georgia, local seamen warned him that he might get trapped and advised him to wait until next year. At this point he had the opportunity to make a decision and wait, but due to the compromises reached with his sponsors and the conditions in Britain getting in WWI he took a risk to go forth and as a result, underestimate the situation. This I can consider to be the main crisis.

Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent. He survived shipwreck and disaster only to be imprisoned for violating the terms of his scientific passport by changing ships and carrying prohibited papers.

4.Henry Hudson- As an English explorer, Hudson made two voyages to find an icefree passage to Asia which were successful. On his third voyage he was sent by the Dutch East India Company to the river in the New World that would be named after him; his fourth

Endurance is a novel that explains the giant failure of a trans-Antarctic expedition. The entire operation was led by bold and brave man by the name of Sir Ernest Shackleton. The purpose of the expedition was to attempt to cross the Antarctic continent in the year 1914. It was an outrageous and at some points, a hopeless struggle for survival for Shackleton and his crew. He had a crew of twenty-eight strong and noble men, which were resilient and determined on this journey, of about two years. The book’s title, Endurance, is also the ship Shackleton and his crew used on the expedition. The ship was unfortunately crushed by the ice very early in the men’s journey, leaving them stranded on drifting ice, for about a year, but that was just the beginning.

When Tarleton was in High School he did four sports; cricket, riding, tennis, and boxing. Him being an athletic person helped him and his troops in the military. He exhausted his finances through gambling, when he purchased a rank in the First Regiment of Dragoon Guards. His military career led him to adventure and more opportunities for advancement. He soon became known for his speed, daring and surprise.

Meriwether Lewis was a very famous man in history and will all ways be remembered for his courageous things he did in his life. And the expeditions that he and Clark went on as a team. Meriwether Lewis is still one of the most famous men in the world because no one knows what really happened to him. Historians will never be happy until the truth is uncovered and the whole world knows what really happen to one of the world’s greatest men that ever lived.

Chris McCandless’s journey in Alaska was very grueling and difficult. He only took the basic necessities and ended up dying. Some things Chris took were books, hunting weapons, and a camera. He froze to death on the tundra. Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen skied across Antarctica and became the first women to do so. The weather could get down to -100 degrees fahrenheit and was so windy they had to use a radio to talk to each other. The two carried technology that helped them communicate. For example, they used a camera to take pictures and then used a computer to upload them. J. Michael Fay was an explorer and conservationist. Fay traveled through dense forests and remote villages in Africa to make aware the animals and plants being destroyed.

At age 17 he was the youngest member of the expedition. At the end of his lifetime he was know as a trapper , trader , guide , merchant , Indian interpreter and an

First, all of his buddies died and he had to walk 300 miles through Antarctica (with his feet falling off). Most people would not be able to walk 300 miles through Antarctica with feet. Second, He did not bring back many scientific discoveries during his journey. He had to throw out his camera among other things to conserve weight. (Into the Unknown) Phineas Gage suffered almost as much as Douglas Mawson did.

To be an obsessive person, one must have a certain subject constantly on one’s mind or routines must be followed correctly and/or on time. The benefit for the Endurance’s crew to have an obsessive man as Shackleton was that he was ready for the unexpected, and his crew’s safety was the utmost important topic for him. With Shackleton’s obsessive nature, he made a very specific routine for the men to follow; at exactly 9:00 am, breakfast was served, at 1:00 pm, lunch was served, at 4:00 pm, tea was served, and at 6:00 pm, dinner was served. Between the meals, the men did chores such as, cleaning the ship and melting ice for drinking water. Such a precise and stringent following of a routine gave the men purpose and managed to keep the men from going stir crazy. The crew’s safety was on Shackleton’s mind from the moment everyone abandoned the Endurance. Shackleton stopped all unnecessary activities that posed a risk to crew safety; for example, he stopped Macklin and Greenstreet from paddling on an ice floe like children on a raft. Shackleton also commenced unpredicted safety drills for cracking of their ice floe–which could happen at any moment. Shackleton often didn’t sleep due to the fact that he worried about all the dangerous and potentially fatal situations that he and his crew

Shackleton was the most essential part to the whole expedition. He is also often called “the Boss.” This just shows how much the men look up to him, because what the Boss says, goes. Shackleton is constantly trying to look after his men, after

Ernest Shackleton, a man with heart, vision and a dream. He had all the skill for success; yet never achieve the fame and fortune he desired. Looking over his life, his character and his experiences give us an insight to who he really was. I will show that he had the skills necessary to be consider one of the great leaders of his time.

Shackleton?s yearning to explore the Antarctic was born out of his desires to achieve the improbable and attain fame and notoriety (Morrell and Capparell 32). Both the Artic and the Antarctic remained unexplored in the first decade of the twentieth century, and the promises of celebrity, honor for one?s country, and possible wealth were the romantic rewards for the explorers of the day (28, 55).

In what context should the Endurance expedition be analyzed? As a scientific endeavor? An entrepreneurial venture? An exercise in imperial opportunity? By what criteria should the expedition be evaluated? Given your answer to the preceding question, was it a success or a failure?