WATCH SA’s Agulhas II Helps Team Find 1915 Endurance Shipwreck Off Coast of Antarctica

South Africa’s polar research and logistics vessel, S.A. Agulhas II, has helped enable an expedition team to find the wreckage of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance… which was crushed by ice in the Weddell Sea, off the coast of Antarctica, back in 1915. For over a century, the Endurance has been one of the most famous undiscovered shipwrecks in the world, lost almost 10,000 feet below sea level, in some of the iciest waters on the planet.

The expedition to find Endurance has cost an anonymous donor over $10-million, and was made possible by SA’s icebreaker, SA Agulhas II, which set off from Cape Town in early February with the Endurance22 Expedition team on board – including archaeologists, extreme environment filmmakers and scientists.

The successful discovery, at a depth of 3008 metres, was announced today (Wednesday, 9 March) by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust; and the happy team left the search area on Agulhas II yesterday (Tues) for the 11-day trip back to Cape Town. The Agulhas II was built a decade ago by a shipyard in Finand, and is owned by SA’s Department of Environmental Affairs.

The Endurance is now protected as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty.

Mensun Bound, Director of Exploration on the expedition, said the team was “overwhelmed by our good fortune in having located and captured images of Endurance. This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen. It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see ‘Endurance’ arced across the stern, directly below the taffrail.”

Expedition Leader Dr John Shears said the expedition had made “polar history with the discovery of Endurance, and successfully completed the world’s most challenging shipwreck search.”

According to the expedition’s subsea Project Manager Nico Vincent, the mission was the most complex subsea project ever undertaken and one that has broken several world records.

The New York Times reported that Endurance, a 144-foot, three-masted wooden ship, was found about four miles south of the last location recorded by Shackleton’s captain and navigator. Thanks to the cold water (and lack of wood-eating marine life) the ship has maintained a relatively good appearance.

Shackleton had left England aboard Endurance with a crew of 27 in 1914, hoping to be the first to cross Antarctica. Although he and his team never made that record, he was hailed as a hero in Britain for rescuing all the crew.

South African British endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh said: “Trapped under ice for over a century, Ernest Shackleton’s ship ’Endurance’ has been found in Antarctica. There can’t be a more challenging place on the planet to find a wreck. Huge congratulations to the #Endurance22 team who found her ??⚓?”

WATCH 1915 Endurance shipwreck found off the coast of Antarctica

(Sources: Reuters, New York Times, Lewis Pugh, FALKLANDS MARITIME HERITAGE TRUST / HISTORY HIT / LITTLE DOT STUDIOS, Production: Dina Selim)

Huge credit for #Endurance22 must go to the crew of the Agulhas II (@A_M_S_O_L), captained by the inspirational Knowledge Bengu. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/4IiX4NJqnm

— Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) March 9, 2022

MAJOR NEWS: This morning, Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust announced the discovery of the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship ‘Endurance, lost in 1915, in the Weddell Sea
The Endurance22 expedition left last month on board the South African SA Agulhas II.

— Maritime Review (@MaritimeSA) March 9, 2022