Endurance Preserved: safeguarding a shipwreck in the world’s most inaccessible waters

Written by Hefin Meara, National Listings Advisor (Marine), Historic England

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition is one of the greatest stories of exploration, peril, leadership and survival ever told.

The Endurance trapped in pack ice, Shackleton expedition, February 1915, Frank Hurley, First published on the page opposite p. 156 of Hurley's Argonauts of the South (1925), London and New York: Putnam & Sons.

This expedition, which aimed to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent almost ended in tragedy when one of the expedition ships, the Endurance, became trapped in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea in 1915. The ordeal of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the crew of Endurance to survive on the ice, as well as Shackleton’s epic voyage across hundreds of miles of open ocean in a small lifeboat to bring rescue are now legendary, and have secured the place of the Endurance story as one of the most iconic episodes of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton led the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition aboard the Endurance aiming to cross Antarctica, but the ship became trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea. For months, Shackleton and his crew endured extreme conditions—freezing temperatures, violent storms, and total isolation— as the ship was slowly crushed by the ice and sank in 1915. Despite these challenges, Shackleton led an incredible survival journey across treacherous seas and glaciers to South Georgia Island, and all of his 27 crew survived.

Over a century later, in 2022, scientists discovered the Endurance shipwreck, preserved in the freezing depths of the Weddell Sea.

Their expedition faced similar extremes, with cutting-edge technology struggling against shifting sea ice, freezing temperatures, and remote conditions. Both Shackleton’s crew and modern scientists encountered the brutal realities of working in Antarctica, highlighting the enduring human drive to explore and survive in one of Earth’s harshest environments.

Today, the wreck lies approximately 5 nautical miles from the position recorded by Frank Worsley, the captain of Endurance, in his diary. The ship was seen to be in a remarkable state of preservation. It was lying upright on the seabed, with a coherent vessel structure and with many of its recognisable features still visible, with fixtures and fittings such as the ship's wheel surviving in situ. Miraculously, the iconic image released to the press to announce the discovery showed the name Endurance visible on the stern, along with the pole star emblem from the vessel’s original name Polaris.

The stern of the Endurance. © FMHT & National Geographic

This vessel and its story are central to the history of early Antarctic exploration. Considering this, as well as Sir Ernest Shackleton’s contributions to the history of science and exploration in Antarctica, and the incredible feat of endurance and achievement by the crew, the wreck had been designated as an Historic Site & Monument under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty before it had even been located. On discovery, designation was amended to include the position of the wreck, and subsequently the protected area was extended in order to encompass the full extent of the debris field created as the wreck sank to the sea floor.

In order to ensure a unified vision for the future of the Endurance shipwreck, the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) were tasked with preparing a conservation management plan for the site, in partnership with Historic England. This process involves creating a detailed statement of significance, outlining why the site is important, and identifying the cultural and natural heritage values that need protection. In the case of Endurance, the historical and archaeological importance of the wreck is undeniable.

Remarkably well conserved, the wreck still contains nearly all of it’s fixtures and fittings, as well as many of the personal belongings of the crew, including equipment and items of clothing.

This extraordinary state of preservation makes the site a capsule of Antarctic history and an invaluable resource for understanding the lives of those aboard this extraordinary expedition.

The Endurance wreck’s significance as a resource for biological research was also highlighted during the preparation of the conservation management plan. Initial examination of the images captured by the 2022 expedition team revealed a thriving community of marine organisms on the wreck, emphasising the importance of the site for the study of Antarctic marine life. The wreck has been colonised by a wide variety of sessile, filter feeding animals, as well as decapod crustaceans, many of which are considered vulnerable marine species. As the exact date of the Endurance’s sinking is known, scientists can use the site to study the rate of marine colonisation on an otherwise largely featureless seabed, providing unique insights into the adaptation and survival of Antarctic marine life.

However, it was the aesthetic significance of the Endurance wreck that truly captured the imagination of many involved in the conservation management plan. The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was meticulously documented by the expedition’s official photographer, Frank Hurley, whose glass plate negatives housed at the Royal Geographical Society and the Scott Polar Research Institute have become iconic representations of polar exploration. Hurley’s haunting images of the Endurance, trapped in a vast sea of blinding white pack ice, are now beautifully complimented by the 2022 expedition’s footage, revealing the shipwreck resting intact in the pitch-black depths of the Weddell Sea.

The Endurance among ice pinnacles, Shackleton expedition, February 1915, Frank Hurley.

Shipwrecks like this can evoke a profound sense of wonder and artistic representation, and now provide a source for inspiration, creativity, and art.

Because of profound experiences such as these, which link past, present, and future scientists to the Endurance, the conservation management plan emphasised that accessible data is a key priority of management, for the purposes of facilitating artistic and creative outputs. While the need for accessible data to support scientific and archaeological study is well established, this is a step forward in integrating scientific research and lived experiences, which can represent how we understand, sense, and experience history, ensuring The Endurance, both above and below the ice, continues to inspire.

Further linking Shackleton and his crew’s experience to that of the 2022 expedition was the brutal Antarctic conditions they faced. The process of interpreting and understanding shipwreck sites at the bottom of the sea is already complicated - underwater archaeologists grapple with limited sensory input, visibility is compromised by the water, their hearing is limited, and their sense of touch is dulled by gloves and drysuits. In the case of the Endurance , located in the deep ocean, the team was entirely reliant on experiencing the site remotely via remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). These technological constraints, combined with extreme cold, made the detailed record produced even more remarkable.

Antarctica is one of the most remote places on earth and is utterly hostile to human life. The landscapes and seascapes of the frozen continent are epic in scale and almost impossible for the human mind to process. However, the presence of a small intact shipwreck at the bottom of the sea brings a touch of humanity to the landscape, and enables people to reach out and make contact with somewhere otherwise utterly alien.

The wreck of Endurance will remain undisturbed on the seabed of the Weddell Sea. The expedition undertook an entirely non-intrusive survey, comprised of multibeam sonar, high resolution digital photography, video and 3D laser scanning. This data will form a source of inspiration for the next generation of ocean enthusiasts, and ensure that even the waters of the remotest place on earth are studied, understood, and preserved.

Endurance Preserved: safeguarding a shipwreck in the world’s most inaccessible waters

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