The Death of the Endurance 1915
During the winter, Endurance had drifted almost 600 miles while stuck in ice. In October, the pressure of the floes increased, forcing the ship over at an angle. The men began to move their stores off the ship as she broke up. Following the final order to abandon ship, issued on 26 October, the men set up ‘Dump Camp’ on the ice. The Endurance went down on 21 November.
Hurley photographed the ship as she was crushed and disappeared into the icy waters. He had managed to rescue all his glass negatives from the wreck, but then had the heart-wrenching task of selecting only 120 from a total of over 500. The glass was too heavy for the men to carry, so the remaining negatives were destroyed.
The men camped on the drifting ice for several months. There was an attempt to march to Paulet Island, but the conditions defeated them. Eventually, on 9 April 1916, Shackleton gave the order to take to the lifeboats and head for Elephant Island.
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
The surroundings of the ship at the end of winter
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
Worsley standing next to a working pressure ridge
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
The incipient stage of a pressure ridge
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
Efforts being made to free the ship from frozen captivity
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
Wild and Shackleton between two pressure ridges
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
The frozen surface of the Weddell sea taken just before the ship was crushed.
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
The ship was the nucleus of a pressure wave
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
Huge blocks ... were thrown about in indescribable confusion
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
HMS Endurance forced out of the ice
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
The ship ... 15 seconds after the floes came together
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
The Endurance crushed between the floes
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
Wild observes the wreck
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
The party at Ocean Camp on the drifting sea ice
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
The look out platform at Ocean Camp
Frank Hurley (1885-1962)
The party after the ship's destruction, Ocean Camp
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922)
South : the story of Shackleton's last expedition, 1914-1917
Lane & Neeve [London]