Sir Ernest Shackleton and 28 of his crew members die on a trip to Antarctica.
Imagine a trip to Antarctica in the year 1914. There is no GPS, no radio that can be heard all over the world, and no satellite phone. Conditions were hard, food was limited, and living space was small. Sounds pretty bleak. Now, let's say that something terrible happens. As the days turn into weeks, the food runs out. As the weeks turn into months, all that's left is hope. When hope fades, the will to live is all that's left.
Before Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 28 could reach Antarctica, their trip in 1914 ended in disaster. Their ship, The Endurance, was held up by ice for ten months and then crushed by its hard, frozen force. This is just the beginning of a two-year journey. It is amazing what he and his crew have to go through to stay alive during this time.
This is an excerpt from a crew member's diary, written by Thomas Orde-Lees. It talks about a very cold and desperate time that happened about six months after the men left their ship's wreckage on three lifeboats.
"As soon as the water hit the boats, it immediately froze, forming thick layers of ice on the inside of the boat and all over the gear. The sail became as stiff as a piece of corrugated iron. The water that got into the bottom of the boat didn't freeze all at once, so we were able to keep up with it by bailing often and keep ice from building up along the keels, where it would have been nearly impossible to get rid of it because of the cargo.
We were covered in sleet, and between that and the spray from the sea, we were all pretty much soaked through, and our outer clothes had frozen solid. Most of our time was spent getting ice off each other's backs. It would be a lie to say that we were happy under these conditions, but every once in a while, we tried our best to put on a happy, hopeful face anyway. We were really put to the test, though."
