These Historic Photos Have Some Truly Odd Stories Behind Them

These Historic Photos Have Some Truly Odd Stories Behind Them

Aimee Heidelberg - September 5, 2023

These Historic Photos Have Some Truly Odd Stories Behind Them
Ernest Schackleton’s icebound ship Endurance (1915). F. Hurley, public domain..

Ernest Shackleton’s ghostly ship, Endurance (1915)

In December 1914, the Endurance, under the command of Ernest Shackleton, set out from the Grytviken whaling station in South Georgia toward Antarctica. They intended to make the first crossing of the frozen continent. With the Endurance packed with supplies, dogs, and twenty-eight men, the group quickly encountered pack ice, but persisted with their mission, clearing ice as necessary. But by January of 1915, the ice pack was so thick and impenetrable the ship became lodged in ice, unable to move. The ship drifted with the ice for months, the men living off the supplies they brought along on the ship. During their time drifting with the ship, expedition photographer Frank Hurley documented the experience, capturing photographs and video of their misfortune. Hurley’s images include this ghostly image of the Endurance at night, shortly before the ice pack crushed the ship’s hull and sank it on October 27, 1915.

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