The Voyage Of The James Caird Begins. The Endurance Expedition. April 24th 1916. “The 20-ft. boat had never looked big; she appeared to have shrunk in some mysterious way when I viewed her in the light of our new undertaking.” Ernest Shackleton on viewing the James Caird prior to the voyage. The 28 men of the Endurance were stranded on Elephant Island, having reached the desolate outcrop on April 16th, after an utterly gruelling seven day voyage. They had sailed there in three lifeboats, salvaged from the expedition ship, before it was crushed and sunk, by the ice floes that had held it captive for months. While it was a … Continue reading On This Day 1916 – Voyage of the James Caird