Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer
A brief overview of the life of Ireland's greatest Antarctic explorer.
Remembering Sir Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Shackleton.
Photo Collection.
A collection of photographs of the great Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. These pictures give a very brief outline to an immense and heroic career, which was forged on the ice of Antarctica. Shackleton’s first venture south was aboard the Discovery (1901-1904) with Robert Falcon Scott, and he was invalided home after suffering from scurvy on the homeward leg of their farthest south journey.
Shackleton next led his own expedition, the Nimrod (1907-09), where he got to within 97 miles of the South Pole. In 1914 he again sailed for Antarctica, hoping to cross the entire continent by foot, via the South Pole, which had been claimed by Roald Amundsen in 1911. The Endurance Expedition (1914-17) never reached Antarctica, as the ship was ensnared in the ice of the Weddell Sea. What transpired is perhaps the greatest survival story of all time, as Shackleton somehow succeeded in getting his entire crew safely home, despite overwhelming odds.
Unperturbed by this experience Shackleton plotted yet another escaped to the frozen continent, and left aboard the Quest in 1921. While the ship paused, en route, at the island of South Georgia, Shackleton suddenly took ill, and died, in his cabin, on January 5th 1922.
All images courtesy of Getty Images
Antarctic explorers (left to right) Ernest Shackleton (1874 1922), Robert Falcon Scott (1868 1912 and Edward Wilson (1872 1912) at the start of a sledging trip during the Discovery Expedition, circa 1903. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
1907: Irish explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874 – 1922), left, with a companion. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton at the Cape Royds base camp, Antarctica, 1908. Mount Erebus in the background. Shackleton (1874-1922) during his expedition of 1908-1909 on board the ‘Nimrod’. A print from L’Illustration, 28 August 1909. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)
The Shackleton camp, Antarctica, Christmas Day, 1908. A photograph from British explorer ErnestShackleton’s (1874-1922) expedition of 1908-1909 on board the ‘Nimrod’. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)
1909: Irish explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton and two members of his expedition team beside a Union Jack within 111 miles of the South Pole, a record feat. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The last sledge from the trek back from the ‘Great Southern Journey’, Antarctica, 1909. A photograph from British explorer ErnestShackleton’s (1874-1922) expedition of 1908-1909 on board the ‘Nimrod’.
1909: Irish explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, in the southern party on board the vessel ‘Nimrod’, on their return voyage from the British Antarctic Expedition 190709 after reaching a point 97 miles from the South Pole, a record at the time. (Photo by Spencer Arnold/Getty Images)
December 1909: Men in arctic suits advertising the Shackleton Lantern Lecture, which tells the story of Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton, who came within a record-breaking 97 miles of reaching the South Pole. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
December 1909: Men dressed in arctic explorer’s furs advertising Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lantern lecture about his expeditions to Antarctica and the South Pole. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
Polar explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874 – 1922) with his wife Emily (3rd from left), Miss Stead (left), F. Herbert Stead (2nd from left) and Mrs Stead (2nd from right), circa 1913. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 1914: Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) and his wife Lady Emily Shackleton on board SS Endurance at Millwall Docks, London, England before leaving for the Antarctic, 1914. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
August 01, 1914: Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship SS Endurance after leaving Millwall Docks, bound for the Antarctic. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
Sir Ernest Shackleton, (1974-1922), Irish Explorer. Pictured is his ship the ‘Endurance’, ice-bound in Antarctica during an expedition, 1915. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
ANTARCTICA – 1916: Members of an expedition team led by Irish explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton pull one of their lifeboats across the snow in the Antarctic, following the loss of the ‘Endurance’. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Polar explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874 – 1922) with Patrol Leader Marr and Patrol Leader Mooney of the Boy Scouts aboard the ‘Quest’, UK, circa 1921. Shackleton left England aboard the ‘Quest’ on 24th September 1921, on the ShackletonRowett Expedition to the Antarctic, and died en route. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
CANADA – AUGUST 01: Sir Earnest Shackleton spent a busy day at Southampton on Tuesday inspecting the Quest which is now practically refitted; and ready for Shackleton-Rowett expedition which starts this month. (Photo by Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
September 1921: Ernest Shackleton waving goodbye as he embarks on the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition to the Antarctic. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)