Nimrod Expedition
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Nimrod Expedition (1908 - 1909) to Antarctica was led by Ernest Shackleton aboard the Nimrod with a crew that included George Buckley, Frank Wild, Eric Marshall and Jameson Adams.
Voyage
On January 1, 1908, at 16:00 hours the Nimrod's dock lines were cast off. Booming guns and wailing sirens punctuated the cheers from thirty thousand townspeople who crowded the wharf.On January 29, 1908, the ship entered McMurdo Sound, but the pack ice blocked their path. After a few days wait the pack ice did not relent. The Nimrod followed the coast of Ross Island northward to Cape Royds, twenty miles from Hut Point. High volcanic hills sheltered the cove from the prevailing winds, several freshwater ponds lay nearby and their meat supply Adelie Penguins nested just beyond a low ridge. Shackleton believed the site to be perfect and the men began unloading supplies at once. During the next three weeks, they erected the prefabricated hut, built a stable for the ponies and hauled tons of provisions over the floes to shore. On February 23, 1908, Shackleton and his fourteen men gathered near the shore and watched the Nimrod steam away northward toward New Zealand.
Expedition
During their stay the men wrote, typeset and printed on a small hand press the 120-page Aurora Australis, the first book published in Antarctica.On October 29, 1908, at 10:00 hours Ernest Shackleton, Frank Wild, Eric Marshall, Jameson Adams and the ponies Grisi, Socks, Quan and Chinaman, pulling the loaded sledges started on the 1,600 mile round trip to the South Pole.
On January 9, 1909, after facing many hardships including harsh weather, the loss of the ponies, lack of food and weakness Shackleton accepted the inevitable; they must turn back or die. The expedition had made it to (88° 23’S).
On February 27, 1909, after never ending hardships, Eric Marshall collapsed with severe dysentery. While Jameson Adams remained with Marshall, Frank Wild and Ernest Shackleton continued on to Hut Point, which they reached on February 27, 1909. There, the worst possible message awaited them: they had missed the Nimrod by two days. For the rest of the night, they huddled together and discussed their limited options. The next morning they set fire to the small magnetic observation hut, hoping to attract the crew's attention if the Nimrod was close enough to see the flames. All their fears vanished, when in the distance they saw the ship. The crew had seen the burning hut; by late morning the two exhausted men boarded the Nimrod.
Shackleton did not rest. He guided the rescue party to Adams and Marshall and by 1:00 hours, March 4, 1909, all were safe on board the Nimrod. As the ship sailed past their Cape Royds hut, the men gave three cheers. Only then did Shackleton sleep.
Home
On March 23, 1909, Shackleton cabled London from New Zealand with news of the expeditions results, including the first ascent of Mount Erebus and the first successful trek to the South Magnetic Pole. On December 14, 1909, Ernest Shackleton was knighted.Future
Shackleton had not had his fill of Antarctica. In 1914, he would return with the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition to attempt the first crossing of the continent from the Weddell Sea to Ross Sea.See also
Further reading
- Riffenburgh, B. (2004). Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition : The Voyage of the Nimrod. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 1582344884
- Shackleton, E.. (1986). Aurora Australis. Paradigm Press. ISBN 0948285079
External links
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