Endurance

polar exploration · shipwreck · adventure

Built in Norway. The Endurance was a three-masted barquentine (a type of sailing ship) launched in 1912 from Sandefjord, Norway. Sir Ernest Shackleton bought her in January 1914 to sail to Antarctica.

Trapped by ice. In 1915, the ship became stuck in pack ice in the Weddell Sea and was slowly crushed by the freezing ice around her. She finally sank on November 21, 1915, but all 28 crew members survived.

Everyone rescued. The crew used the ship's lifeboats to reach Elephant Island, and Shackleton with five others sailed to find help. By 1916, all the men had been rescued, making it one of the greatest survival stories in exploration history.

First and final voyage. The Endurance never made it to complete her mission of crossing Antarctica, but her tragic end became one of the most famous shipwrecks ever because of how the crew worked together to survive.