Showing results by author "Ernest Shackleton"

As war clouds darkened over Europe in 1914, a party led by Sir Ernest Shackleton set out to make the first crossing of the entire Antarctic continent via the Pole. But their initial optimism was short-lived as ice floes closed around their ship, gradually crushing it and marooning twenty-eight men on the polar ice. Alone in the world's most unforgiving environment, Shackleton and his team began a brutal quest for survival.

His destination Antarctica, his expectations high, veteran explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set out, on the eve of the First World War, in pursuit of his goal to lead the first expedition across the last unknown continent. Instead, his ship, the Endurance, became locked in sea ice, and for nine months Shackleton fought a losing battle with the elements before the drifting ship was crushed and his crew marooned.

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874 - 1922) was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. 'The Voyage of the James Caird' is the story of Shackleton's 1916 failed attempt at a crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea via the pole. The expedition turned to disaster when Shackleton's ship, Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and was slowly crushed. The crew escaped by camping on the sea ice until it disintegrated, then by launching the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island.

Frederick Albert Cook (June 10, 1865 - August 5, 1940) was an American explorer and physician noted for his claims of achieving the first summit of Mount McKinley, in September 1906, and having reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908, which would have been a year before Robert Peary. Both claims have been largely discredited. Later, Dr. Cook was a founding member of the Arctic Club and Explorers Club.