Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. It was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. The expedition failed to accomplish this objective, but became recognized instead as an epic feat of endurance. The ship Endurance became beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea before reaching Vahsel Bay, and drifted northward, held in the pack ice, throughout the Antarctic winter of 1915. The party took to the lifeboats to reach the inhospitable, uninhabited Elephant Island. Three lives were lost before the party’s eventual rescue, but Shackleton was eventually able to mount a rescue of the men waiting on

About Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in brief

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. It was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. The expedition failed to accomplish this objective, but became recognized instead as an epic feat of endurance. The ship Endurance became beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea before reaching Vahsel Bay, and drifted northward, held in the pack ice, throughout the Antarctic winter of 1915. The party took to the lifeboats to reach the inhospitable, uninhabited Elephant Island. On the other side of the continent, the Ross Sea party overcame great hardships to fulfil its mission. Three lives were lost before the party’s eventual rescue, but Shackleton was eventually able to mount a rescue of the men waiting on Elephant Island and bring them home without loss of life. It is the last expedition to be led by Sir Ernest Shackleton, who died in January 1918. He had previously led the Nimrod expedition of 1907–1909 and led the Discovery expedition of 1901–1904. He was inspired by Roald Amundsen’s conquest of the South Pole in 1911, and wanted to make a transcontinental journey from sea to sea, crossing the pole. He solicited financial and practical support from, among others, Tryggve Gran of Scott’s expedition, and Prime Minister Lord Rosebery, but received no help from either. Shackleton got support, however, from the Scottish leader of the National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-1904, William Speirs Bruce, who had harboured plans for an Antarctic crossing since 1908, but had abandoned the project for lack of funds.

On 29 December 1913, Shackleton announced his new expedition plans to the public, having acquired his first financial backing—a £10,000 grant from the British Government—Shackleton made his public announcement in a letter to The Times of December 29, 1913. His plans for the new expedition were announced by Shackleton to Bruce, although the eventual scheme was not announced by him until December 30, 1913, although Shackleton owed little to Bruce to adopt his plans. In this new venture he proposed to sail to the Wed dell Sea and to land a shore party near Vah Sel Bay, in preparation for a trans continental march via the South pole to the Ross sea. On 11 December 1911, a German expedition under Wilhelm Filchner had sailed from South Georgia, intending to penetrate deep into the Weddsley Sea and establish a base from which he would cross the continent to Ross Sea. In late 1912 Filchter returned to South Georgia and reported that he had failed to land and set up his base. However, his reports of possible landing sites in Vahsels Bay, at around 78° latitude, were incorporated into his developing expedition plans, and incorporated into Shackleton’s developing expedition plan. On March 11, 1912, he sailed to the south coast of South Georgia to set up a base for the expedition.

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