The James Caird was the ship of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917. In October 1915, pack ice in the Weddell Sea had sunk the main expedition ship Endurance, leaving Shackleton and 27 companions adrift on a floe. They drifted northward until April 1916, when the floe they had encamped on broke up, then made their way in the ship’s lifeboats to Elephant Island. Over a perilous period of seven days they sailed and rowed through stormy seas and dangerous loose ice, to reach the temporary haven of Elephant Island on 15 April. After the First World War, in 1919, the JamesCaird was moved from South Georgia to England. It has been
About Voyage of the James Caird in brief
The voyage of the James Caird was a journey of 1,300 kilometres from Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands through the Southern Ocean. It was undertaken by Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions to obtain rescue for the main body of the stranded Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917. In October 1915, pack ice in the Weddell Sea had sunk the main expedition ship Endurance, leaving Shackleton’s 27 companions adrift on a floe. They drifted northward until April 1916, when the floe they had encamped on broke up, then made their way in the ship’s lifeboats to Elephant Island. Over a perilous period of seven days they sailed and rowed through stormy seas and dangerous loose ice, to reach the temporary haven of Elephant Island on 15 April. After the First World War, in 1919, the JamesCaird was moved from South Georgia to England. It has been on regular display at Shackleton’s old school, Dulwich College, since 1922. The ship’s carpenter, Harry McNish, strengthened and adapted the boat to withstand the seas of the Southern ocean, sealing his makeshift wood and canvas deck with lamp wick, oil paint and seal blood. The rigours of the previous months were beginning to tell on the men, many of whom were in a run-down state of mentally and physically. In these conditions, Shackleton decided to try to try and rescue his men, both physically and mentally, which destroyed one of the temporary tents in their temporary camp.
The party waited until 8 April 16, when they finally took to the boats as the ice started to break up. The boat reached the southern coast of South Georgia after a voyage that lasted 16 days. Shackleton had named it after Sir James Key Caird, a Dundee philanthropist whose sponsorship had helped finance the expedition. Before it could reach its destination the ship was trapped in pack ice, and by 14 February 1915 was held fast, despite prolonged efforts to free her. During the following eight months she drifted northwards until, on 27 October, she was crushed by the pack’s pressure, finally sinking on 21 November. The party then had to cross the island’s mountainous interior to reach a whaling station on the northern side. Here he organised the relief of the three men left on the south side of the island and of the Elephant Island party, and the return of his men home without loss of life, then the rescue of the Ross Sea party of his expedition. It is now on display at Dulwich college, in London, where it has been since 1922, along with a number of other items from the Shackleton collection. The James C Baird was named after the principal backers of the expedition: Stancomb-Wills, Dudley Docker and James. Docker and Shackleton. It was making for Vahsel Bay at 77° 49′ S, where a shore party was to land and prepare for a transcontinental crossing of Antarctica.
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