Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton’s early life…
• Born in Ireland in 1874
• One of 10 children
• In 1884 his family moved to
South London
• Went to school in Dulwich
• At 16 he joined the Merchant
Navy
The story continues….
• In 1901 Shackleton joined an expedition led
by Captain Scott to try and be the first to
reach the South Pole
• Didn’t reach the South Pole (400 miles to go)
• Came home early due to an injury
Did this put him off ?
No!
It only made him more determined to reach
the South Pole himself one day.
1907 … a new adventure!
• Shackleton sailed to the Antarctic in
“Nimrod”
• He got to within 97 miles of the South Pole
• He turned back because the food ran out
Did this put him off ?
No!
In the meantime ….
• Other explorers reached the South Pole
• So he started to think up his next
adventure!
Shackleton decided he wanted to cross the
Antarctic continent, which is 2,000 miles
across!
So he put an notice in the
newspaper which said …
“Men wanted: for hazardous journey.
Small wages, bitter cold, long months
of complete darkness, constant
danger, safe return doubtful. Honour
and recognition in case of success.
Ernest Shackleton”
August 1914 …
Shackleton left England with 27 crew
and 68 dogs on “Endurance”
January 1915: Stuck in the ice
Shackleton gave the order to
abandon ship
They saved lifeboats, food and
clothes …
before it sank in November 1915
The real adventure begins …
• 5 months floating on an iceberg!
• A week without food or sleep in a boat
• An 800 mile journey across extremely
rough seas to get help.
• It was 3 months before Shackleton could
return to the rest of his men to rescue
them
• Altogether he and his crew were away for 2
years, but none of them died
Shackleton’s story is one of the greatest
stories of survival against overwhelming
odds.
He was enormously admired for his
leadership and survival qualities.