The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (abbreviated as ITAE) of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. After Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition in 1911, this crossing remained, in Shackleton's words, the "one great main object of Antarctic journeyings".Shackleton 1919, p. xi. Shackleton's expedition failed to accomplish this objective but became recognised instead as an epic feat of endurance.
Shackleton had served in the Antarctic on the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904 and had led the Nimrod Expedition of 1907–1909. In this new venture, he proposed to sail to the Weddell Sea and to land a shore party near Vahsel Bay, in preparation for a transcontinental march via the South Pole to the Ross Sea. A supporting group, the Ross Sea party, would meanwhile establish camp in McMurdo Sound and from there lay a series of supply depots across the Ross Ice Shelf to the foot of the Beardmore Glacier. These depots would be essential for the transcontinental party's survival, as the group would not be able to carry enough provisions for the entire crossing. The expedition required two ships: under Shackleton for the Weddell Sea party, and , under Aeneas Mackintosh, for the Ross Sea party.
Endurance became beset—trapped in the ice of the Weddell Sea—before it was able to reach Vahsel Bay. It drifted northward, held in the pack ice, throughout the Antarctic winter of 1915. Eventually the ice crushed the ship, and it sank, stranding its complement of 28 men on the ice. After months spent in makeshift camps as the ice continued its northwards drift, the party used lifeboats that had been salvaged from the ship to reach the inhospitable, uninhabited Elephant Island. Shackleton and five other members of the group then made an open-boat journey in the , and were able to reach South Georgia. From there, Shackleton was eventually able to arrange a rescue of the men who had remained on Elephant Island and to bring them home without loss of life. The remarkably preserved wreck of Endurance was found on the seafloor in 2022.
On the other side of the continent, the Ross Sea party overcame great hardships to fulfill its mission. Aurora was blown from her moorings during a gale and was unable to return, leaving the shore party stranded without proper supplies or equipment. Although the depots were still able to be laid, three people died before the party was eventually rescued.
Preparations
Origin
Despite the public acclaim that had greeted Ernest Shackleton's achievements after the Nimrod Expedition in 1907–1909, the explorer was unsettled, becoming—in the words of British skiing pioneer Sir Harry Brittain—"a bit of a floating gent".Huntford 1975, p. 348. By 1912, his future Antarctic plans depended on the results of Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition, which had left Cardiff in July 1910, and on the concurrent Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen. The news of Amundsen's conquest of the South Pole reached Shackleton on 11 March 1912, to which he responded: "The discovery of the South Pole will not be the end of Antarctic exploration".Huntford 1975, p. 50. The next work, he said, would be "a transcontinental journey from sea to sea, crossing the pole".Huntford 1975, p. 350. He was aware that others were in the field pursuing this objective.
On 11 December 1911, a German expedition under Wilhelm Filchner had sailed from South Georgia, intending to penetrate deep into the Weddell Sea and establishing a base from which he would cross the continent to the Ross Sea.Murphy pp. 87–102. In late 1912 Filchner returned to South Georgia, having failed to land and set up his base. However, his reports of possible landing sites in Vahsel Bay, at around 78° latitude, were noted by Shackleton, and incorporated into his developing expedition plans.Shackleton 1919, p. 2.
News of the deaths of Scott and his companions on their return from the South Pole reached London in February 1913. Against this gloomy background Shackleton initiated preparations for his proposed journey.Smith 2015, p. 252. He solicited financial and practical support from, among others, Tryggve Gran of Scott's expedition, and the former prime minister, Lord Rosebery, but received no help from either. Gran was evasive, and Rosebery blunt: "I have never been able to care one farthing about the Poles".
Shackleton got support, however, from William Speirs Bruce, leader of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902–1904, who had harboured plans for an Antarctic crossing since 1908 but had abandoned the project for lack of funds. Bruce generously allowed Shackleton to adopt his plans,Huntford 1975, p. 367. although the eventual scheme announced by Shackleton owed little to Bruce. On 29 December 1913, having acquired his first promises of financial backing—a £10,000 grant from the British government—Shackleton made his plans public in a letter to The Times.Huntford 1975, pp. 362–363.
Shackleton's plan Shackleton called his new expedition the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, because he felt that "not only the people of these islands, but our kinsmen in all the lands under the Union Jack will be willing to assist towards the carrying out of the ... programme of exploration."Fisher 1957, p. 298. To arouse the interest of the general public, he issued a detailed programme early in 1914. The expedition was to consist of two parties and two ships. The Weddell Sea party would travel aboard Endurance and continue to the Vahsel Bay area, where 14 men would land, of whom six, under Shackleton, would form the transcontinental party. This group, with 69 dogs, two motor sledges, and equipment "embodying everything that the experience of the leader and his expert advisers can suggest",Shackleton 1919, pp. xii–xv. would undertake the journey to the Ross Sea. The remaining eight shore party members would carry out scientific work, three going to Graham Land, three to Enderby Land and two remaining at base camp.
The Ross Sea party would set up its base in McMurdo Sound, on the opposite side of the continent. After landing they would lay depots on the route of the transcontinental party as far as the Beardmore Glacier, hopefully meeting that party there and assisting it home. They would also make geological and other observations.
Finances
Shackleton estimated that he would need £50,000 (current value £) to carry out the simplest version of his plan.Fisher 1957, pp. 306–307. He did not believe in appeals to the public: "(they) cause endless book-keeping worries".Huntford 1975, pp. 355–358. His chosen method of fundraising was to solicit contributions from wealthy backers, and he had begun this process early in 1913 with little initial success. The first significant encouragement came in December 1913, when the British government offered him £10,000, provided he could raise an equivalent amount from private sources. The Royal Geographical Society (RGS), from which he had expected nothing, gave him £1,000—according to Huntford, Shackleton, in a grand gesture, advised them that he would only need to take up half of this sum.Huntford 1975, p. 369. Lord Rosebery, who had previously expressed his lack of interest in polar expeditions, gave £50.
In February 1914, The New York Times reported that playwright J. M. Barrie—a close friend of Scott, who had become Shackleton's rival late in his career—had confidentially donated $50,000 (about £10,000). With time running out, contributions were eventually secured during the first half of 1914. Dudley Docker of the Birmingham Small Arms Company gave £10,000, wealthy tobacco heiress Janet Stancomb-Wills gave a "generous" sum (the amount was not revealed),Huntford 1975, pp. 375–377. and, in June, Scottish industrialist Sir James Key Caird donated £24,000 (current value £). Shackleton informed the Morning Post that "this magnificent gift relieves me of all anxiety".
Shackleton now had the money to proceed. He acquired, for £14,000 (current value £),Fisher 1957, p. 306.Shackleton 1919, p. xv. a 300-ton barquentine called Polaris, which had been built for the Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache for an expedition to Spitsbergen. This scheme had collapsed and the ship became available.Huntford 1975, p. 370. Shackleton changed her name to , reflecting his family motto, "By endurance we conquer". For a further £3,200 (current value £), he acquired Douglas Mawson's expedition ship , which was lying in Hobart, Tasmania. This would act as the Ross Sea party's vessel.
How much money Shackleton raised to meet the total costs of the expedition (later estimated by the Daily Mail to be around £80,000) is uncertain, since the size of the Stancomb-Wills donation is not known. Money was a constant problem for Shackleton, who as an economy measure halved the funding allocated to the Ross Sea party, a fact which the party's commander Aeneas Mackintosh only discovered when he arrived in Australia to take up his duties.Tyler-Lewis 2006, pp. 34–35. Mackintosh was forced to haggle and plead for money and supplies to make his part of the expedition viable.Tyler-Lewis 2006, pp. 41–48. Shackleton had, however, realised the revenue-earning potential of the expedition. He sold the exclusive newspaper rights to the Daily Chronicle, and formed the Imperial Trans Antarctic Film Syndicate to take advantage of the film rights.Alexander 1998, p. 10.
Personnel
According to legend, Shackleton posted an advertisement in a London paper, stating: "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success." Searches for the original advertisement have proved unsuccessful, and the story is generally regarded as apocryphal.Smith 2015, p. 256.Shackleton Probably Never Took Out an Ad Seeking Men for a Hazardous Journey (Smithsonian Magazine) Shackleton received more than 5,000 applications for places on the expedition, including a letter from "three sporty girls" who suggested that if their feminine garb was inconvenient they would "just love to don masculine attire."Fisher 1957, p. 308.
Eventually the crews for the two arms of the expedition were trimmed down to 28 apiece, including William Bakewell, who joined the ship in Buenos Aires; his friend Perce Blackborow, who stowed away when his application was turned down;Huntford 1975, pp. 383–384. and several last-minute appointments made to the Ross Sea party in Australia.Tyler-Lewis 2006, pp. 50–53. A temporary crewman was Sir Daniel Gooch, grandson of the railway pioneer Daniel Gooch, who stepped in to help Shackleton as a dog handler at the last moment and signed up for an able seaman's pay.Smith 2015, p. 266. Gooch agreed to sail with Endurance as far as South Georgia.Fisher 1957, p. 315.