Striking image shows well-preserved wreck of Shackleton’s doomed ship

Slowly cracking through the dense pack ice of Antarctica’s Weddell Sea is hefty, ice-breaking research vessel S. A. Agulhas II (pictured below). It was part of Endurance22, a successful 2022 expedition to locate the sunken ship of explorer Ernest Shackleton.

Endurance went down in 1915 after it was trapped by pack ice during its first voyage – leaving him and his crew of 27 men stranded, with little hope of rescue. “The story of survival of Shackleton and the crew of the Endurance is a legendary feat of leadership, grit, determination and perseverance against all the odds,” says Nico Vincent, deputy leader of the Endurance22 expedition. In new book Endurance, he and the wreck mission leader John Shears detail the search for the lost ship.

A stunning bird’s-eye view (pictured above) shows members of Endurance22’s subsea team edging a returning underwater autonomous vehicle into position at the vessel’s stern before heaving it onboard again.

But, fittingly, centre stage (above) is taken by an amazing mosaic of over 25,000 images of the wreck itself. It reveals an incredibly well-preserved ship, its masts, anchors and steam engine funnel all still present, while the hull is also intact, resting upright on the seabed. Shears and Vincent hope the story of the ship will offer a fresh perspective on the epic tale for a new generation.

Endurance: The discovery of Shackleton’s legendary ship by John Shears and Nico Vincent is published on 5 November