Sir Ernest Shackleton was well aware of the weaknesses of his ship, Endurance, before he embarked on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914, a new paper says.
The study published in the journal Polar Record also challenges several prevailing theories in relation to the ship’s fate.
Since its sinking in November 1915, experts have agreed with the theory that the ship sank after an ice floe overwhelmed the rudder and created a large gash in the hull.
The new study says that the primary cause was the ship, rather than the ice conditions.
The study by Jukka Tuhkuri, ice researcher and naval architect at Aalto University in Finland, examined expedition diaries, Shackleton’s correspondence, and structural analysis of the ship.
It contends that Endurance was not among the strongest ships of its time and that the rudder was not the main cause of the vessel sinking.
“While the final reason was tearing off the keel, Endurance sank because the vessel was simply crushed in compression by ice. This is not surprising, Endurance was not designed for compressive conditions in the Antarctic pack ice, but for easier conditions at the ice edge in the Arctic,” it says.
“The weakest part of its hull was the engine room area, which was not only larger than in other early Antarctic ships but also lacked beams to give strength against compression by ice,” it says.
“ Comparison with other wooden polar ships is not favourable for Endurance: ships designed for compressive pack ice were stronger. It is also evident from archive research that Shackleton was well aware of the weaknesses of Endurance even before his expedition set sail for Antarctica,” it says.
The full paper is here
