Ernest Shackleton

Shackleton's Crew (The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander)

Ernest Shackleton is my hero because he showed me if you give it all you have, you can do anything.

Ernest Shackleton is my hero because he is an inspiration to me, and he taught me to never give up. On his first trip to reach the South Pole, he could not make it. He was not the captain. They were not very far when they had to turn back because of the ice. Then after a year of hard work and looking for a ship he and his crew of 28 set off for Shackleton’s second trip to the South Pole. The whalers at South Georgia Island said, “It’s a bad year for ice.”

Ernest Shackleton promised his crew he would do his best to save them and he did. Ernest Shackleton was a man of integrity because he never made a promise he could not keep. One example is when he wanted to tell his crew that they would all live, but he did not because it would be a false promise.

The wreck of the Endurance (Google images)

In total Shackleton and his crew went about 1500 miles. They departed South Georgia Island on December 5, 1914. After going across seas for 6 days they entered the ice pack on December, 11 1914. They plowed the ice until January 19, 1915, when they were trapped in the solid ice pack. While they were stuck they made Patience Camp. They waited to be freed but the ice would not let go.

On October 27, 1915, the ship, the Endurance was crushed by the solid ice pack. In a little more than a month on November 21, 1915, the Endurance sank. They marched a third of a mile while carrying the four life boats. Then they set up Ocean Camp, waiting for the ice to break so they could put their boats in. Soon the break came and they got in. On April 9, 1916, they set sail to Elephant Island. After four hundred ninety seven days at sea, the crew made it to land on Elephant Island. On April 15, 1916, only nine days after they had arrived, Shackleton and three others left on the biggest ship, the James Caird. Their goal was South Georgia Island. The other boats were used to make a shelter but not everyone fit. Some had to sleep outside. Had Shackleton been an inch off on the scale they would have gone right into the Atlantic Ocean. But Shackleton was a man of precision and he was on target but it was not perfect.

They had to endure a full force hurricane to land. It lasted all night but he was strong and he kept the ship upright. When he fought off the hurricane they realized they had landed on the wrong side. To get to the other side they had to cross forty miles of unmapped land that was covered with mountains and glaciers. All they had to survive were boots with nails on the bottoms and one old rope to link each other together. They had to leave two members behind because they were too weak.

After a day of hard climbing and hiking, they could see the harbor in the distance. They were on a mountain and it was nearing nightfall where they would freeze. There was about one thousand five hundred feet left. At first they went down but they were going too slowly so they had to slide down and they covered the one thousand and five hundred feet in five minutes. Shackleton went to the manager and said, “Well? Don’t you know me?” “You’re the mate of Daisy,” replied the manager. “My name is Shackleton,” and he turned and wept.

Ernest Shackleton was brave. He was brave because he devised a plan to save and rescue the crew. He also showed courage when he slid down the mountain at nightfall and endured freezing temperatures. As you can see Shackleton is a hero because he battled death and won.