Ernest Shackleton

Diagnoses

Vocation

Notable

Irish Antarctic explorer, leader of a British expedition to the South Pole in 1909 who came within 97 miles of the true pole. Five years later, on 8/01/1914, he made a second attempt at reaching the pole. It was an exceptionally frigid winter. By 1/18/1915, the ship was surrounded by floating ice and over the next ten months its wooden hull gradually crushed to bits. They abandoned ship on 10/27/1915. For five more months the crew of 27 sailors and scientists camped on the ice, surviving on penguin and seal meat. Finally, in desperation, Shackelton, with five men, crossed 800 miles of stormy seas in a 22 foot lifeboat the find help - and returned to rescue every member of his crew.. On May 20, 1916, after 18 months of an icy hell, the entire crew were returned to civilization. Both of his voyages were chronicled in his books, "Heart of the Antarctic," 1909 and "South," 1919. Sire Ernest died of a heart attack during a final expedition on 1/05/1922, South Georgia Islands. Link to Wikipedia biography