The

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 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 ...

was an attempt to cross the

Antarctic continent Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

led by

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

. The personnel were divided into two groups: the Weddell Sea party consisting of the men who would attempt the crossing and their support, and the

Ross Sea party The Ross Sea party was a component of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914–1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Its task was to lay a series of supply depots across the Great Ice Barrier from the Ross Sea to the Beardmore Glacier, along the polar ...

whose job it was to lay stores on the far side of the Pole for the members of the Weddell Sea party who would make the crossing. Both arms of the expedition had a final complement of 28 men. The Weddell Sea party's ship ''

Endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from a ...

'' was crushed in pack ice and the crossing attempt was never made. All the Weddell Sea party were rescued, but several members of the Ross Sea party perished after their support ship ''

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

'' broke free from its mooring post and drifted away, leaving the shore party stranded. Names and dates of birth are included where known. After ''Endurance'' was lost, the Weddell Sea party spent some months camped on the ice before making for

Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...

in the three lifeboats salvaged from the vessel, the '' James Caird'', the ''Dudley Docker'' and the ''Stancomb Wills''. The boat each man was assigned to for the crossing is listed. Some of the original crew left the expedition to sign up when war was declared with Germany, and others returned to England after the ship put in at

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Weddell Sea party

Ross Sea party

Notes

References

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External links

The Endurance Obituauries
The story of the men of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship S.Y. Endurance, at Enduranceobituaries.co.uk.

including sizeable entries on some of the least well-known, at Coolantarctica.com. {{Portal bar, Geography Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition Antarctica-related lists