By Lost vessel Endurance finally discovered
The Endurance, the lost vessel of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, was found at the weekend at the bottom of the Weddell Sea.
The ship was crushed by sea ice and sank in 1915.
This forced Shackleton and his men to escape on foot and in small boats.
Video taken in the depths show Endurance to be in remarkable condition.
It has been sitting in 3km (10,000ft) of water for over a century.
According to reports, it looks just like it did on the day it went down.
The name Endurance is visible on the stern.
“Without any exaggeration, this is the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen – by far,” said marine archaeologist Mensun Bound, who is on the discovery expedition.
“It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation,” he told BBC News.
IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES/SPRIThe project was part of Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust.
The mission’s leader, the veteran polar geographer Dr. John Shears, described the moment cameras landed on the ship’s name as “jaw-dropping”.
“The discovery of the wreck is an incredible achievement,” he added.
“We have completed the world’s most difficult shipwreck search, battling constantly shifting sea-ice, blizzards, and temperatures dropping
It set out to make the first land crossing of Antarctica but had to abandon the quest when the expedition ship, the Endurance, was trapped and then holed by sea-ice.
A similar fate to that of HMS Terror and HMS Erebus.
Shackleton somehow managed to get his men to safety.
This month has reportedly seen the lowest extent of Antarctic sea-ice ever recorded.
All wreck imagery is courtesy of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust and National Geographic.
