Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance

Endurance sets sail down the Thames just as Britain is about to join World War I. Two members of Shackleton’s crew who are in the military leave the ship and deploy to their regiments. Shackleton also sends a telegraph offering the ship and crew to the Royal Navy. However, Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty of the Royal Navy, gives permission for Shackleton’s expedition to continue in a telegram that says “PROCEED.” The decision is not an easy one as the crew of Endurance will be out of touch with their country as it goes to war. On August 8, they sail away from England with “mixed emotions.”

In October, they dock in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Shackleton makes some changes to the crew, replacing some members for drunkenness. The docks are crowded with those who want to glimpse “the world-famous explorers” (10). The crew also brings on board 69 Canadian sled dogs, despite the fact that no one has ever driven a dog-sled team. They place the noisy, snapping dogs in kennels on the deck. They set sail again on October 26, 1914, unaware that they are carrying a stowaway named Percy Blackborrow. Once Blackborrow is discovered, Shackleton accepts him into the crew without hesitation.