A review by adamsw216
The Ship Beneath the Ice by Mensun Bound
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
"At 5pm she went down by the head: the stern the cause of all the trouble was the last to go under water. I cannot write about it." -Ernest Shackleton, South
On November 21, 1915, after having been crushed by the incredible forces of Antarctic pack ice, the three-masted barquentine named Endurance slipped beneath the ice and was lost to history. From there begins one of the greatest stories of survival in modern history as expedition leader Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew hop between ice floes, stave off hunger, protect themselves from the bitter cold, are forced to take hazardous boat journeys, and hike across uncharted terrain. The expedition's original goal of crossing the Antarctic continent has been all but forgotten, but their astounding story lives on. Nothing proves that more than author Mensun Bound's account of the 2022 expedition which finally located the lost wreck of the ship that brought Shackleton and his men into the heart of the Antarctic.
The Endurance22 expedition was organized by the Falkland Maritime Heritage Trust in an effort to find and survey the remains of the Endurance. It brought together an international team of scientists, historians, archaeologists, and sailors as well as some of the latest in robotics and deep ocean surveying technology. Bound, a British maritime archaeologist, regales us with his account as the Director of Exploration on the Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 and the Endurance22 expedition.
Organized as entries from his diary, Bound takes us on a daily journey on the South African polar research icebreaking vessel S. A. Agulhas II as its crew and personnel comb the Weddell Sea in search of Shackleton's lost ship. Through this book we are taken along on an adventure into the wild south. Bound tells us of the ups, the downs, the technology, and the people with whom he shared not only space on the boat, but a deep passion for finding the Endurance. I really did feel like I was right there with them, peering out of the windows at the endless ice, hiking across the floes as researchers set up to run experiments on ice excursions, watching the penguins and seals curiously examine the ship, carefully eyeing the dangerous storm systems threatening to move in, and experiencing the anxiety of not knowing how each day would unfold.
It was truly an international effort and, even with all of the modern technology, nothing was ever guaranteed. The expedition was still full of perils and plenty of unknowns.
Of course, I knew how it all ended. It was all over the news and I was awestruck at the time, having had no knowledge of the existence of such an expedition at all. Still, that did not at all take away from the anxieties and exhilarations of the story and Bound does an excellent job of keeping things moving at a good pace. He takes a lot of time to draw parallels between his journey and that of the crew of the Endurance, often quoting from the men's journal entries from the same day 107 years ago in 1915. However, while Bound provides plenty of backstory, if you have not already read Alfred Lansing's book Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, I highly recommend you do so prior to picking up this book.
This was an excellent book and it is a must-read for any fans of polar exploration, the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, or Shackleton. For anyone else, read Lansing's book first, and if you enjoy that come back and check this book out.
On November 21, 1915, after having been crushed by the incredible forces of Antarctic pack ice, the three-masted barquentine named Endurance slipped beneath the ice and was lost to history. From there begins one of the greatest stories of survival in modern history as expedition leader Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew hop between ice floes, stave off hunger, protect themselves from the bitter cold, are forced to take hazardous boat journeys, and hike across uncharted terrain. The expedition's original goal of crossing the Antarctic continent has been all but forgotten, but their astounding story lives on. Nothing proves that more than author Mensun Bound's account of the 2022 expedition which finally located the lost wreck of the ship that brought Shackleton and his men into the heart of the Antarctic.
The Endurance22 expedition was organized by the Falkland Maritime Heritage Trust in an effort to find and survey the remains of the Endurance. It brought together an international team of scientists, historians, archaeologists, and sailors as well as some of the latest in robotics and deep ocean surveying technology. Bound, a British maritime archaeologist, regales us with his account as the Director of Exploration on the Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 and the Endurance22 expedition.
Organized as entries from his diary, Bound takes us on a daily journey on the South African polar research icebreaking vessel S. A. Agulhas II as its crew and personnel comb the Weddell Sea in search of Shackleton's lost ship. Through this book we are taken along on an adventure into the wild south. Bound tells us of the ups, the downs, the technology, and the people with whom he shared not only space on the boat, but a deep passion for finding the Endurance. I really did feel like I was right there with them, peering out of the windows at the endless ice, hiking across the floes as researchers set up to run experiments on ice excursions, watching the penguins and seals curiously examine the ship, carefully eyeing the dangerous storm systems threatening to move in, and experiencing the anxiety of not knowing how each day would unfold.
It was truly an international effort and, even with all of the modern technology, nothing was ever guaranteed. The expedition was still full of perils and plenty of unknowns.
Of course, I knew how it all ended. It was all over the news and I was awestruck at the time, having had no knowledge of the existence of such an expedition at all. Still, that did not at all take away from the anxieties and exhilarations of the story and Bound does an excellent job of keeping things moving at a good pace. He takes a lot of time to draw parallels between his journey and that of the crew of the Endurance, often quoting from the men's journal entries from the same day 107 years ago in 1915. However, while Bound provides plenty of backstory, if you have not already read Alfred Lansing's book Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, I highly recommend you do so prior to picking up this book.
This was an excellent book and it is a must-read for any fans of polar exploration, the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, or Shackleton. For anyone else, read Lansing's book first, and if you enjoy that come back and check this book out.