Un día a finales de 1914
se intentó una importante Expedición Antártica
que comenzó a ir mal
En este día comenzó una pesadilla de dos años de difícil catástrofe
y en última instancia herorismo del más alto orden
Ernest Shackleton un brillante y carismático líder tomó a 27 hombres en un
viaje que desafiaría sus espíritus y sus vidas
Esta es la saga de una de las más notables historias de supervivencia de el siglo:
El Viaje en el Endurance
en este temprano día de Diciembre de 1914, el barco Endurance navega fácilmente a través de
partidas de hielo del norte de Antartica. El líder de la Expedición Sir Ernest Shackleton
es un ambicioso Inglés Irlandés de 40 años
el es conocido por su manera de trazos significativos y por su habilidad de salir de
situaciones duras.
La Expedición Británica planea navegar a través del Mar de Wedell a la Antartica
su meta es ser al primero en alcanzar y cruzar sobre tierras del contienente
Ernest Shackleton era ya un afamado Explorador, el fue rival de Sir Robert Scott's
en la carrera por alcanzar el Polo Sur
La relación de mi padre con Scott es bastante dificil de describirla, verás
en un sentido mi padre fué un aventurero que entró en
los pensamientos de la gente de Ben Scott y decidió correr su propia Expedición
En 1907 Shackleton permitió a su propio equipo sobre de intentar alcanzar el Polo
con él fué Frank Wild quién se uniría más tarde con Shackleton en el Endurance
En 1912 Scott golpeó a Shackleton a el Polo, los enrollados papeleos, habían hecho alcanzarlo primero
competitivo y jironeado Shackleton volteó sus avistamientos envés a el Viaje sobre
la inmensamente desconocida Antártica,
la impresión que he tenido desde todo lo que he leído acerca de Shackleton y sus expediciones
es que las cosas fueron arrojadas juntas en el útlimo minuto
usualmente corto de dinero y el asunto fué sólo manejado por su impresionante energía y
entusiasmo y ambición y cosas que hicieron ir mal comparado
a las expediciones polares Noruegas
Las de Shackleton fueron posiblemente caóticas pero él mismo tuvo ojos de aquellas situaciones,
la vida en el Endurance es una mezcla de disciplina y rutina
y buenos tiempos
mas de 50 perros, dos equipos de activos trineos para la travesía
Frank Wild está abordo, su capitán Shackleton tiene una imbatible Fé en
su segundo al mando
él fue muy dependiente de Frank mientras que yo diría que fué un gran hombre
a su manera
Frank Wild y el yo no creo que piensen que tenían que finalizar oraciones una vez que las plantas entre
ellos habían sugerido que era necesario
ese fatídico Verano
Hay frías temperaturas en la Antartica
Las extensas anotaciones del barco, el empeoramiento del clima y el escaso progreso
the Endurenace movido de pesados flujos y
aves
por el día 20 de Enero de 1915, el Endurance está atrapado
el diario del Carpintero de Barco, debería ser McNeish. Enero 24
Aún rápido y sin señal de algo abierto, la presión es un asunto importante
y si no salimos pronto
No tendríamos mucha opción de alguna vez salir de aquí
la situación parece desbastadora todavia los hombres tienen una pertinaz Fe en el que ellos
llaman el Jefe
Para el líder científico Scott .
Veloz y eficiente viaje
Amundson: Pero cuando tu estás una situación desesperada, cuando parece que no hay salida
inclinate de rodillas y ora
por Shackleton
después de más de un mes en la partida
Shackleton decide tratar de mover manualmente las 300 toneladas del Endurance
en agua abierta
por cerca de dos días la triplación virtualmente trabaja sin descanso
cansados de batallar contra el hielo
cuando ello están en el punto de dejar caer
Shackleton tiene la crudeza de empujar el barco
hacia atrás tan lejos como alcance ir para embestir su ruta a través del hielo que
era de más de 18 pies de grosor
mientras permanece solo en la cubierta
el barco surca a 400 yardas de
agua abierta
pero no puede ir más lejos
en Febrero 24 de 1915
Shackleton se rinde tratando de liberar el barco
y el Endurance llega a la estación de Invierno
se dejará llevar por la corriente con los caprichos de la partidas de hielo
los cuales lo llevarán a cualquier parte errante
Pra la mayor parte de la tripulación aceptó todo con buena salud
Ellos aún esperaban poder eventualmente completar su misión
el hombre mantuvo arriba el espíritu con juegos de Fútbol sobre las duras partidas congeladas
esperando a que el hielo se abra
A bordo Shackleton adhiere a su profunda creencia
en lo importante de una estricta rutina
Hay algunos quejumbrosos acerca de las faenas
pero la autoridad de los Jefes es raramente cuestionada
la bodega del barco llega a ser conocida como el Ritz
y la vida continúa en ralativo confort
revisiones de costumbres son muy populares Shackleton gana el premio por la peor
pero varios cantantes son serios competidores
el verdadero enemigo es el tedio que es tratado con aún más drasticas medidas
todos tuvimos nuestro corte de pelo y luego tuvimos una fotografía tomada en el Ritz
Luciamos como un montón de convictos y no eramos más bajos que la Vida hoy
pero aún esperando tener civilización algún día
la última camada de cachorros es también una diversion
inlcuso para bruscos y viejos marineros como Tom Cream
Frank Wild es cariñoso con Sampson el mas grande de los animales indomables
perros llegan a ser cada vez más como mascotas también varios de los hombres
la complacencia es despedazada una tade de comienzos de Abril
millones de toneladas de hielos
están siendo empujados contra el Endurance
Shackleton recuerda esa noche de mal augurio
durante la noche tercera
nosotros tuvimos hielo estancado hacia el este
Y en la mañana vimos que el hielo recién formado fue calado de 8 a 10 pies de altos lugares
este fue el primer momento gran de peligro para amenazarnos después
Di ordenes de esas acumulaciones de nieve y basura alrededor de el Endurance
debería ser apaleada lejos
el enorme esfuerzo para aliviar la presión sobre el barco son imposibles
incluso con sus tres pies para motivar el Endurance es en la piedad de los mas lejanos
poderes que la nave podría alguna vez esperado vencer
Julio 14 de 1915
Todas las manos
tuvimos un lado cerrado anoche hubo un ruido bajo el
fondo despues de los mismos hielos y mirando hacia arriba
El Jefe piensa que es una Ballena pero pienso diferente
Shackleton ordena una especial observación
es una estresante y exhaustiva noche y
en la mañana la presión luce aún peor
los asaltos por el hielo conitnuan por semanas
el viento halló la jarcia
y no pudo ayudar a pensar
fue haciendo sólo un tipo de sonido que tu
esperarías responder a un ser humano si ellos no temieran ser aniquilados
Shackleton dijo
mientras mejor maquilles tu mente es solamente una cuestión de tiempo
lo que el hielo obtiene el hielo mantiene
the unrelenting pressure damages the rudder of the ship beyond repair
wild and Shackleton are stranded trapped for more than seven months in the pack
ice
they are now 1,200 miles from civilization
the crew has no communications and no hope of outside help
they have only ernest shackleton October 18th 1915 the endurance has been trapped
for nine months
a wave of pressure causes the ship to keel over 30 degrees in a matter of
seconds
bent and twisted she begins to leak dangerously
All Hands work ceaselessly throughout an interminable night
pumping and repairing the damage even blankets are used to try to contain the
leak
at 5pm on october 27 Shackleton gives the order to abandon ship
ok
the attack of the ice reached a climax at four o'clock after long months of
ceaseless anxiety after times when hope feet high and times when the outlook was
black indeed the end of the endurance has come to his men
Shackleton says simply shipping stores are gone so now we'll go home but in his
own diary he writes i pray god I can manage to get the whole party to
civilization
the boss is facing the most crucial test of his life
Shackleton tells his crew that they will head for the nearest supplied a pole
left behind years earlier on polit island three hundred and forty-six miles
away
within a few days the endurance loses her final struggle
the men attempt to march with the terrain is impassable everywhere they
turn the ice blocks their way
i woulda thought of anybody had to take a bet on his data said I said they were
probably 10 20 to 1 against bringing them back alive I mean I fraud
there they were sitting in the middle of the the weddell sea in the middle of the
pack ice miles from land
it's very difficult to contemplate what the likelihood of their getting back
alive were I would almost have said they were negligible for the next six months
the crew camps on unpredictable and hazardous ice floes at the beginning
morale stays high
Shackleton's hopes are pinned on three small bolts in which he plans to set
sail when the pack opens but if the weddell sea had crushed the endurance
what could it do to these fragile craft in the meantime they drift helplessly
with the pack
they were moving they want to moving ice flow of course and I suppose
Shackleton would have been very very concerned with keeping it from the men
how desperate the situation was and time the supplies become depleted the men
hunt whatever game they can find what food becomes an obsession
februari 1916 the food is pretty well all meet seal stakes
dude sale penguin states to penguin penguin liver
the latter being very good indeed the cocoa has been finished for some time
and the tea is very nearly done
even the mild temperature shifts dr. James Macklin is showing the strain at
such times he wrote his diary and cord
I think the boss was a bit improvident not getting all the food in whilst the
going was good it was worth the risk
as the months pass game become scarce lunches one biscuit and three lumps of
sugar issued each day
on March thirteenth Shackleton orders the men to shoot the surviving dogs now
they can eat
they come tantalizingly close to polit island but in the end they drift
helplessly past it and it's vital supply depot
they have been marooned for 14 months yet Shackleton somehow manages to keep
his men from sinking into what could become fatal despair
people tell me that 50 times a day
people said what do we do now boss ok boss he was known as the boss and I
think they literally had a pattern of activity that he controlled and when
they got the end of the task they turned him what we do novels
the boss has to plan a new course of action after their numerous with polit
island
he will aim for elephant island instead 100 miles to the north the next decision
on the morning of people night is made for him at 11am our flow suddenly split
right across under the boats we rushed out gear onto the larger of the two
pieces
our home was being shuttered and her own feet
they take to the boats and Anna roaring sea begin a dash for elephant island
for the next seven days they find a heroic battle
the storms are enormous they go days without sleep first becomes overwhelming
and their mouths and tongues are so swollen
they cannot swallow food
leading them through 17 hours of darkness each day is Frank worsley
Shackleton's brilliant navigator
the temperature was 20 degrees below freezing . Green Streets right foot got
badly frostbitten
but leaves restored it by holding it in his sweater against his stomach
my eyes began to family I could not see or judge distance properly and found
myself falling asleep at the tiller yet words Lee's uncanny navigation rings the
three battered craft to the Bleak shores of Elephant Island
the men have not touched solid ground in more than 16 months for the first time
in three days
they have a meal and a hot drink
uninhabited Elephant Island is a desolate and dangerous place
they have one for Lauren home the whaling station on South Georgia island
800 miles to the northeast
Shackleton decides to attempt the almost suicidal journey
the night before he leaves he writes a note to Frank wild April the 23rd 1916
Elephant Island dear so in the event of my not surviving the boat journey to
South Georgia you will do your best for the rescue of the party
you are in full command from the time the boat leaves this island
you can convey my love to my people and say I tried my best
yours sincerely eh Shackleton
the next morning the 22 men who will be left behind gather on shore the
optimists expect the boss back in a few weeks
Shackleton and five other men face the world's most vicious see and a 23-foot
open bolt
Elephant Island people 24th 1916 we watch them until they were out of sight
which was not known for such a tiny boat soon lost the sight of the great healing
ocean and she dipped into the trap of each way she disappeared completely
saleable
three days out their craft is hit by a powerful game enormous waves 50 or more
feet high batter them relentlessly as they struggle in a last desperate effort
to reach help
and these men were in this tiny 23 for boat for 16 days altogether being tossed
around with these wet reindeer clothes reindeer sleeping bags chafing them and
great wet to rock some ballast bumping against them
huge waves I mean they were they were in storm conditions bail conditions
virtually the entire time of the crossing
and I think worsley only had one chance to take a sighting from the Sun to work
out that position and the rest was done entirely on dead reckoning
on may eight against all odds the men's side the south georgia coast they spend
nearly two days trying to make a landing on the islands treacherous shores
and is the the most wild coast with huge glasses flowing down into the sea and I
think it was just as they finally managed to get through some rocks into
this tiny little bay and drag the boat ashore stumbling and slurring on on the
wet rocks see we that the the main pin holding the rudder fell out
just at that moment is that as they landed
incredible fortunately that lasts until it fate compels them to land on the side
of the island
opposite the whaling station which lies over an interior of glaciers and
mountains that no human being has ever crossed
terribly weekend Shackleton is called on to lead yet another heroic effort
he has a bit of rope a carpenter's ands and some screws which the men twist into
the bottom of their shoes
leaving behind the three men were too will to make the trip
Shackleton sets off with Frank where's Lee and Tom cream
chuckles and was a polar expert he was a seaman but he wasn't really a
mountaineer
and yet when they arrived on the wrong side of South Georgia and had to cross
it
they were having to do a very serious bit of mountaineering and I think that's
where this incredible intuition came in they knew roughly where they were going
but but they had no Maps
at one point Shackleton finds himself at the top of an impossibly steep slope
once again he decides to take an enormous gamble
but by this time night was falling and the mr. was covering the bottom of the
slope
they had no idea what was at the bottom
they tried a few steps down but it was evident that if they continued they
would die of exposure so they coil their rope down the three of them sat on it
and they put their arms around each other's waists and they pushed off into
space
they careen crazily down a thousand foot mountain side at the bottom they are
bruised and tour but to have survived at all is another in a long line of
miracles
at about four o'clock in the afternoon of made twentieth nineteen sixteen three
filthy string had men dressed in tatters walk into a whaling station on South
Georgia island
Shackleton has to introduce himself to a man he is known for years
don't you know me he asks the whaler hesitates
I know your voice and the response comes
my name is Shackleton
some say the old sailor turned away
and wet
less than three days later ernest shackleton leave South Georgia to return
for his men on Elephant Island
it takes him more than three months and four different attempts
on august 30 of 1916 he finally sites the dismal coast
a signal fire can be seen burning faintly Shackleton Oh has no way of
knowing how many of his men are still alive
yet on the beach is gathering the entire elephant island crew all 22 men
I'm survive
onshore the realization slowly sinks in that the boat is really there that the
unendurable has been endured
earnest check
the boss
has come to take them all
yeah