The stunning discovery of the ship that took iconic Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton on his final voyage is the last lost piece of his life, the adventurer’s granddaughter has revealed.
Wreck hunters looking to locate Quest, the fabled vessel on which Sir Ernest suffered a fatal heart attack back on January 5, 1922 while attempting to reach the Antarctic, made a breakthrough this week as the ship was found on the seafloor off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
The ship continued in service until sinking in 1962, but its link to being Sir Ernest’s final resting place ensured its place in history.
Alexandra Shackleton – the British-Irish explorer’s only granddaughter – hailed the discovery as the last piece of unknown history around Sir Ernest.
She told the Express the find caps off an incredible year for her grandfather’s legacy – which has seen the 150th anniversary of his birth and a plaque unveiled in Westminster Abbey celebrating his exploits as one of the most influential figures of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration marked.
Ms Shackleton continued: “The ship had suffered in some really bad storms but was found on a relatively flat part of the seabed and so she wasn’t knocked about too much.
“The expedition had the likes of David Mearns – the greatest wreck finder – on board as one of the experts and so with him there I was very confident we could find her.
“It’s the last thing of Shackleton’s legacy there is to find. And how fitting it has come in the centenary year itself. Everyone is absolutely thrilled.”
Sir Ernest’s endeavours in the Antarctic earned him legendary status and he became one of a handful of people to have visited the frozen wilderness back in the early years of the 1900s.
Reflecting on the discovery, Mr Mearns added: “[Sir Ernest’s] final voyage kind of ended that Heroic Age of Exploration, of polar exploration, certainly in the south.
“Afterwards, it was what you would call the scientific age. In the pantheon of polar ships, Quest is definitely an icon.”
Following Sir Ernest’s death, Quest was acquired by a Norwegian company, and continued carrying out a number of expeditions until it sank 40 years later.
On that occasion, all of her crew survived after it was damaged by ice and sank.
The Shackleton Quest Expedition, led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS), said on Wednesday that the schooner-rigged vessel was found “intact” lying at a depth of 390m (1,280ft).
Researchers used sonar equipment to aid the discovery, with its expedition leader John Geiger of the RCGS adding: “Finding Quest is one of the final chapters in the extraordinary story of Sir Ernest Shackleton.
“Shackleton was known for his courage and brilliance as a leader in crisis. The tragic irony is that his was the only death to take place on any of the ships under his direct command.”
Martin Brooks, of British expedition and apparel company Shackleton, said: “The finding of Quest is an important new chapter in the story of Ernest Shackleton and polar history; an iconic vessel, she marked the end of the heroic age of polar exploration. It is an honour to have supported this historic discovery.”
It comes two years after a British-led expedition located Sir Ernest’s most heralded of ships – Endurance, which sunk in the Weddell Sea in 1915 after becoming stuck in pack ice.
His exploits in ensuring the survival of all of those men, which saw Sir Ernest a small crew ride the James Caird hundreds of miles across perilous conditions in order to find help for those left behind, earned him universal acclaim and his place in history.
Mr Mearns added: “Shackleton will live forever as one of the greatest explorers of all time, not just because of what he achieved in exploration but for the way he did it, and the way he looked after his men. His story is timeless and will be told again and again; and I’m just one of many disciples who’ll keep telling it for as long as I can.”
