Full transcript
0:00Hello, friends!
0:00On 4th November 1914,
0:02the British ship Endurance,
0:04crossed stormy seas,
0:06and was moving towards the world's most
0:09dangerous and mysterious continent, Antarctica.
0:14A crew of 28 people was aboard this ship.
0:17The command was led by an explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton.
0:21He desired to achieve that which no one else had ever before.
0:25To walk across the continent of Antarctica.
0:31You heard it right, friends.
0:33In a time with no smartphone, no GPS, no modern technology,
0:37in the temperatures as brutal as -50°C on this icy continent,
0:41in the midst of snowstorms,
0:43from one edge to the another,
0:45he wanted to cross this continent on foot.
0:47He planned to reach the coast of Antarctica on this ship
0:51through the Weddell Sea.
0:52Look at the map.
0:54Their plan was to land here exactly
0:56and start trekking to the South Pole,
0:59crossing which, he would then walk across to the Ross Sea.
1:03In total, this trek spanned 2,900 km.
1:06If everything went according to the plan,
1:08it would've taken about 120 days to finish.
1:11But how badly did this plan fail,
1:14and the struggles they endured,
1:16neither they nor you can imagine it, friends.
1:29On 5th November 1914,
1:31Endurance reached a whaling station on the South Georgia Island.
1:35This was the last human settlement on their way.
1:39If you look at the map,
1:40this group of islands is present near the tip of South America.
1:43Just south of them is the protruding part of Antarctica.
1:46This is called the Antarctica Peninsula.
1:49Beside it is the Weddell Sea.
1:51A sea that is surrounded by Antarctica on three sides.
1:55Because of this, the ice cannot flow out easily.
1:58And there is a dense permanent layer of ice.
2:01The weather was bad that day.
2:03So were the conditions in the Weddell Sea.
2:05People told Shackleton to delay this mission.
2:10Because continuing in those conditions would be very risky.
2:13But Shackleton insisted.
2:15It didn't matter to him and they continued.
2:205th December 1914.
2:22Endurance kept moving forward
2:24and soon, their worst fears came true.
2:27The ice in Weddell Sea was much heavier and denser than expected.
2:30But Shackleton kept moving forward.
2:3318th January 1915.
2:35After sailing along the edges of the ice for a while,
2:37the ship got stuck completely.
2:44A few days later, some crew members
2:46saw a 15 feet long chasm in the ice about 50 metres away from the ship.
2:49This chasm was their last hope to get free.
2:53For three hours, the ship was driven at full speed of the engines,
2:57to try and get out of the ice.
3:03But the ship didn't even budge an inch.
3:05The crew members got out of the ship
3:07and tried to cut through the ice with the tools they had at hand.
3:10But they failed.
3:11Gradually, the ice sheet on which this ship was stuck,
3:14was drifting further away from the land.
3:17The point on Antarctica where the crew was planning to land
3:20is called the Vahsel Bay.
3:22But this ship was drifting further away.
3:25They drifted away 60 miles.
3:27The problem was that
3:28there was water between the ice sheet and the Vahsel Bay.
3:32So the crew couldn't simply get down and walk to the Bay.
3:35And on the other hand, the ship was stuck in the ice.
3:40Months and weeks passed by trying to get the ship out.
3:48They knew that winter was coming.
3:50And there, winter means 24 hours of darkness.
3:54For weeks and months, they won't get even a single minute of sunlight.
3:57Shackleton ordered everyone to spend the winter on the ship.
4:01But winter meant that it would get even more colder.
4:03There'd be snowfall and snowstorms.
4:06The ship was under increasing pressure of the ice.
4:09A photographer, Frank Hurley, was also present on this ship with his camera.
4:13These photos were taken by him then.
4:16In these you can clearly see how the ice surrounding the ship,
4:19was crushing it.
4:21On 30th September 1915,
4:23cracks were visible on the ship.
4:26But the crew hadn't lost hope.
4:28On 24th October 1915, at 6:45 PM,
4:32suddenly, due to the immense pressure,
4:38the ice sheet broke apart and one of the pieces hit the ship.
4:41A heavy piece of ice broke Endurance's stern post,
4:45and water began to seep into the ship.
4:47The crew members set to work immediately.
4:49They tried to pump out the water.
4:52They kept at it for 3 days continuously.
4:56But the water was seeping in faster than it could be pumped out.
5:00The temperature was at -8.5°C.
5:03But the crew was neither scared nor nervous.
5:07Some of them tried to loosen the ice sheet surrounding the ship,
5:10to reduce the pressure on it.
5:11But this didn't work either.
5:14Water kept on seeping into the ship.
5:16Quite rapidly.
5:17While the pressure of the ice on the ship wasn't decreasing.
5:20Finally, Shackleton, gave up,
5:22and ordered the crew to leave the ship.
5:25To de-board.
5:30Looking at the situation, a crew member, Tom McLeod, said,
5:33that none of them would get back to their home.
5:37The ship had been stuck for more than 9 months.
5:40On 27th October 2015,
5:42a loud explosion was heard.
5:46When Shackleton turned back to witness something truly shocking.
5:50The ship's rear had suddenly risen 20 feet.
5:54The rudder and stern post broke apart.
5:56The ship's wooden parts started disintegrating.
5:58And the front of the ship was filled with water.
6:01Thankfully, the crew members had already abandoned the ship by then.
6:06After a while, the water turned into ice.
6:08And because of this added weight, the front of the ship began sinking.
6:13As the ship sunk,
6:15so did Shackleton's dream of crossing Antarctica by foot.
6:21But something much precious was at stake now.
6:24Could they return alive?
6:27The crew had no radio, no telephone, no means to contact the rest of the world.
6:32They were stuck on an ice sheet in the Antarctic Ocean.
6:36An ice sheet floating in the water.
6:41On this sheet, there was a big rock of ice,
6:44the crew set up their camp there.
6:46First, they decided to check account of their belongings.
6:48What did they have with them?
6:50How much food and water did they have?
6:53They found that they had three small boats.
6:56One sledge, with which they could move on the ice sheet.
6:59Some important personal items of the crew,
7:01and about one month's ration.
7:03Only one month's food.
7:05There was only a little place to sleep at night.
7:07So many had to sleep on the ice.
7:10Most of them slept close together
7:12to avoid being frozen.
7:14It was nearly impossible for a ship passing by to find them there.
7:19Because they were in the Antarctic Ocean.
7:21No other ship ventured there.
7:23It had been over an year since they last saw other humans.
7:26The rest of the world didn't even know for sure if they were alive or not.
7:29Neither could they send any messages.
7:31Nor did they expect any help.
7:33Shackleton had only one thing.
7:35Faith on his skills and experience.
7:39But how long could this faith keep him and his crew alive?
7:42What would they do once they used up the food?
7:46Setting up a camp on the ice wasn't an infallible solution either.
7:48Because the ice could break at any time.
7:50They needed land.
7:51Shackleton ran his calculations and estimations.
7:54He believed that the nearest land was the Paulet Island.
7:59About 550 km across the icy sea.
8:03An island at the tip of Antarctica.
8:06Ironically, in 1903,
8:08after a Swedish ship got stuck, some rescue gear was left behind on Paulet Island.
8:12So that if another ship got stuck in Antarctica in the future,
8:15they could rely on this island for rescue.
8:18That gear had been bought by Shackleton himself.
8:20And, 12 years later, Shackleton needed it the most.
8:24The crew collectively decided to try to go to the Paulet Island.
8:28Carrying their stuff with them on the sledge.
8:32And so Shackleton ordered
8:33that each person was allowed to carry only up to 2 pounds of necessary luggage.
8:37Many of them had brought their personal items from the ship.
8:41But Shackleton reminded them that nothing was more precious than their life.
8:45Shackleton left behind some gold coins and his Bible in the snow.
8:50The photographer Frank Hurley had taken around 400 photos.
8:53He had the negatives of the photos,
8:55but because of the 2 pound restriction,
8:57he could carry only 150 negatives with him.
9:00These 150 photos later presented this historical event to the world.
9:06A few weeks later, due to the shortage of food,
9:08the puppies living with the crew had to be killed.
9:11They had nothing else to eat.
9:23After a few days of preparation, the goods were loaded onto boats and sledges.
9:28Each boat weighed about 1 tonne.
9:30It wasn't easy to pull them.
9:32Fate wasn't on their side.
9:34Because by then, summer had returned to Antarctica,
9:38and temperatures were increasing.
9:39Causing the surface of the ice sheet to became softer
9:42making it difficult to pull their luggage.
9:44After 3 hours of hard work,
9:46when the crew looked back
9:48they saw that they had crossed only 1 mile.
9:52The road ahead kept getting worse.
9:54Shackleton decided to camp there
9:57until this ice sheet floated closer to land.
10:01The ice sheet on which they set up their camp,
10:03was later named Ocean Camp.
10:06Shackleton delegated some work to each and every crew member,
10:09so that they won't be bored or feel depressed.
10:12On 21st November 2015,
10:14the pressure on the rear of Endurance had increased so much that
10:17the ship began bouncing on the water.
10:20It was airborne for a while,
10:22before sinking completely under the ice.
10:29The crew members were only a few kilometres away from the ship.
10:32They witnessed this entire incident.
10:36Although they had already abandoned the ship,
10:38but seeing it sink like this,
10:41left a deep emotional shock on them.
10:43As if their last link with the world had broken.
10:46Only the ice sheet remained,
10:48and the Ocean Camp they built on it.
10:51Over the next few days, things went well.
10:53But a few weeks later,
10:54this ice sheet started floating towards East.
10:58Further away from land.
10:59So on 23rd December 1915,
11:01Shackleton decided to leave the Ocean Camp.
11:04And once again, he decided to walk.
11:08But after walking a few kilometres,
11:10suddenly, they were faced with thin ice and water.
11:13They could neither move forward nor back.
11:17Once again, they set camp on this ice sheet.
11:21Looking at the food shortage,
11:23Shackleton put in some strict controls.
11:25The crew was given one biscuit a day.
11:27Some diluted milk, some cocoa, and a small amount of
11:30high-fat meat paste from the cans they were carrying.
11:34Apart from this, the crew started hunting the seals and penguins they could find.
11:39In reality, there was a frightening food shortage,
11:41but Shackleton would often lie to his crew members about food quantities,
11:45to keep them motivated.
11:47"Don't worry, lads."
11:48"There's enough food to keep us alive."
11:50He knew that if they wanted to survive this situation,
11:54it would take a long time.
11:55As such, the thing they'd need the most,
11:59was mental strength.
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14:13Now let's get back to our topic.
14:15For many months, they lived in this new camp.
14:19Thankfully, the ice sheet moved in the right direction.
14:21Days changed into weeks and weeks into months.
14:25Eventually, a new year begins.
14:28And in the morning of 23rd March 1916,
14:31Shackleton could see something beyond the fog.
14:34As the fog cleared,
14:36they could see mountains.
14:37Shackleton recognised it as the Joinville Island.
14:41But being about to see Joinville Island wasn't that great.
14:43Because this island was located at the very tip of the peninsula.
14:47It meant that they had floated so far on the ice sheet that
14:51they had left Paulette Island behind.
14:54Joinville Island was only 57 miles away from Paulette Island.
14:58But in the west, at a 90-degree angle,
15:00there was a lot of ice in the middle.
15:02It was nearly impossible to cross this ice.
15:04So, Shackleton went back to his map.
15:07He could see that if they continued floating towards north,
15:11there would be only two more islands on the way.
15:14Clarence Island and Elephant Island.
15:16After this, there would be nothing but water for thousands of kilometres.
15:19An ocean with waves so high,
15:22that the chance of their survival would go down to almost zero.
15:28The water between the southernmost tip of South America and
15:32the northernmost tip of Antarctica is called the Drake's Passage.
15:35It is the most dangerous water body in the world.
15:37With waves as high as 12 metres.
15:40More than 20,000 sailors have lost their lives
15:43in Drake's Passage.
15:44And over the years, there have been at least 800 ships,
15:47that have sunk in this Drake's Passage.
15:49Friends, even now in 2025,
15:52if you try to cross this passage on a ship,
15:55you will see such scenes.
15:59The Drake's Passage rocks even the biggest cruise ships.
16:05So yes, Shackleton knew that
16:07if they reached Drake's Passage floating on the ice sheet,
16:11they would all die.
16:12Meanwhile, the food shortage had become severe,
16:15The waste meat scraps that had been set aside for the dogs,
16:18humans had to now eat the less smelly bits.
16:23To get drinkable water,
16:24everyone would hold a small can filled with ice close to their bodies
16:27to melt the ice using their body temperature,
16:30to get some clean water to drink.
16:32But in these can, they could collect only a few tablespoons of water at once.
16:36An interesting fact here was that
16:38although there were 28 people in this crew,
16:40officially, they were supposed to be only 27.
16:43In August 1914,
16:45when this ship departed from Britain,
16:46the 28th person, Blackborow, hid in the ship.
16:50Shackleton had already refused to add Burrow to this crew.
16:55But still, he came on board secretly.
16:58Later, when he was found out,
17:00Shackleton told him directly,
17:02that if they even ran out of food,
17:03he would be the first human they'll eat.
17:07Friends, you'd remember the Miracle of Flight 571,
17:10I shared it with you in this video,
17:12the survivors of that flight had to resort to this.
17:14A shocking and painful thing to do.
17:16Many people would rather die than do this.
17:19But thankfully, Shackleton's crew didn't have to go this far.
17:22They were lucky to have spotted a sea leopard one day.
17:26They hunted it,
17:27to get about 1,000 pounds of meat.
17:30Apart from this, many crew members killed their dogs
17:32to be eaten.
17:34After this, thankfully, for the next few months, there was no shortage of food.
17:387th April 1916,
17:40floating on the ice sheet,
17:42the crew finally spotted Clarence Island.
17:44They estimated that it was about 83 km to the north.
17:49This island renewed their hope.
17:51But then suddenly, the wind changed direction.
17:54The wind started blowing eastwards.
17:57There were no islands in the east.
17:59There was no land.
18:02In a few hours, Shackleton and his crew lost all hope.
18:07The ice sheet on which they had set up their camp,
18:11was getting smaller.
18:13By this point, it was only 50 meters long.
18:16It was getting dangerous for the crew to remain on this ice sheet.
18:20So, Shackleton decided
18:22to load the crew members in these three boats,
18:25and move forward towards Clarence Island.
18:28Not only did they have to wade through water
18:30but also other ice sheets and icebergs.
18:33Some way ahead, they came upon another solid ice sheet.
18:36There, they set up a new camp.
18:38But as soon as they set up their camp,
18:40a crack started forming on this ice sheet.
18:45And accidentally, one of their crew members fell into the water.
18:48That was Fireman Ernie Holness.
18:51The rest of the crew tried to get him out of the water quickly.
18:55But before they got the chance to catch their breath,
18:57this ice sheet broke apart into two.
19:00Shackleton was left alone on one part,
19:02and the rest of the crew was swept away into the darkness on the other part.
19:06No one knew what to do.
19:08Their leader, their commander who had been leading them for so long,
19:13suddenly disappeared into the darkness.
19:20Luckily, they heard Shackleton in the darkness.
19:23"Bring a boat."
19:25After this, some crew members brought Shackleton back on a boat.
19:29After reuniting with his crew,
19:31Shackleton asked about Holness first.
19:34He was shivering a lot.
19:36After falling into the water, the risk of hypothermia increased.
19:39There was no way to light a fire.
19:41If nothing could be done,
19:42he would die shivering.
19:45Shackleton used his skills and experience once again
19:48and ordered him to keep walking until
19:51his body heat could dry the clothes on his body.
19:55This poor boy kept walking the entire night.
19:59And eventually, this helped dry his clothes.
20:03He stopped feeling abnormally cold.
20:05Meanwhile, the wind kept changing its direction repeatedly.
20:08The ice sheet would go one way and then another.
20:11They changed their target four times.
20:13First, they believed that they would reach Clarence Island.
20:15Then they thought they would reach King George Island.
20:18They even thought of Hope Bay.
20:20And finally, they decided to go to Elephant Island.
20:23Elephant Island is the last island before Drake's Passage.
20:26It was 160 km away from them to the north-west.
20:29Since the iceberg was already moving northwards,
20:32the temperature was getting warmer slowly.
20:35The temperature had reached -8°C.
20:38The ice cover around them was getting lighter.
20:39But on the other hand, it also meant that
20:41fresh water supply was decreasing.
20:43They had almost run out of water.
20:45Everyone's lips were swollen and chipped due to thirst.
20:48Their throats were so dry that it was difficult to swallow food.
20:51Everyone was given raw seal meat
20:53so that the blood would make it easier to swallow.
20:57Meanwhile, their ice sheet was slowly floating towards Elephant Island.
21:01They were only 50 km away from Elephant Island.
21:05Shackleton ordered all boats to be brought down into the water
21:08this last leg of their journey would be on boats.
21:11On 15th April 1916,
21:12the crew could not believe their fate.
21:15The three boats reached the island safely
21:19and after being on water for 497 days,
21:21the crew members were finally standing on land.
21:28"Having been through hell,
21:29this desolate, uninhabited, lump of rock,
21:33seemed nothing short of heaven."
21:36They couldn't believe that their feet were actually on solid ground.
21:41And not on ice.
21:43Everyone was ecstatic.
21:44But they didn't know that their problems weren't over yet.
21:48The legs of Blackborow, one of the crew members, had stopped working.
21:51Another crew member, Rickinson, suffered a heart attack after they reached the island.
21:55But somehow, he still survived.
21:59The biggest problem was that Elephant Island was completely uninhabited.
22:03No humans lived there.
22:04Neither did it have rescue supplies nor a way to contact others.
22:08This island was located in a place where no one went.
22:12No ship passed by.
22:14Their problem remained the same.
22:16How could they get back home?
22:18Looking at the map, Shackleton saw three options.
22:21First, going to Cape Horn,
22:23South America's southernmost tip,
22:24about 800 km to the north-west.
22:28Second option, going to the Falkland Islands,
22:31about 880 km away to the east of South America.
22:34Or the third option was to get help
22:37in South Georgia Island to the north-east,
22:401,300 km away.
22:42Options 1 and 2 were closer.
22:44But going there meant traversing through Drake's Passage.
22:47Shackleton chose the third option.
22:49He believed that the sea and the air would support them more
22:53if they went to South Georgia Island.
22:55The crew was so exhausted that
22:58it was not possible to bring everyone along.
23:00Shackleton decided to take a small team of five
23:04to go to South Georgia by boat.
23:06Once there, they will ask for help from a ship.
23:08And the team stranded on the island
23:11will set up their camp on Elephant Island.
23:13On 24th April 1916,
23:15Shackleton and his team of five people,
23:18set out for South Georgia Island.
23:21If you look at their planned route on the map,
23:24you will see that they cannot avoid Drake's Passage completely.
23:28They would need to cross Drake's Passage to reach the island.
23:32But there was no better option.
23:35In this small paddle boat,
23:37they entered the world's most dangerous water body.
23:44To travel such a long distance,
23:46they would take turns to row the boat for 4 hours
23:49and rest for 4 hours.
23:50But how well could they rest in this small boat?
23:54Their journey was spent getting drenched by the waves, vomiting, and being exhausted.
24:00In April, winter begins for Antarctica.
24:04The sun would be in the sky for a few hours only.
24:06And they'd be in the dark for more than 20 hours.
24:10These few hours of sunlight were crucial.
24:12Because on then could they use their sextant
24:16to navigate the direction.
24:17Whether they were sailing towards the correct direction.
24:22They kept sailing for hours.
24:24Hours changed into days.
24:26On the way, water would get into their boat.
24:28And they'd pump it out.
24:31A few times, there were such big waves that
24:32it almost sunk the boat.
24:38For a while, it seemed like the boat wouldn't survive.
24:41But by chance, they survived and kept moving forward.
24:43They had some food with them in the boat.
24:46But there was a problem.
24:48There wasn't enough space on the deck for them to sit up straight and eat.
24:51That's why they couldn't swallow the food properly.
24:54So they had to lie down to eat.
24:57The condition on this boat was so difficult that
25:00Shackleton's courage was slipping away from him.
25:03It was getting too difficult for him.
25:06When a bird started to circle their boat,
25:09he started shouting at it in anger.
25:11This pent up frustration was eating at his courage.
25:20But eventually, after sailing for days,
25:22they were close to their destination.
25:24They were only 3 miles away from South Georgia Island.
25:27But before they could celebrate,
25:30there was a sudden sea storm.
25:32Their boat was stuck in this storm.
25:34The waves got uncontrollable.
25:37The boat kept bouncing and crashing.
25:40These people had no more strength.
25:43They put their paddles and gave up.
25:46The storm kept throwing their boat this way and that.
25:51A few hours later, when the winds calmed down,
25:53and the clouds started to clear,
25:55they saw the South Georgia Island.
25:59There was only one mile left to go.
26:00Seeing this island,
26:02they used all their remaining strength
26:05all of them started paddling.
26:08The waves were quite strong still.
26:10Shackleton started feeling that
26:11the end was near.
26:13The boat felt stationary.
26:15But in reality, slowly but surely,
26:17they were moving closer to the island.
26:20After fighting with the storms, winds, and water for three consecutive weeks,
26:24finally on 10th May 1916,
26:27they set foot on the South Georgia Island.
26:34The same island from which they had set out
26:36on their journey to Antarctica 522 days ago.
26:39A wave of happiness ran through them.
26:42Shackleton and the crew members hugged each other.
26:44But this wasn't the end of their struggles.
26:47Actually, friends, the South Georgia Island
26:49is more than 100 km long.
26:52The beach they had landed on,
26:54was on the other side of the human settlement.
26:57Let's find the place where they landed on the map.
27:00The human settlement and the whaling station
27:03were exactly on the opposite side of this island.
27:06They were now faced with two ways to get to the whaling station.
27:09First, getting back on the boat and travelling 130 miles by sea,
27:15to get to the north of the island.
27:17And the second option was to walk to the north of the island.
27:21They had to walk only 29 miles.
27:23But the problem was that there are such dangerous mountains on South Georgia Island
27:28that no person in history
27:31had been able to cross this island on foot.
27:37It was considered impossible to cross this island on foot.
27:40So, obviously, they chose the boat.
27:43But, of course, there was yet another problem.
27:45Their boat had been so badly damaged by the rough waves that
27:48it wasn't in a suitable condition.
27:52They had no other option than to walk.
27:55"The alternative was to attempt crossing the island.
27:58The island of South Georgia had never been crossed by anybody.
28:02The whalers regarded the country as inaccessible."
28:04Shackleton was not one to give up now.
28:07Not at this point.
28:09They had endured so much over the past year,
28:11they couldn't give up now.
28:13To survive, they were now faced with a challenge
28:16no human had ever attempted before.
28:19These 10,000-foot-high snowy mountains had to be crossed some how.
28:29Shackleton decided to first rest and build back their lost strength.
28:34So they stayed in a cave and ate for the next 9 days.
28:40Thankfully, there was no shortage of food on this island,
28:42the island was swarming with albatrosses, seals, and penguins.
28:46After resting for 9 days,
28:48on 19th May 1916, at around 3 AM,
28:51they set off from the King Haakon Bay.
28:53He had only two other crew members with him,
28:55Worsley and Crean.
28:57"Worsley and Crean were coming with me.
28:59And after consultation, we decided to leave sleeping bags behind,
29:03and make the journey in very light marching order."
29:05And now their first challenge was that
29:08no one knew where to go and how.
29:11The snow was up to their knees.
29:14The mountains were so high that they couldn't see beyond them.
29:17They climbed the mountains one after another,
29:19and looked for the way from the top.
29:21If they couldn't find a way, they would go back.
29:24This happened several times.
29:25They climbed as many mountains as they could see.
29:28On some mountains, they found deep gorges and on others, walls of rock.
29:32Whenever they couldn't find a way to go ahead,
29:34they retreated and got back down,
29:36to climb another mountain.
29:38"With the complete clearance of the mist, we saw,
29:40to our sharp disappointment,
29:42what we had taken for a frozen lake,
29:44was an arm of the sea.
29:46Shackleton said grimly,
29:48'We shall have to go on to the next, boys.'
29:50This happened three times."
29:53Over the next few days, they had climbed all the surrounding mountains.
29:56Even after climbing the last mountain,
29:58they couldn't find anything new.
29:59They were staring at a deep valley.
30:01With a steep and dangerous slope.
30:05"The situation looked grim enough;
30:07fog had cut off our retreat,
30:09darkness covered our advance.
30:12it was useless to continue in this fashion."
30:14By then, they couldn't retreat any more.
30:16They tied themselves along a rope
30:19and started cutting stairs into the mountain.
30:22Literally, they made stairs to climb down the mountain.
30:26After descending for some time,
30:27they spotted the Stromness Whaling Station.
30:30And other humans!
30:34After climbing the mountains for 36 hours,
30:36on 20th May 1916,
30:38Shackleton, Worsley, and Crean
30:40successfully crossed the Allardyce mountain range
30:44and reached the Stromness whaling station.
30:51It was the first time in history that
30:53someone had crossed the South Georgia Island on foot.
30:56The level of impossible feat they achieved
30:59can be understood by
31:01after Shackleton, this was done only in 1955.
31:05By expert climbers with full preparation.
31:09Shackleton had neither tents nor sleeping bags.
31:13They had courage, determination, and a strong will.
31:18When Shackleton and his companions finally reached the whaling station,
31:22it was difficult to identify whether they were humans.
31:26Their beards had grown too long.
31:28Their faces were dark.
31:30With only their eyes visible.
31:32Their clothes were all torn.
31:34Eventually, the factory manager at the station recognised them,
31:38and identified him as Shackleton,
31:39the guy who had gone missing with his team in Antarctica two years ago.
31:43Every person at the South Georgia station
31:46knew Shackleton and his crew's story.
31:48Everyone knew about it as a painful incident.
31:51The man who died with his ship.
31:53They couldn't believe that the same man was standing in front of them two years later.
31:59The factory manager gave them food and new clothes immediately.
32:02And a bed to sleep in.
32:04The three bathed and shaved.
32:06And the next day, Worsley arrived at King Haakon in a boat
32:10to rescue their three other companions.
32:13The three people who were still waiting for Shackleton on the other side of the island.
32:17But Shackleton's real concern now was
32:19the 22 crew members stranded on Elephant Island.
32:22It had been more than a month since they last saw them.
32:26Were they still alive?
32:29In such dire situation, would you be able to remain motivated enough to survive?
32:33Especially when you don't even know
32:35if your Captains could successfully cross Drake's Passage or not.
32:39On the other hand, will anyone come to rescue you or not?
32:45Tell me the truth in the comments below.
32:46How long will you be able to survive like this?
32:49Shackleton tried his best to rescue them from Elephant Island as soon as possible.
32:55But when he reached there with another ship,
32:57once again, the rescue ship got stuck in the ice.
33:01He tried again, but it didn't work.
33:03The same thing happened the third time.
33:04In three months, he tried thrice to go to Elephant Island to rescue them.
33:09But he had to turn back his ship all three times.
33:12As time passed, Shackleton's kept getting more and more worried.
33:16He specially requested the British government
33:19to give him an ice-breaking ship.
33:20He was given a ship called Discovery,
33:22but it would have taken some more weeks to arrive.
33:26Shackleton was in no mood to wait.
33:28He didn't know how long would they be able to hold out.
33:34Another ship was requested from the Chilean government.
33:36He was given a ship named Yelcho.
33:39On 25th August 1916,
33:42he left for Elephant Island again aboard this ship.
33:50It took him about 6 days,
33:52but this time, he reached Elephant Island successfully on 30th August.
33:58He was shocked by what he saw when he reached the island.
34:03Actually, these 22 people who remained on Elephant Island,
34:07Shackleton knew that they would need leadership.
34:10Or else, they would get depressed and frustrated.
34:13So, Shackleton made one of them, Frank Wilde, the leader.
34:18After Shackleton left,
34:20on Frank Wilde's orders, they built a shelter by turning over the two boats.
34:24They remained there for 128 days.
34:27They used to hunt penguins and seals to feed themselves.
34:30Amidst the cold, hunger, and disappointment,
34:32Frank Wilde repeated the same thing every morning.
34:35'Pack your bags, friends.
34:37The boss can come today.'
34:38Boss referred to Shackleton.
34:40But the boss didn't come.
34:41Days changed into weeks and weeks into months.
34:44But every morning,
34:45Frank would get up and repeat the same thing.
34:47'Pack your bags, friends.
34:49The boss can come today.'
34:50Every morning, Frank climbed the hill to check
34:53whether a ship arrived or not.
34:54And every evening, he returned disappointed.
34:57After four months, people's courage was beginning to wane.
35:00Things were getting more difficult.
35:02Blackborow's leg was grossly infected.
35:06It was a gangrene infection.
35:08So they had to cut off this leg.
35:11With every passing day,
35:12they were closer to believing that Shackleton
35:15couldn't actually reach South Georgia.
35:17His boat might have sunk on the way.
35:32It had been 4 months and 6 days since Shackleton left.
35:35Frank Wilde had decided to move ahead.
35:38At Frank's order, they really packed their bags.
35:42But not in the hopes of being rescued,
35:43this time, they were planning to sail.
35:47They started preparing to leave for Deception Island.
35:52But before they could leave Elephant Island,
35:55they spotted something far in the sea.
35:58A huge ship was sailing towards them.
36:02This was the ship Yelcho.
36:04Once the ship was close enough, they could see their commander and boss,
36:08Shackleton.
36:09"From the man on duty outside, we heard a sudden yell.
36:12'Wilde,' he shouted, 'Wilde!'
36:14'There's a ship!'
36:15'Haven't we better light a flare?'"
36:21Their boss was finally there to rescue them.
36:24Shackleton was stunned to see them.
36:26All 22 of them were alive.
36:28They hadn't given up.
36:31After fighting with ice, mountains, and oceans for almost 2 years,
36:35Shackleton and his crew returned home.
36:39"When we landed, they welcomed us so heartily,
36:42that they nearly pushed us into the sea again."
37:03It was truly miraculous.
37:05Shackleton left with 27 people.
37:07And returned with all 27 people.
37:11It was possible only because of Shackleton's leadership and courage,
37:14the determination of the crew,
37:15and their unbreakable teamwork.
37:17Friends, 106 years after this incident,
37:19in 2022,
37:21investigators were doing some research in the sea.
37:24Then, in the Weddell Sea, 10,000 feet below the surface,
37:27they found Shackleton's ship, Endurance.
37:31"The state of preservation is just absolutely brilliant.
37:34There are no wood-consuming marine parasites in the Weddell Sea."
37:37It's truly amazing that
37:39it took us 106 years to find the wreckage of this ship.
37:42And even after 106 years,
37:44since it sunk so close to Antarctica,
37:46it is in remarkably good condition.
37:48You can see the latest photos of this ship on the screen,
37:51these were taken a few years ago.
37:53And today, if you ever go to South Georgia Island,
37:56you will find Shackleton's grave there.
37:58He set out to accomplish a historic feat.
38:01To be the first man to walk across Antarctica.
38:04Although his original plan failed,
38:06he did something even more miraculous.
38:11Much more amazing.
38:16Friends, if you liked this survival story,
38:18then an equally amazing survival story is of
38:22the survivors of Flight 571.
38:23Another story that tells you that
38:26if you have determination, courage, and a strong will,
38:31you can make the impossible possible.
38:34The link to join Dinaz's Mind-Body Fitness Masterclass
38:37on Edarya is given in the description below.
38:39And you can click here to learn more about the survivors of Flight 571.
38:43Thank you very much!