Lost in 1915, Ernest Shackleton’s Ship Endurance Found Off Coast of Antarctica

Over a century after it sank to the depths of the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica, the lost ship of Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton, has been found.

In 1915 the Endurance was trapped by dense pack ice, forcing Shackleton and his crew to make a stunning escape.

Now, 107 years later, the wooden vessel has been located and “it is virtually intact,” said Mensun Bound, the director of exploration at the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust which organized the expedition to find it.

“The preservation is beyond imagination,” Bound told NBC News by phone on Wednesday, adding that the ship’s name could still be seen emblazoned across the stern.

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The Weddell Sea’s cold temperatures of the would have played a key role in preserving the ship, said Dan Snow, a British historian {snip}

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The ship’s discovery comes 100 years after Shackleton’s death in 1922.

Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set out to achieve the first land crossing of Antarctica and together with his crew, the explorer embarked on his journey in late 1914, shortly after the outbreak of World War I.

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Endurance did not reach land and became trapped in dense pack ice, and after they were stuck in the ice for 10 months, the 28 men on board were forced to eventually abandon ship. They escaped in lifeboats and on foot.

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