NathanDrowning Hopes
The frozen bottom of the Endurance soon gave way after about a month following the ice crushing everything. The vessel that the men made to store their supplies ended up sinking in the water too. It was about a year at sea on top of the ice for the Endurance crew at this point. They could no longer place their hopes on the ship so the chances of them ever surviving this became bleaker.
A Chilling Sight
They only thing that was left to do was to walk and hopefully find help. They took their necessities and make their way away from the ship. They walked around the confusing ups and downs on top of the ice and had to camp out yet again after working for hours. Since they soon ran out of supplies, the men had to hunt seals and penguins, even killing some dogs as well. Months passed, then springtime came. They needed to make use of this warm weather quickly.
Finally Shipping Out
The men had now spent a year and a half on top of this solid mass of ice. On April 1916 spring due to the warmer weather, the men discovered themselves on top of a small triangular raft of ice. It was a break up of the ice they stayed on and so they hurriedly went inside their three lifeboats to hopefully find their way out of this mess and have an encounter with people who can help.
Hopeful Horizons
The South Pole explorers discovered that they had already been taken so far on the pack ice that they could see signs of land for some time now. The only thing on their mind was the hope that this was a land where humans existed. They were on top of the ice at a -20 degrees Fahrenheit, having limited food and supplies before reaching Elephant Island which was sadly void of human beings.
Far From Help
The men were happy to be on solid land since spending 497 days on top of the ice! The crew of the shipwrecked Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition were struggling through and were indeed impressive. But all their trials and tribulations would go down the drain if they did not survive. From Elephant Island, they hope to get through to South Georgia Island which was 920 miles away. They were preparing their lifeboats for this.
A Desperate Attempt
Following a week on Elephant Island, Ernest Shackleton picked 5 men for this last-ditch effort. They would need to take an 800-mile journey across the Southern Ocean back to South Georgia Island. Shackleton was confident that they needed to accomplish this within a month else everything would fall apart with no hope of ever surviving. The rest of the crew on Elephant Island could not help but set up tents as they knew they would need to stay there for a while.