New 3D Scans Show the ‘Endurance’ Shipwreck in Stunning Detail

In 2022, the Endurance22 Expedition found something that had been hidden in the frigid depths of Antarctica’s Weddell Sea for over a century: the wreck of the Endurance.

For the majority of 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew had watched from nearby ice floes as the ship was gradually crushed by ice. It sank at last in mid-November, forcing the 28 explorers to battle their way back to civilization in piddling little lifeboats. Their journey is widely considered one of the greatest survival stories in history. And survive they did: The unflappable Shackleton lost not a single man.

black and white photo of a ship stuck in snow; men and dogs descend a ladder from the deck — Crew members and dogs pose while evacuating the ship. | Royal Geographical Society/Frank Hurley via National Geographic

The voyage is the subject of an upcoming documentary, Endurance, directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (directors of 2018’s Free Solo) with Natalie Hewit and produced by National Geographic Documentary Films. It promises to be an immersive fusion of restored archival footage captured by expedition photographer Frank Hurley and recent footage of the wreck captured by Endurance22.

In anticipation of the film’s October 12 premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, National Geographic in collaboration with the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust—which funded Endurance22—has released stunning 3D scans of the wreck.

Endurance aficionados should pay special attention to the black speck identified by the arrow in the image below. It’s a flare gun, believed to be the one Hurley fired off during one of his last visits to the vessel before it sank. “But for the stump of the foremast and the funnel, one would be sceptical if told that that collection of fragmentary timbers and twisted rails was once a ship,” he wrote on November 8, 2015. “After saluting the ensign, with a detonator fired on the poop, we returned sadly to camp.”

red arrow pointing to a black speck among debris on a shipwreck — Hurley's flare gun. | Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust via National Geographic

Other images include a shot of a boot thought to have belonged to Frank Wild, second in command to Shackleton; and an image of dinnerware strewn across the deck.

high-res image from a shipwreck showing a boot laying among debris on a deck — Wild's boot. | Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust via National Geographic

debris on the deck of a shipwreck with a couple white porcelain dinner plates partially covered in sand — Abandoned dinner plates. | Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust via National Geographic

The fact that nobody perished as (or after) the Endurance sank makes this tale rather less tragic than others of its ilk. But it’s still pretty haunting to see footage of the wreck juxtaposed with that of the Endurance during its long, gentle death.

sepia photo of a ship leaning far to one side in ice below a hazy sun — The 'Endurance' before it disappeared. | Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/GettyImages

The documentary hits UK theaters on October 14, and Disney+ will release it worldwide sometime later this year.

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