Shackleton, Crean and Worsley Complete The Rescue.
22 Men Plucked From Elephant Island On August 30th 1916.
On August 30th 1916, the impossible happened! Ernest Shackleton, Tom Crean and Frank Worsley returned to the desolate outcrop that is Elephant Island, aboard a ship named Yelcho.
As the 22 stranded men had watched the James Caird lifeboat disappear over the horizon into the monstrous Weddell Sea, on April 24th 1916, Frank Wild optimistically opined that they would all be saved within four or five weeks.
In reality the chances that the six men – Shackleton, Crean, Worsley, McCarthy, Vincent and McNish – could survive an 800 mile crossing of the most desolate stretch of ocean on the planet were virtually nil.
Yet they did! Then, leaving the shattered John Vincent and Harry McNish in the care of Timothy McCarthy, the three men made the first ever crossing of the alpine interior of South Georgia. They reached the whaling station at Stromness on May 20th, and the seeds of what would prove to be a protracted rescue were sown.
On the fourth attempt the sea ice that had thwarted their three previous voyages, finally afforded the men the long sought passage to their stranded comrades on Elephant Island. Within an hour of location, all 22 men had been ferried aboard the Yelcho, and they set sail for Punta Arenas, Chile.
“As I manoeuvred the Yelcho between stranded bergs and hidden reefs, Shackleton peered through his binoculars with painful anxiety. I heard his strained tones as he counted the figures that were crawling out from under the upturned boat. ‘Two – five – seven -‘ and then an exultant shout. ‘They’re all there, Skipper. They are all safe! His face lit up and years seemed to fall off his age. We three* solemnly shook hands as if we were taking part in some ritual.”
Quoted from – F.A. Worsley, Shackleton’s Boat Journey.
*Shackleton, Worsley and Crean, shook hands – a quite modest acknowledgement of the successful conclusion of their heroic endeavours.
“The Voyage of the James Caird, which was set in motion on April 24th 1916, when the tiny lifeboat was dragged from the relative safety of the grim desolate beach on Elephant Island, and cast into the most tumultuous and tortuous body of water on the planet, had finally reached conclusion. Six brave souls had climbed aboard and pitched themselves against almost certain oblivion, to somehow conspire to not just survive, but to endure, overcome, return, and pluck their comrades from the jaws of death, and from the final unbelievable chapter of the epic tale of The Endurance Expedition.”