Emily Chan
The wreck of the ship on which Ernest Shackleton made his final voyage was recently discovered on the seafloor off the coast of the Labrador Sea in Canada.
Shackleton was a famous British-Irish explorer of Antarctica. He suffered a heart attack on board in 1922 while trying to reach the Antarctic. The ship continued to be used for Arctic research until it sank in 1962 during a whaling trip.
The vessel, called Quest, was found by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. A team of researchers used sonar scans to locate the ship under thousands of feet of frigid water.
The Quest was found sitting upright on its keel. Its main mast was splintered and hung over the port side. The mast likely broke off when the vessel struck ice.
The Quest has great historical significance. Shackleton was revered for his travels to the Antarctic because very few people had been able to venture into the frozen landscape at that time. His death marked the end of what is known as the “heroic age” of Antarctic exploration.
The adventurer led three expeditions to the Antarctic. He died of a heart attack at the age of 47 during a fourth journey. The ship had been just off South Georgia, east of the Falkan Islands located in the South Atlantic.
Shackleton had originally bought the schooner-rigged steamship to travel to Canada’s High Arctic. But, he ended up changing his mind and set sail for the Antarctic once again.
The ship was built in Norway and measured about 124 feet in length. Its remains were in excellent condition, even though it experienced damage from ice.
Researchers don’t have plans to haul the wreckage to the surface, as it would be too costly. Instead, they will conduct a series of dives in the near future to study and document the details of the vessel further.
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