Scott Polar Research InstituteShackleton items from the Archives
Expeditions
Authors
Articles- About the expedition (below)
Articles from the British Antarctic Expedition
The following 4 articles are from the British Antarctic Expedition:
- Deck Log of Nimrod, 1907-08.
- A letter from Ernest Shackleton to his wife, Emily. March 1908
- Ernest Shackleton
- A letter from Ernest Shackleton to his wife, Emily. April 1909
About the expedition
Shackleton organised and led the Nimrod Expedition as an attempt to reach the South Pole and also to continue the scientific and geological survey work of the Discovery Expedition.
A shore party of 15 set up base on the Antarctic continent; they discovered nearly 500km of the TransAntarctic Mountains flanking the Ross Ice Shelf. A party climbed Mount Erebus (3794 m), Ross Island.
A southern party consisting of Shackleton, Jameson Adams, Eric Marshall and Frank Wild found a route up the Beardmore Glacier and sledged to within 180km of the pole. They made the brave decision to turn for home rather than risk almost certainly running out of food and fuel on the return leg.
A second party of Prof edgeworth David, Alexander Forbes Mackay and Douglas Mawson reached the South Magnetic Pole 72.42 degrees South and 155.27 degrees east on 16 January 1909 when they raised the flag and claimed the area for King Edward VII. Using neither dogs or ponies, the men man hauled the sledges for the entire journey.