- Over 200 stunning, never-before-seen photos
- The official companion book to the highly anticipated National Geographic Documentary Film Endurance, to be released later this fall
- The book by John Shears and Nico Vincent will be on sale from the 5th November 2024
October 2024 – On August 1, 1914, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackelton and his crew sailed from England, set on making history as the first to cross Antarctica. Their ship never returned from her maiden voyage. On November 22, 1915, the aptly named Endurance disappeared, crushed by ice and swallowed by the Weddell Sea. Today, nearly everyone is familiar with Shackelton’s harrowing survival story and incredible rescue of all 27 crew members. Yet Endurance was thought lost forever, impossible to find because of her remote, frozen resting place—until March 5, 2022.
ENDURANCE: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Legendary Ship (National Geographic; November 5, 2024) takes us inside the Endurance22 mission to locate, film, and survey the wreck of Shackleton’s lost ship—culminating with its triumphant success. Coauthored by Dr. John Shears, the accomplished polar geographer who led the expedition, and Nico Vincent, who served as its deputy leader and subsea manager, with an introduction by Donald Lamont, Chairman of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, which spearheaded and funded the effort, this book delivers a gripping firsthand account of the search for Endurance and its discovery—upright and largely intact, at a depth of 9,869 feet underwater.
Featuring exclusive interviews and images not seen anywhere else—high-end digital scans of the expedition in action, crystal-clear underwater photographs of the wreck, and a detailed foldout of Endurance as it now looks on the ocean floor—ENDURANCE is a testament to the power of the right combination of teamwork, leadership, technology, grit, and luck. Along with conveying the challenges, dangers, and excitement of their adventure, Shears and Vincent offer unique insights into Shackelton’s ordeal and Antarctica itself, a continent vital to our existence about which we know little. Among many fascinating facts and revelations, readers will learn:
- The staggering differences between the Endurance, a three-masted, 350-ton wooden sailing vessel propelled by a 350-horsepower steam engine, and the vessel used for the Endurance22 expedition, the S.A. Agulhas II, a ship made of steel, weighing in at 12,897 tons, with four diesel-electric generators providing 4,000 horsepower to each.
- The most daunting obstacle to the Endurance22 mission’s success—Antarctic ice—and how, rather than attempting to defeat it, the team devised strategies to work with it, maneuvering the massive Agulhas II to where their state-of-the-art Saab Sabertooth autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) could be best deployed.
- Amazing new details, captured in digital scans, on how the Endurance remained frozen in time beneath the Weddell Sea—the ship’s wheel, with all its spokes, still in place on the aft well deck; the name ENDURANCE in gleaming brass arced across the stern; and many artifacts, including glass portholes, a telescope, and even a sewing machine.
- Why the story of the Endurance still matters to young people navigating the unknown and unexpected—and how the Endurance22 team’s global outreach program drew more than 33,000 students who participated in the mission through satellite communication.
From up-close views of emperor penguins found only in Antarctica to important findings in the ice on the impact of global warming, ENDURANCE is the perfect book for armchair explorers.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
About the Authors
- JOHN SHEARS was the Expedition Leader for Endurance22, the mission to find Endurance. He is a respected polar geographer and expedition leader with more than 30 years of experience of working in both Antarctica and the Artic. He lives in London.
NICO VINCENT, a subsea engineer and surveyor, was the Deputy Leader and Subsea Manager for Endurance22. Responsible for overseeing the deployment of the expedition’s autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), he was one of the first eyewitnesses to the discovery of the Endurance wreck. He makes his home in Italy.
DONALD LAMONT, Chairman of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, was a member of the British Diplomatic Service for 32 years, including serving as Governor of the Falkland Islands and as Commissioner for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. He lives in the UK.
About Deep Ocean Search
Deep Ocean Search (DOS) is an innovative company that offers global solutions in the field of very deep water activities. DOS operates daily at extreme depths and has been doing so for over 10 years, bringing together a unique group of international and French experts. To meet extreme needs, the company was founded in 2010 to respond to a wide range of study and underwater operations at water depths of up to six thousand meters for industry, scientific research, NGOs or private entities. Specially adapted study means and robotic systems have been brought together with a highly experienced team. Led by Nicolas Vincent, DOS teams have already traveled the equivalent of 1.3 times the circumference of the earth with an underwater vehicle at more than 4500m depth by 2013. DOS’s unique capabilities are made available to all organizations wishing to operate either in very deep waters or carry out complex industrial projects such as for the French industrial Bourbon Subsea Services.
DOS operates at extreme depths every day, 24 hours a day, offering advanced underwater services worldwide, from continental shelf to ultra-deep areas. With this new world record*, DOS is not at its first feat. The team holds four world records, including the recovery of the deepest silver coin cargo from the wreck of the SS City of Cairo exclusively for the British government; they supported the location of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s fighter plane; and, they worked with explorer Victor Vescovo to discover the deepest shipwreck in the world: the USS Samuel B. Roberts, a World War II destroyer escort found at 22,621 feet (6,895 meters) deep in the Philippine Sea. They have also located the missing Argentine submarine ARA San Juan and French submarine La Minerve and have participated in the investigation of major air accidents, including Air France AF447 in 2009, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in 2014 and EgyptAir flight MS804 in 2022. DOS is also making headlines with its latest feat: the discovery of the wreck of Endurance at 3000m deep under the Antarctic ice pack. A project managed by DOS. The documentary by CHAI VASARHELYI & JIMMY CHIN has just been previewed at the London Film Festival and will soon be on Disney+.
*Deep Ocean Search is proud of the 10,806m dive by its engineer Jérémie Morizet on Sunday, October 13, 2024, which established a new record during a scientific expedition. Deep Ocean Search is supporting the Inkfish foundation in developing an acoustic positioning system for the Bakuwana (Baku) submersible. Inkfish aims to expand scientific knowledge of the oceans to the limits of the hadal zone. While today Baku dives blindly into hadal trenches, thanks to Deep Ocean Search’s efforts, it will have an onboard mapping system comparable to your car’s GPS. Scientists will then be able to georeference their research. Assisted on the surface vessel by DOS oceanographer-prospector Clément Schapman, Jérémie boarded the submersible on Sunday, October 13, for a 9-hour dive to 10,806 meters in the Tonga Trench. Since the bathyscaphe Archimède of Commander Houot and Henri-Germain Delauze, this mission honors a long tradition of French ocean exploration, continuing to push the limits of human endurance.
Book Details
ENDURANCE: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Legendary Ship
By John Shears and Nico Vincent; Introduction by Donald Lamont
On sale: November 5, 2024 | 256 Pages | £45.00 Hardcover (US) | ISBN: 9781426223839
Press Contacts
Chelsea Konadu – ckonadu@webershandwick.com
Beckt O’Connor – boconnor@webershandwick.com
