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'British Imperial Antarctic Expedition' or the 'Nimrod Expedition'^[1] (1908 - 1909) to Antarctica was led by Ernest Shackleton aboard the Nimrod with a crew that included George Buckley, Frank Wild, Eric Marshall, Edgeworth David, Jameson Adams, and Raymond Edward Priestley ^[2].

Contents

Voyage

Expedition

"Furthest South"

Home

Postage Stamps

Future

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Voyage

On January 1, 1908, the Nimrod left Lyttelton, New Zealand. On January 29, 1908, the ship entered McMurdo Sound, but the pack ice blocked their path. After a few days wait the pack ice did not relent. The Nimrod followed the coast of Ross Island northward to Cape Royds, twenty miles from Hut Point. High volcanic hills sheltered the cove from the prevailing winds, several freshwater ponds lay nearby and their meat supply Adelie Penguins nested just beyond a low ridge. Shackleton believed the site to be perfect and the men began unloading supplies at once. During the next three weeks, they erected the prefabricated hut, built a stable for the ponies and hauled tons of provisions over the floes to shore. On February 23, 1908, the Nimrod left to return to New Zealand.

Expedition

During their stay the men wrote, typeset and printed on a small hand press the 120-page Aurora Australis, the first book published in Antarctica.
Accomplishments of the expedition included the first ascent of Mount Erebus, the active volcano of Ross Island; an expedition to the approximate location of the Magnetic South Pole by Douglas Mawson, Edgeworth David and MacKay (16 January 1909); and locating the Beardmore Glacier access to the Antarctic Plateau.

"Furthest South"

On October 29, 1908, at 10:00 hours Ernest Shackleton, Frank Wild, Eric Marshall, Jameson Adams and the ponies Grisi, Socks, Quan and Chinaman, pulling the loaded sledges started on the 1,600 mile round trip to the South Pole. Because of poor success with dogs during Scott's 1901–1904 expedition, Shackleton used Manchurian ponies for transport on the Ice Barrier. They did not prove to be entirely successful.
On January 9, 1909, after facing many hardships including a difficult climb up the Beardmore Glacier, some harsh weather, lack of food and weakness Shackleton accepted the inevitable; they must turn back or die. Shackleton, with Wild, Marshall, and Adams, had reached 88°23'S: a point only 97 nautical miles (180 km) from the South Pole. While the expedition did not make it to the pole, Shackleton, Adams, Marshall, and Wild were the first humans to not only cross the Trans-Antarctic mountain range, but also the first humans to set foot on the South Polar Plateau. It should be pointed out that Shackleton and his group were exceedingly fortunate to return from the Antarctic interior. They had cut rations severely, such that there was no margin of safety. They had very good weather throughout their return, in contrast to Scott's experience three years later. They achieved the "Furthest South" record which would stand until Roald Amundsen reached the Pole in December 1911.
On February 27, 1909, after many hardships on their return journey, Eric Marshall collapsed with severe dysentery. While Jameson Adams remained with Marshall, Frank Wild and Ernest Shackleton continued on to Hut Point, which they reached on February 27, 1909. There, they learned that they had missed the ''Nimrod'' by two days. For the rest of the night, they huddled together and discussed their limited options. The next morning they set fire to the small magnetic observation hut, hoping to attract the crew's attention if the Nimrod was close enough to see the flames. The crew did see the burning hut and the ship returned.
Shackleton guided the rescue party to Adams and Marshall and by 4 March 1909, all were safe on board the ''Nimrod''.

Home

On 23 March 1909, Shackleton cabled London from New Zealand with news of the expeditions results, including the first ascent of Mount Erebus and the first successful trek to the South Magnetic Pole. On 14 December 1909, Ernest Shackleton was knighted.

Postage Stamps

Ernest Shackleton had been sworn in as the first postmaster of King Edward VII Land as the Ross Dependency was then known, and the New Zealand Post Office overprinted some 23,492 postage stamps with the name ''King Edward VII Land'' for use by by the Expedition, see Postage stamps and postal history of the Ross Dependency.

Future

Shackleton had not had his fill of Antarctica. In 1914, he returned with the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition to attempt the first crossing of the continent from the Weddell Sea to Ross Sea.

See also

★ List of Antarctica expeditions

References

1. Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) - British Imperial Antarctic Expedition Nimrod , 1907 -1909 Cool Antartica website, accessed online december 29, 2006
2. S. Murray-Smith, 'Priestley, Sir Raymond Edward (1886 - 1974)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition, Copyright 2006, updated continuously, ISSN 1833-7538, published by Australian National University

Further reading

★ Shacklteon, E. (1999). ''The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909''. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-0684-8

★ Riffenburgh, B. (2004). ''Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition : The Voyage of the Nimrod''. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 1-58234-488-4

★ Shackleton, E.. (1986). ''Aurora Australis''. Paradigm Press. ISBN 0-948285-07-9

External links

★ Shackleton hut to be resurrected at the BBC