THE SHIP ON which Ernest Shackleton made his final voyage has been found.
Shackleton was born in Kilkea, Ireland, in 1874 and died in January 1922, aged 47, after suffering a heart attack on board his expedition ship, the Quest, while trying to reach the Antarctic.
After his death, Quest was acquired by a Norwegian company and it was involved in a series of expeditions until 5 May, 1962, when it was damaged by ice and sank.
All of the crew survived.
Searchers yesterday announced that Quest has been located in the Labrador Sea off the coast of Newfoundland in Canada.
A sonar image of the vessel on the seabed
The Shackleton Quest Expedition, led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS), said that the schooner-rigged vessel was found “intact” lying at a depth of 390m (1,280ft).
Wreck searchers used sonar equipment to aid the discovery, which falls in the 150th year after Shackleton’s birth.
Expedition leader John Geiger, of the RCGS, said: “Finding Quest is one of the final chapters in the extraordinary story of Ernest Shackleton.
“Shackleton was known for his courage and brilliance as a leader in crisis. The tragic irony is that his was the only death to take place on any of the ships under his direct command.”
Martin Brooks, of British expedition and apparel company Shackleton, said: “The finding of Quest is an important new chapter in the story of Ernest Shackleton and polar history; an iconic vessel, she marked the end of the heroic age of polar exploration. It is an honour to have supported this historic discovery.”
The location of Quest off the Canadian coast
Search director David Mearns said of the ship: “She is intact.
“Data from high resolution side scan sonar imagery corresponds exactly with the known dimensions and structural features of this special ship. It is also consistent with events at the time of the sinking.”
In 2022, a British-led expedition located his once-lost ship Endurance, which in 1915 became stuck in pack ice and sank in the Weddell Sea.
