New 3D scans show the wreck of the Endurance in stunning detail

In 2022, the Endurance22 expedition discovered something that had been hidden in the frigid depths of Antarctica’s Weddell Sea for over a century: the wreck of the Endurance.

For most of 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew had watched from the nearby ice floes as the ship was gradually crushed by the ice. It finally sank in mid-November, forcing the 28 explorers to fight their way back to civilization in tiny lifeboats. Their journey is widely considered one of the greatest survival stories in history. And they survived: the imperturbable Shackleton did not lose a single man.

The trip is the subject of an upcoming documentary, Endurancedirected by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (2018 directors Free singleplayer) starring Natalie Hewit and produced by National Geographic Documentary Films. This promises to be an immersive fusion of restored archival footage captured by expedition photographer Frank Hurley and recent footage of the wreck captured by Endurance22.

Ahead of the film’s premiere on October 12 at the BFI London Film Festival, National Geographic, in collaboration with the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, which funded Endurance22, has released stunning 3D scans of the wreck.

Endurance Aficionados will need to pay close attention to the black spot identified by the arrow in the image below. This is a flare gun, believed to be the one Hurley fired during one of his last visits to the ship before it sank. “Without the stump of the foremast and the chimney, one would be skeptical if one said that this collection of fragmented timbers and twisted rails was once a ship,” he wrote on November 8, 2015. “After saluting the ensign, with a detonator fired on the poop, we returned sadly to camp.

Other images include a photo of a boot said to have belonged to Frank Wild, Shackleton’s second-in-command; and an image of dishes strewn across the deck.

The fact that no one died during (or after) the Endurance cast makes this story rather less tragic than others of its ilk. But it’s still quite haunting to see images of the wreck juxtaposed with those of the Endurance during his long and sweet death.

The documentary will be released in UK cinemas on October 14 and Disney+ will release it worldwide later this year.

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