The Ship Beneath the Ice

Over one hundred years after its wreck, Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, was found in the depths of the most hostile sea on Earth. The Ship Beneath the Ice is the astonishing story of the ship and its discovery, told by Mensun Bound, the Director of Exploration on the Endurance22 Expedition.

On 21 November 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, finally succumbed to the crushing ice. Its crew watched in silence as the stern rose twenty feet in the air and then, it was gone. The miraculous escape and survival of all twenty-eight men on board have entered legend. And yet, the iconic ship that bore them to the brink of the Antarctic was considered forever lost.

A century later, an audacious plan to locate the ship was hatched. The Ship Beneath the Ice gives a blow-by-blow account of the two epic expeditions to find the Endurance. As with Shackleton’s own story, the voyages were filled with intense drama and teamwork under pressure. In March 2022, the Endurance was finally found to headlines all over the world.

Written by Mensun Bound, maritime archaeologist and Director of Exploration in the search to find the Endurance, this captivating narrative recounts incredible stories of Shackleton and his legendary ship, and the journey to its rediscovery. Beautifully illustrated with Frank Hurley’s photos from Shackleton’s original voyage in 1914–17, as well as from the expeditions in 2019 and 2022, The Ship Beneath the Ice is the perfect tribute to this monumental discovery.