Sailors from HMS Protector Revisit Legendary Explorer’s Antarctic Refuge After 100 Years

Sailors from HMS Protector Revisit Legendary Explorer’s Antarctic Refuge after 100 Years

Sailors from HMS Protector have returned to the exact spot where legendary Polar explorer Ernest Shackleton saved his men nearly 100 years ago. A team from the ice survey ship carried out scientific research at Point Wild on Elephant Island – a remote and forbidding shore where Shackleton’s party spent months awaiting rescue in 1916.

This is the forbidding shore of Point Wild on the northern shores of Elephant Island – 780 miles from South Georgia, 550 miles from Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of the Americas.

It was from here that Sir Ernest Shackleton sailed in a makeshift boat, the James Caird, to save his ill-starred Trans-Antarctic expedition in 1916. He succeeded – bringing every man home alive.

And it was here, in the austral summer of 2012, that a small party from today’s icebreaker HMS Protector came ashore in small inflatable boats to survey this incredibly inaccessible spot.

On previous visits to Elephant Island, the Royal Navy has tried to survey the waters of Point Wild – but has always been thwarted by the elements.

“To survey a remote place is always a challenge. To do so in the shadow of where one of my boyhood heroes walked, in one of the most evocative places I have been to, was one of the highlights of my survey career,” said Protector’s coxswain CPO(SR) Ken Smith.

“Point Wild is one of those places that is synonymous with Ernest Shackleton and all that he represents.

“To finally step ashore after three attempts, on three different ships spanning 27 years was a truly memorable occasion.”

His ship is on her maiden voyage to the ice, helping to update charts of the seas around Antarctica for the UK Hydrographic Office who supply maps of the world’s oceans not merely for the Royal Navy, but international seafarers.

The survey party spent three nights at Point Wild – named after Shackleton’s deputy, Frank Wild – collecting data about the tide, shoreline and water allowing very accurate depths to be plotted on the chart – particularly important as the area is visited heavily by cruise ships, who will rely heavily on Protector’s findings for safe navigation.

“This has been a dream come true for me,” enthused LS(SR) Toby Casstles.

“I never thought I would be lucky enough to survey this part of the world, let alone spend three nights on such a historically-significant island, this is the highlight of my career so far.”

Offshore, the ship’s survey motor boat – fittingly called James Caird 4 – collected echo sounder data from the shallower waters, while Protector herself surveyed the deeper, more exposed offshore regions.

“Successful completion of this task is a major achievement,” said Protector’s Commanding Officer Capt Peter Sparkes.

“The charts that will be produced from the data collected will help to ensure the safety of the numerous cruise ships, and passengers which visit this remote and unique location every year.”

[mappress]
Naval Today Staff , March 05, 2012; Image: royalnavy