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The ship on which a famous British-Irish Antarctic explorer made his last voyage was discovered on the seabed off the coast of Canada

The ship on which a famous British-Irish Antarctic explorer made his last voyage was discovered on the seabed off the coast of Canada

The wreck of the ship on which Ernest Shackleton made his final voyage was recently discovered on the seabed off the coast of the Labrador Sea in Canada.

Shackleton was a famous British-Irish Antarctic explorer. He suffered a heart attack on board in 1922 while attempting to reach Antarctica. The ship continued to be used for Arctic research until it sank during a whaling voyage in 1962.

The ship, called Searchwas found by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. A team of researchers used sonar scans to locate the ship beneath thousands of feet of frigid water.

The Search was found lying upright on her keel. Her main mast was splintered and hanging over the port side. The mast probably broke off when the ship hit ice.

The Search has great historical significance. Shackleton was revered for his travels to Antarctica because very few people were able to venture into the icy landscape at the time. His death marked the end of the so-called “heroic age” of Antarctic exploration.

The adventurer led three expeditions to Antarctica. On his fourth voyage, he died of a heart attack at the age of 47. The ship was just off South Georgia, east of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.

Shackleton had originally bought the schooner-rigged steamship to travel to the Canadian High Arctic, but eventually he changed his mind and sailed again towards Antarctica.

The ship was built in Norway and was about 124 feet long. Its remains were in excellent condition, although it was damaged by ice.

The researchers do not plan to bring the wreck back to the surface as this would be too costly. Instead, they will conduct a series of dives in the near future to examine and document the details of the ship in more detail.

Scott Heaney – stock.adobe.com – for illustrative purposes only

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