###The Voyage of the James Caird
Southern Ocean, 1916 — Six men sailed a tiny wooden rowboat across 800 miles of hurricane-battered ocean to rescue their shipwrecked crew.
In late 1915, explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, was crushed by Antarctic ice. He and his 27-man crew camped on drifting ice floes for months before sailing lifeboats to the desolate Elephant Island. Knowing no rescue ships would ever pass by, Shackleton realized they had to save themselves.
Shackleton and five crewmates reinforced a 22.5-foot wooden rowboat named the James Caird. On April 24, 1916, they launched into the freezing Southern Ocean. For 16 days, they battled hurricane-force gales, giant waves, and blinding sea spray, sailing toward South Georgia.
They finally made landfall on May 10, but they hit the uninhabited side of the island! Shackleton and two men had to trek 36 hours over unmapped glaciers to reach a whaling station. Ultimately, they arranged the rescue of all 22 men left behind, without a single life lost.
The Voyage of the James Caird — Southern Ocean, 1916