Here are some of the major events that spanned the first year of Shackleton's jouney south:
The timeline for the Endurance’s journey began August 1st, 1914: the Endurance departed London the same day Germany declared war on Russia. World War I had begun.
August 4th, Shackleton offered his ship and crew to the British government for the war effort.
August 8th, Shackleton received a one-word telegram from the British Navy giving him permission to go forward with his original plans to sail towards Antarctica: "Proceed”. The Endurance departed from Plymouth and sailed to Argentina, South America.
It was October 26th, 1914 when Shackleton had the entirety of the final crew on board, and the Endurance left Buenos Aires, Argentina and headed down toward the Antarctic region for South Georgia Island. 100 years later, it was in October of 2014 that I discovered the story of the SS Endurance. At the time I had no idea how my life would begin to parallel this story 100 years to the date.
That night Shackleton wrote in his diary a remark that almost seemed to foreshadow the challenges that lay before him:
“. . . now comes the actual work itself . . . the fight will be good.”
December 5th, the Endurance left South Georgia Island moving toward Shackleton’s original dream to cross on foot the vast continent of Antarctica. But fate, it would seem, had different plans for the crew of the Endurance: this would be the last time the men would touch land for 497 days.
On December 7th, the Endurance entered the Antarctic pack ice, never to sail in the open seas again.