The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton's Endurance

By the subject of the National Geographic documentary Endurance, streaming soon on Disney+

"As thrilling as any tale from the heroic age of exploration. . . Bound’s account is a triumph. The storytelling is piano-wire taut, the writing saturated with polar moodiness." — Sunday Times

The inside story of a landmark shipwreck discovery: how the Endurance, Ernest Shackleton's legendary lost ship, was found in the most hostile sea on Earth, told by the expedition's Director of Exploration.

On November 21, 1914, the Endurance succumbed to the surrounding ice. Ernest Shackleton and his crew had navigated the three-masted wooden vessel ten thousand miles to Antarctica in hopes of becoming the first to cross the barren continent, but early season pack ice trapped them in place offshore. Marooned on the ice for six months, Shackleton’s expedition to push the limits of human strength took a new form: one of survival against the odds.

A century after this legendary story entered the annals of polar exploration history, renowned marine archeologist Mensun Bound and an elite team of explorers joined a new global race to find the wrecked Endurance. Bound experienced failure and despair in his attempts to locate the wreck, and very nearly found his own vessel frozen in ice. Finally, a century to the day after Shackleton’s burial, the discovery: nearly ten thousand feet below the ice lay a remarkably preserved Endurance, its name still emblazoned on the ship’s stern.

Told “with passion and flair” (Washington Post), The Ship Beneath the Ice is a thrilling modern-day adventure and historical nonfiction narrative of the intrepid spirit that joins two mariners across the centuries—both of whom accomplished the impossible.

This gripping account of deep-sea discovery reveals:

• A Tale of Two Captains: How renowned marine archeologist Mensun Bound’s quest mirrored the challenges faced by Sir Ernest Shackleton a century earlier in the same hostile sea.
• The Heroic Age of Exploration: A fresh look at the legendary Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and the impossible story of survival that followed the loss of the Endurance.
• Maritime Archaeology at its Limits: The incredible inside story of the elite team and cutting-edge technology that located the world’s most unreachable shipwreck, perfectly preserved ten thousand feet beneath the ice.
• Surviving the Antarctic: A firsthand narrative of battling treacherous ice, personal despair, and technical failure in the unforgiving Weddell Sea.