Endurance sank due to structural flaws, study finds

A new technical and archival study of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance concludes that structural flaws, not solely overwhelming pack ice, were the primary cause of the vessel's loss in 1915, and that Shackleton was aware of those weaknesses before he sailed. The paper, published in the journal Polar Record by Jukka Tuhkuri, an ice researcher and naval architect at Aalto University, draws on measurements from the recently surveyed wreck, contemporary crew diaries and correspondence to reassess why the famed expedition ship was crushed in the Weddell Sea.

Tuhkuri, who participated in the 2022 expedition that located the wreck, said the hull lacked key reinforcing elements found in other early polar vessels. He summarized his conclusion bluntly: "It's not the ice, it's the ship." The study identifies several specific deficiencies: weaker deck beams and frames, an unusually long machine compartment that created a large unreinforced section in the engine-room area, and an absence of diagonal beams that would have stiffened the hull against inward pressure from converging ice. Simple structural calculations in the paper indicate some contemporaneous polar ships could endure...