Ernest Shackleton

My hero is Ernest Shackleton. He was an explorer who wanted to find the South Pole. Shackleton is no longer living but he was born near Dublin,Ireland in 1874. Shackleton is a big inspiration to me and has inspired me to face my fears, explore new things and to never give up...to persevere. I hope that you will learn lots from reading my project on Ernest Shackleton.

After graduating from Dullwich College in London, Shackleton joined the army. Ernest didn't like the army and quit. Next he found a British expedition to Antarctica with Captain Robert Scott. Shackleton joined, and the expedition went to Antarctica and back. Shackleton liked this very much. He liked it so much that he wanted to start his OWN expedition to the South Pole. That is exactly what he did. Although he didn't reach the South Pole, he was considered a hero in his home town. Shackleton wanted to go again.

Ernest Shackleton's own expedition went to Antarctica on a ship called the Nimrod. When the Nimrod could go no further into the ice, Shackleton picked three people to go with him to find the South Pole. Their names were Eric Marshall, Jameson Adams and Frank Wild. The four men (including Shackleton) went off to find the South Pole by foot. the men were just 156 kilometers from the south pole, they had to turn back because of frostbite and low food supplies. The men returned to the the ship and sailed home. Shackleton persevered and formed a third expedition, on a ship he named "The Endurance".

The Endurance departed for the South Pole in December 1914. The crew travelled 13,000 miles before the ice became too thick and they became trapped. Shackleton was quick to find out what to do. Shackleton ordered everyone to get everything off the ship. The Endurance sank. Many months later, Shackleton and five crew members boarded a life boat to go to the whaling station on South Georgia Island. 17 days later, the lifeboat landed at the station with the remaining crew 800 miles away. It took four more months, and three unsuccessful attempts, to sail back and rescue them. All 28 of the original crew members had survived the expedition and when they finally got back to England, Ernest Shackleton was considered a hero.

Shackleton died on January 5, 1922 of a heart attack on another ship called "The Quest" while it was moored at South Georgia. In my opinion it is really sad that he never got to the South Pole and accomplished his dream. I hope you enjoyed reading about Ernest Shackleton. I hope that you have enjoyed it so much that you will research more about Shackleton and that maybe he is your hero too.