The expedition’s director of exploration said the discovery was made with just days left xjmtzywin the mission’s window of exploration, as the crew was being battered by minus 18C winds.
“It was just a brilliant moment,” Mensun Bound said.
“We were patting each other on the back. There was laughter and rejoicing on the bridge, which is usually a very sober place but not that day- it was a wonderful moment.”
Bound said Endurance was an incredible sight to behold.
“It’s sitting there proud on the seabed. It’s upright and its state of preservation is absolutely remarkable,” he said.
“You can see the paintwork on it, you can count the fastenings on the timbers and to cap it all you have that amazing situation right in the stern where you can see the ship’s wheel perfectly intact.”
He said the ship’s name was visible, and its broken rudder was lying on the floor.
“When the rudder was ripped aside and torn off that was when the water entered Endurance and then it was game over.”
Shackleton and his crew had set out to achieve the first land crossing of Antarctica but Endurance became trapped in dense pack ice, forcing the 28 men on board eventually to abandon ship.
