Describe the moment you knew you’d found the wreckage.
We’d come through a really brutal period of weather, white-outs and crushing ice. The ship was stretched to the limit, the only one left on the Weddell Sea. I was just getting out of my polar gear, trying to warm up, when a young cadet appeared and said that the captain required our presence on the bridge immediately. We had a really bad season in 2019 where we lost our search vehicle. I had bad memories and I hoped to God we hadn’t lost it again. We burst on to the bridge and project manager Nico Vincent thrust his phone in my face. There was an amazing sonar image of a wreck on it and he said: “Gents, let me introduce you to the Endurance!” It was just a moment of incredible joy, just utter undiluted happiness. I felt like I had the breath of Shackleton himself on the back of my neck.
What were the first things you noticed about the ship?
Everywhere I looked I was reminded of people. When we came up over the stern of the ship, the paintwork intact, I saw the ship’s wheel. There’s a bit of film by ship photographer Frank Hurley of expedition geologist James Wordie sailing the ship, so at that point, I thought of him. Just behind is a companionway down to the accommodation deck and there’s a famous photograph of Hussey, who played the banjo, standing in the doorway. Seeing the door, I immediately thought of him. Up on the poop deck, there’s a wonderful bit in Shackleton’s book where he talks about looking down the engine room skylight and seeing the engines being shifted over to one side because of the damage that was occurring. When I saw that, I thought of him. I can count off all of the cabins on the ship and I know who was in them; I read every diary. It’s a very human experience. It’s not just a technical construct, it’s a construct full of people with all of their extraordinary merits and quibbles, infatuations and pettinesses!