Pictures of Ernest Shackleton's Quest revealed from its cold-water grave
· Toronto Sun
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An expedition led by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) has captured images of the Quest, one of the final vessels from the age of Antarctic exploration.
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The polar exploration ship that was the last expedition ship of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton was located in June 2024 by an RCGS wreck hunting team at the bottom of the Labrador Sea, 85 kilometres from Labrador’s east coast and at a depth of 390 metres. It was largely intact except for a broken main mast.
The RCGS recently returned to the location and, using a remotely operated vehicle, took pictures of the sunken ship.
Back in the day, the Quest was said to be 34 metres in length, had a beam of 7.3 metres and a 3.7 metres depth of hold. The Quest sailed from 1917 until its sinking in 1962. The ship was originally christened as the Foca I, but its name was changed to Quest in 1921 by Shackelton’s wife, Emily.
The Norwegian built ship was probably best known as the final resting place for Shackleton on the ill-fated Shackelton-Rowett Expedition to the Antarctic.
No support in Canada
Shackleton originally intended to explore the Beaufort Sea region, but the plan was abandoned when the Canadian government withheld financial support, forcing Shackelton to head for the Antarctic instead.
The expedition was to sail along previously unvisited stretches of the Antarctic continent. However, before the expedition could truly begin, the Irish-born Shackelton died in January 1922 of heart failure while in harbour on the island of South Georgia, where he is buried. The island is in the South Atlantic Ocean, part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. South Georgia is about 1,400 km east of the Falkland Islands.
The expedition continued under John Robert Francis Wild’s command, visiting the South Shetland Islands, Gough Island and Tristan da Cunha. The expedition proved the non-existence of New South Greenland.
The wooden-hulled vessel had a rather subdued history after the death of Shackelton, pressed into service as a shore ship and an expedition vessel. She was also used as a minesweeper and light cargo vessel during the Second World War. The ship eventually returned to the sealing trade in 1946.
While on a seal-hunting expedition in May 1962, the Quest was busted open by sea ice and sank off the east coast of Labrador. The crew was saved but the ship was sent to Davy Jones’s Locker and lay silent in the cold water until she was found 32 years.