1 00:00:02,269 --> 00:00:06,004 LAURENCE FISHBURNE: Tonight on "History's Greatest Mysteries," 2 00:00:06,073 --> 00:00:09,875 an in-depth look at a thrilling recent discovery 3 00:00:10,077 --> 00:00:13,812 as Ernest Shackleton's long lost ship Endurance 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,682 is finally found more than a century 5 00:00:16,884 --> 00:00:19,952 after it was trapped in polar ice 6 00:00:20,020 --> 00:00:24,089 and sank into the frigid waters of the Antarctic. 7 00:00:24,157 --> 00:00:25,224 NEWS ANCHOR 1 (VOICEOVER): And a remarkable discovery 8 00:00:25,426 --> 00:00:29,094 10,000 feet below the surface of Antarctica's Weddell Sea. 9 00:00:29,163 --> 00:00:30,963 NEWS ANCHOR 2 (VOICEOVER): Researchers have discovered 10 00:00:31,165 --> 00:00:34,099 the British ship called Endurance, the vessel that 11 00:00:34,167 --> 00:00:37,369 launched one of the most remarkable stories of survival 12 00:00:37,571 --> 00:00:38,770 and determination. 13 00:00:38,839 --> 00:00:40,239 NEWS ANCHOR 3 (VOICEOVER): That led 14 00:00:40,307 --> 00:00:43,108 to one of the most challenging shipwreck searches in history. 15 00:00:43,310 --> 00:00:45,043 LAURENCE FISHBURNE: Fraught with its own peril, the discovery 16 00:00:45,112 --> 00:00:49,581 came after years of planning and a daring mission that 17 00:00:49,649 --> 00:00:51,382 cost millions of dollars. 18 00:00:51,452 --> 00:00:52,317 AUV in the water. 19 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,120 Like a torpedo. 20 00:00:55,322 --> 00:00:57,856 LAURENCE FISHBURNE: Shackleton headed one of the most famous 21 00:00:57,925 --> 00:01:00,259 expeditions of the 20th century, a mission 22 00:01:00,327 --> 00:01:04,997 to cross Antarctica that became an all out fight for survival. 23 00:01:12,005 --> 00:01:14,873 The initial expedition to find the Endurance 24 00:01:14,942 --> 00:01:17,809 came tantalizingly close to locating it, 25 00:01:17,878 --> 00:01:19,478 only to nearly suffer the same fate. 26 00:01:19,547 --> 00:01:23,948 We are now just stuck. 27 00:01:24,017 --> 00:01:25,150 LAURENCE FISHBURNE: I'm Laurence Fishburne. 28 00:01:25,352 --> 00:01:29,287 And tonight's mystery-- what really happened to Shackleton's 29 00:01:29,356 --> 00:01:30,622 lost ship? 30 00:01:30,691 --> 00:01:33,958 What secrets can the wreck hold? 31 00:01:34,027 --> 00:01:36,962 And could its discovery change our understanding 32 00:01:37,031 --> 00:01:39,498 of an expedition that made legends of Shackleton 33 00:01:39,566 --> 00:01:42,034 and his brave crew? 34 00:01:42,102 --> 00:01:45,304 The full story of Shackleton's lost ice ship now. 35 00:01:45,506 --> 00:01:49,007 [theme music] 36 00:02:03,257 --> 00:02:08,393 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Antarctica, the most extreme 37 00:02:08,462 --> 00:02:09,995 place on Earth. 38 00:02:12,666 --> 00:02:13,999 Temperatures reach 100 below. 39 00:02:16,937 --> 00:02:20,005 Wind whips across it at 200 miles per hour. 40 00:02:25,078 --> 00:02:29,748 This frozen continent surrounds the South Pole. 41 00:02:29,950 --> 00:02:32,985 It's a vast land entirely covered in ice. 42 00:02:37,024 --> 00:02:39,758 Somewhere in these frozen seas lies the Holy Grail 43 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:44,229 of shipwrecks, the Endurance, the ship 44 00:02:44,297 --> 00:02:49,234 that carried legendary explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton south 45 00:02:49,303 --> 00:02:51,837 in 1914. 46 00:02:51,905 --> 00:02:54,106 South side straight up the starboard. 47 00:02:54,174 --> 00:02:56,174 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Down here, the water 48 00:02:56,243 --> 00:03:00,012 is so cold the wooden ship is likely perfectly preserved. 49 00:03:03,383 --> 00:03:07,452 But it's so hard to get to that no one's ever been able to hunt 50 00:03:07,521 --> 00:03:08,987 for the wreck until now. 51 00:03:14,194 --> 00:03:17,796 Flying in from across the globe is an international team 52 00:03:17,998 --> 00:03:20,999 of ship hunters, explorers, and scientists. 53 00:03:24,070 --> 00:03:28,206 Two years in the planning and over $250 million 54 00:03:28,275 --> 00:03:34,413 of cutting edge technology make them think they can pull off 55 00:03:34,481 --> 00:03:36,080 a world first. 56 00:03:36,149 --> 00:03:39,484 If the data that we have for the wreck site is correct, 57 00:03:39,552 --> 00:03:40,986 then we'll find it. 58 00:03:44,291 --> 00:03:46,692 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Maritime archaeologist Mensen 59 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,962 Bound is heading up the search. 60 00:03:50,164 --> 00:03:53,966 He's got 40 years experience excavating shipwrecks. 61 00:03:54,168 --> 00:03:57,836 But finding the Endurance is the ultimate challenge. 62 00:03:58,038 --> 00:04:00,772 MENSUN BOUND: The Endurance, is, to my mind, 63 00:04:00,841 --> 00:04:03,575 the most famous wreck of all time. 64 00:04:03,777 --> 00:04:06,778 She's up there with the Titanic. 65 00:04:06,847 --> 00:04:08,714 If anybody can find the Endurance, 66 00:04:08,782 --> 00:04:10,983 it's going to be this expedition. 67 00:04:14,121 --> 00:04:18,990 This is the greatest wreck hunt that there's ever been. 68 00:04:19,059 --> 00:04:20,192 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): This expedition 69 00:04:20,260 --> 00:04:24,329 will face the same risks and dangers that Shackleton did 70 00:04:24,398 --> 00:04:26,665 a century ago. 71 00:04:26,867 --> 00:04:29,001 But today's team has come prepared. 72 00:04:31,604 --> 00:04:33,471 The ROV has the tension. 73 00:04:33,540 --> 00:04:34,606 You can release it. 74 00:04:34,675 --> 00:04:37,008 And it's just going to go under. 75 00:04:37,077 --> 00:04:39,010 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Steve Santamore 76 00:04:39,079 --> 00:04:42,747 leads one of the elite teams of sub sea explorers. 77 00:04:42,816 --> 00:04:44,216 STEVE SAINT AMOUR: So our job will 78 00:04:44,284 --> 00:04:46,952 be to document the condition of the wreck on the sea floor. 79 00:04:47,154 --> 00:04:49,154 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Based in Maryland, 80 00:04:49,222 --> 00:04:52,424 his team has found missing plane wrecks and, most famously, 81 00:04:52,626 --> 00:04:53,992 surveyed the Titanic. 82 00:04:59,166 --> 00:05:02,367 But hunting Shackleton's wreck is their most challenging 83 00:05:02,435 --> 00:05:03,001 mission yet. 84 00:05:09,042 --> 00:05:10,909 A ship has not been to the Shackleton location 85 00:05:10,978 --> 00:05:15,380 primarily due to the ice pack and how difficult 86 00:05:15,582 --> 00:05:16,781 it is to get here. 87 00:05:16,850 --> 00:05:19,917 This is the equivalent of going to Mars 88 00:05:19,986 --> 00:05:23,588 and looking for the wreckage of spacecraft. 89 00:05:23,657 --> 00:05:24,990 You know, it's just that remote. 90 00:05:27,194 --> 00:05:28,994 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): To help him search, 91 00:05:29,196 --> 00:05:34,533 Steve's got a secret weapon, a purpose built, remotely 92 00:05:34,601 --> 00:05:37,002 operated vehicle or ROV. 93 00:05:42,142 --> 00:05:47,945 This $2 million bot weighs in at over 6,000 pounds. 94 00:05:48,014 --> 00:05:50,548 It's equipped with deep sea cameras and two 95 00:05:50,617 --> 00:05:55,153 articulated titanium arms. 96 00:05:55,222 --> 00:05:58,990 Its mission-- to dive to the seabed and explore the wreck. 97 00:06:01,028 --> 00:06:03,094 STEVE SAINT AMOUR: And so one of the things that we 98 00:06:03,163 --> 00:06:06,031 do to prepare for the mission is go through, double 99 00:06:06,099 --> 00:06:10,034 check all the connections, and tighten up hardware. 100 00:06:10,104 --> 00:06:13,438 Dave O'Hara, from Northern Ireland, is Steve's pilot. 101 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:18,176 Through there and there. 102 00:06:18,245 --> 00:06:19,845 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): An ex-British Navy engineer, 103 00:06:20,047 --> 00:06:23,014 he's been working on robot subs for 12 years. 104 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,120 DAVE O'HARA: For me, personally, it's a bucket list job. 105 00:06:29,189 --> 00:06:31,923 The shipwreck side of things got me inspired to come and do 106 00:06:31,992 --> 00:06:36,861 this for a living, watching guys find Titanic. 107 00:06:36,930 --> 00:06:38,529 Just for the history behind it, the story, 108 00:06:38,598 --> 00:06:40,865 the human aspect of it. 109 00:06:40,934 --> 00:06:42,266 And I think that's the same with Endurance. 110 00:06:42,335 --> 00:06:43,935 OK, guys. 111 00:06:44,004 --> 00:06:45,804 Just let her be able to start the hydraulics. 112 00:06:45,873 --> 00:06:47,939 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Dave's 113 00:06:48,008 --> 00:06:50,341 confident that he can get the sub 10,000 feet down 114 00:06:50,411 --> 00:06:52,677 to the wreck. 115 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:54,012 But first they've got to find it. 116 00:06:57,217 --> 00:07:00,986 Fortunately, the team has a big clue to where it could be. 117 00:07:03,757 --> 00:07:05,957 To find the exact spot to search, 118 00:07:06,026 --> 00:07:08,893 wreck archaeologist Mensun Bound is investigating 119 00:07:08,962 --> 00:07:11,897 nautical charts and the ship's original log, 120 00:07:12,099 --> 00:07:15,233 kept meticulously by Shackleton's Captain Frank 121 00:07:15,302 --> 00:07:16,001 Worsley. 122 00:07:18,171 --> 00:07:23,975 These record Endurance's position on the day she sank. 123 00:07:24,044 --> 00:07:25,376 MENSUN BOUND: It gives us the coordinates, latitude 124 00:07:25,445 --> 00:07:28,045 and longitude. 125 00:07:28,114 --> 00:07:34,453 If we look at the chart, here we have it right here. 126 00:07:34,655 --> 00:07:35,520 This is where she sank. 127 00:07:35,589 --> 00:07:39,991 This is X marks the spot. 128 00:07:40,059 --> 00:07:40,925 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Using the data, 129 00:07:40,994 --> 00:07:44,796 Mensun calculates a target 1,200 miles away 130 00:07:44,864 --> 00:07:46,998 across the treacherous Weddell Sea. 131 00:07:51,872 --> 00:07:52,671 EDWARD J. LARSON: The Weddell Sea 132 00:07:52,739 --> 00:07:56,007 is a churning bed of sea ice. 133 00:07:56,076 --> 00:07:59,744 This sea ice breaks into pieces and it floats around. 134 00:07:59,813 --> 00:08:01,546 And it keeps running into each other, 135 00:08:01,748 --> 00:08:03,748 throwing up pressure ridges. 136 00:08:03,817 --> 00:08:05,617 And you never know when it's going 137 00:08:05,685 --> 00:08:06,985 to turn totally solid again. 138 00:08:10,023 --> 00:08:10,622 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The expedition 139 00:08:10,824 --> 00:08:14,892 is also in a race against time. 140 00:08:14,961 --> 00:08:19,097 The Weddell Sea is full of ice year round. 141 00:08:19,166 --> 00:08:22,100 But as winter approaches, the ocean around the continent 142 00:08:22,302 --> 00:08:28,773 freezes over, impassable sea ice covering an area one and 1/2 143 00:08:28,842 --> 00:08:31,009 times the size of the United States. 144 00:08:38,185 --> 00:08:41,653 The team has a short window to get in and back out 145 00:08:41,721 --> 00:08:44,856 or they'll get stuck in the ice. 146 00:08:44,924 --> 00:08:47,992 Anyone going into that area with a ship 147 00:08:48,061 --> 00:08:50,996 is putting their ship and their crew in jeopardy. 148 00:09:00,139 --> 00:09:01,739 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): In 1914, two years 149 00:09:01,808 --> 00:09:05,076 after the sinking of the Titanic, 150 00:09:05,145 --> 00:09:08,013 British Explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton heads south. 151 00:09:09,883 --> 00:09:11,282 ERNEST SHACKLETON (RECORDING): I believe 152 00:09:11,351 --> 00:09:17,021 it is in our nature to explore, TO reach out into the unknown. 153 00:09:17,090 --> 00:09:19,991 The only true failure would be not to explore at all. 154 00:09:23,096 --> 00:09:24,429 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): It's the golden age 155 00:09:24,631 --> 00:09:26,964 of polar exploration. 156 00:09:27,033 --> 00:09:29,567 Shackleton is full of ambition, seeking glory 157 00:09:29,636 --> 00:09:33,705 for himself and his country. 158 00:09:33,774 --> 00:09:36,908 He was really driven by the fact 159 00:09:36,977 --> 00:09:38,577 that it was one of the last few places on Earth 160 00:09:38,779 --> 00:09:40,912 that hadn't been touched by man. 161 00:09:40,981 --> 00:09:43,014 And he wanted to be the first person there. 162 00:09:49,122 --> 00:09:50,188 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Shackleton's aim-- 163 00:09:50,390 --> 00:09:54,859 to make history by crossing the entire Antarctic continent 164 00:09:54,928 --> 00:09:58,797 from coast to coast for the first time. 165 00:09:58,865 --> 00:10:00,065 100 years ago, crossing Antarctica 166 00:10:00,267 --> 00:10:03,001 would be more difficult than us going to the moon today. 167 00:10:07,140 --> 00:10:10,141 I think it's the nature of man to always see something 168 00:10:10,210 --> 00:10:14,279 we haven't seen before, whether it's the moon or the South 169 00:10:14,347 --> 00:10:15,013 Pole. 170 00:10:18,952 --> 00:10:20,885 CONRAD ANKER: Shackleton and his 27 men, 171 00:10:20,954 --> 00:10:25,991 they sailed off what we knew of the world. 172 00:10:28,227 --> 00:10:29,494 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): But Shackleton will never 173 00:10:29,562 --> 00:10:32,964 even make landfall. 174 00:10:33,033 --> 00:10:37,101 Here, at the end of the Earth, Shackleton's ship, 175 00:10:37,170 --> 00:10:42,506 the Endurance, will sink in a disaster that will capture 176 00:10:42,575 --> 00:10:44,009 the world's attention. 177 00:10:49,916 --> 00:10:52,917 Fully loaded, the Agulhas II finally 178 00:10:52,986 --> 00:10:55,987 sets off, ready to take on the Weddell Sea. 179 00:10:58,257 --> 00:11:01,326 So much has gone into this project, so many years of work, 180 00:11:01,528 --> 00:11:04,128 so many dreams. 181 00:11:04,197 --> 00:11:06,397 It feels really like my my whole life has just come down 182 00:11:06,466 --> 00:11:07,999 to this moment. 183 00:11:10,336 --> 00:11:12,270 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Now it's time to put everything 184 00:11:12,472 --> 00:11:13,004 to the test. 185 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:23,214 After five days at sea, the expedition 186 00:11:23,283 --> 00:11:27,485 to find the ship of legendary explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton 187 00:11:27,554 --> 00:11:28,987 is making good progress. 188 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,227 Now 1,500 miles from her starting point 189 00:11:36,295 --> 00:11:40,999 at Penguin Bukta, the crew is zeroing in on the wreck site. 190 00:11:46,373 --> 00:11:49,907 On deck, Louisiana native and former Air Force engineer Devon 191 00:11:49,976 --> 00:11:53,578 James is part of a second elite team hunting 192 00:11:53,646 --> 00:11:55,013 the 100-year-old wreck. 193 00:11:58,118 --> 00:12:00,051 It's his job to look after another critical set 194 00:12:00,253 --> 00:12:06,791 of equipment, two autonomous underwater vehicles or AUVs. 195 00:12:06,860 --> 00:12:08,993 DEVON JAMES: It's basically a drone just 196 00:12:09,062 --> 00:12:11,729 like an aerial drone, but we use it in the ocean. 197 00:12:11,798 --> 00:12:13,998 So this is used all over the world 198 00:12:14,066 --> 00:12:18,402 to survey the sea floor without a operator going 199 00:12:18,472 --> 00:12:19,337 below the surface. 200 00:12:19,406 --> 00:12:21,072 Coming to you. 201 00:12:21,141 --> 00:12:22,407 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Also working on the subs 202 00:12:22,475 --> 00:12:23,608 is Chad Bonin. 203 00:12:23,677 --> 00:12:26,277 Like Devon, he's ex-military. 204 00:12:26,345 --> 00:12:27,211 Forward. 205 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:28,413 On it. 206 00:12:28,481 --> 00:12:31,816 We haven't dealt with ice conditions like this before. 207 00:12:32,018 --> 00:12:35,019 We were hand-picked to come onto this job. 208 00:12:35,088 --> 00:12:38,088 So there's a lot of pressure to complete the task. 209 00:12:38,158 --> 00:12:39,891 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Despite the challenges 210 00:12:39,959 --> 00:12:42,560 of sending their AUV subs under the ice, 211 00:12:42,629 --> 00:12:45,696 Chad's got a good attitude. 212 00:12:45,765 --> 00:12:46,765 Long as we're layered up, we're 213 00:12:46,967 --> 00:12:47,765 OK, because we're from South Louisiana. 214 00:12:47,834 --> 00:12:49,000 It's usually hot weather, you know? 215 00:12:57,243 --> 00:13:02,013 The team knows where to head, but getting there is tough. 216 00:13:05,118 --> 00:13:07,986 The expedition's hopes rest on the Agulhas II. 217 00:13:12,124 --> 00:13:19,264 Weighing in at 14,000 tons and costing $170 million, 218 00:13:19,332 --> 00:13:23,001 this ship is designed to smash through ice up to 3 feet thick. 219 00:13:32,278 --> 00:13:36,014 A double haul of extra thick steel protects the Agulhas II. 220 00:13:39,152 --> 00:13:42,821 And in the engine room, second engineer Mark O'Reilly 221 00:13:43,023 --> 00:13:46,558 is pushing her four engines to the limit. 222 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:51,095 These deliver 12,000 horsepower. 223 00:13:51,164 --> 00:13:53,631 MARK O'REILLEY: This is one of two [inaudible],, 6,000 224 00:13:53,700 --> 00:13:55,766 horsepower available on each. 225 00:13:55,835 --> 00:13:57,101 And that will give us enough power 226 00:13:57,170 --> 00:14:01,005 to break through one meter of ice at 7 miles per hour. 227 00:14:14,053 --> 00:14:14,985 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The Agulhas II 228 00:14:15,054 --> 00:14:18,122 is built for the worst conditions on the planet. 229 00:14:18,190 --> 00:14:23,861 But even for this beast, hitting ice at speed is bad news. 230 00:14:23,930 --> 00:14:27,198 Captain Freddy Lighthelm is the ice pilot. 231 00:14:27,266 --> 00:14:31,402 Part of the South African crew, he has 15 years experience 232 00:14:31,604 --> 00:14:33,071 in the Weddell Sea. 233 00:14:33,139 --> 00:14:36,007 FREDDIE LIGHTHELM: If we should hit any sea ice here 234 00:14:36,076 --> 00:14:38,943 at 50 knots, it could possibly cause heavy damage 235 00:14:39,012 --> 00:14:43,014 to the vessel so we are continuously looking at. 236 00:14:43,216 --> 00:14:44,949 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The Titanic famously 237 00:14:45,018 --> 00:14:50,087 sank in 1912 because it hit an iceberg at speed. 238 00:14:50,156 --> 00:14:54,759 One wrong move could bring this ship to the same fate. 239 00:14:54,961 --> 00:14:57,829 But unlike the Titanic, the Agulhas II 240 00:14:58,031 --> 00:15:03,301 has an arsenal of modern navigational tools. 241 00:15:03,503 --> 00:15:04,035 This is us here. 242 00:15:04,104 --> 00:15:06,170 And this is our speed victor. 243 00:15:06,238 --> 00:15:09,173 And you can see that this iceberg is at a distance of 8.8 244 00:15:09,376 --> 00:15:12,176 miles. 245 00:15:12,244 --> 00:15:16,314 Sometimes you could get 100 targets on the radar at a 12 246 00:15:16,383 --> 00:15:17,448 mile range. 247 00:15:17,517 --> 00:15:21,119 And you'd try to then just skirt as much as you can. 248 00:15:21,187 --> 00:15:23,121 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): To reach the wreck site, 249 00:15:23,189 --> 00:15:26,324 the Agulhas II has been sailing around the northern edge 250 00:15:26,393 --> 00:15:28,125 of the ice pack. 251 00:15:28,194 --> 00:15:30,995 She will only head into the thicker ice when she has to. 252 00:15:34,266 --> 00:15:37,535 This sea ice is what explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton faced 253 00:15:37,603 --> 00:15:39,003 more than 100 years ago. 254 00:15:43,009 --> 00:15:45,142 EDWARD J. LARSON: When Shackleton took his ship 255 00:15:45,211 --> 00:15:48,746 into the Weddell Sea, he knew there was a tremendous risk 256 00:15:48,815 --> 00:15:50,014 that he'd never make it out alive. 257 00:15:52,885 --> 00:15:53,751 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Caught 258 00:15:53,953 --> 00:15:56,887 on camera by photographer Frank Hurley, 259 00:15:56,957 --> 00:15:59,490 the Endurance picks her way through hundreds 260 00:15:59,559 --> 00:16:03,828 of miles of pack ice. 261 00:16:03,896 --> 00:16:07,165 But how could the 144 foot wooden ship 262 00:16:07,233 --> 00:16:11,002 avoid the fate of the Titanic just two years previously? 263 00:16:15,241 --> 00:16:19,977 Wreck archaeologist Mensun Bound is studying the ship's plans. 264 00:16:20,046 --> 00:16:22,913 This is the original design for the Endurance. 265 00:16:22,983 --> 00:16:26,183 She really was a beautiful, beautiful vessel. 266 00:16:26,252 --> 00:16:31,322 If you look at her bow, you can see it's got four huge oaken 267 00:16:31,391 --> 00:16:32,523 timbers here. 268 00:16:32,592 --> 00:16:36,260 That's two times more than any other ship that I know of. 269 00:16:36,328 --> 00:16:39,997 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Her bow is over 4 feet thick. 270 00:16:40,066 --> 00:16:44,936 The keel or spine of the ship is 7 feet of solid oak. 271 00:16:45,004 --> 00:16:47,738 And to stop her being ripped apart by ice, 272 00:16:47,807 --> 00:16:50,007 her hull is cloaked in a wood called 273 00:16:50,076 --> 00:16:55,346 green heart, so durable and strong that it's heavier 274 00:16:55,414 --> 00:16:57,548 than iron. 275 00:16:57,750 --> 00:17:01,018 It is extraordinarily hard. 276 00:17:01,087 --> 00:17:05,956 It's so hard, you can't even drive a nail into it. 277 00:17:06,025 --> 00:17:09,093 But this is what Shackleton needed, because it 278 00:17:09,162 --> 00:17:12,163 is resistant to the kind of wear, and tear, and abrasion 279 00:17:12,231 --> 00:17:15,500 that this hull is going to have to withstand once it got 280 00:17:15,568 --> 00:17:17,101 into the Antarctic. 281 00:17:17,170 --> 00:17:18,368 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Shackleton named his ship 282 00:17:18,438 --> 00:17:25,910 Endurance after his family motto, by endurance we conquer. 283 00:17:25,979 --> 00:17:27,712 And the Endurance will need all her strength 284 00:17:27,914 --> 00:17:30,014 as she sails further into the ice. 285 00:17:36,055 --> 00:17:37,855 While the ice makes getting to the wreck site 286 00:17:37,924 --> 00:17:42,193 a massive challenge, these frigid waters 287 00:17:42,262 --> 00:17:45,463 are also the reason Shackleton's wooden ship is likely preserved 288 00:17:45,665 --> 00:17:48,799 at the bottom of the sea. 289 00:17:48,868 --> 00:17:50,735 In warmer seas, marine creatures eat 290 00:17:50,803 --> 00:17:53,671 wooden ships, the most destructive 291 00:17:53,739 --> 00:17:57,075 a mollusk called a ship worm. 292 00:17:57,277 --> 00:18:02,546 Ship worm can be incredibly destructive to wooden ships. 293 00:18:02,615 --> 00:18:04,148 And they are voracious. 294 00:18:04,217 --> 00:18:06,551 They just eat anything and everything in no time at all. 295 00:18:06,753 --> 00:18:08,753 They can be up to two feet long. 296 00:18:08,821 --> 00:18:10,988 And they just eat, eat, eat, eat. 297 00:18:16,095 --> 00:18:16,961 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Recent experiments 298 00:18:17,163 --> 00:18:19,697 have revealed that ship worms can't survive 299 00:18:19,766 --> 00:18:21,999 in the freezing Antarctic waters. 300 00:18:25,104 --> 00:18:27,104 And newly discovered wrecks from Northern Canada 301 00:18:27,173 --> 00:18:31,442 prove that icy seas can preserve wooden ships even older 302 00:18:31,511 --> 00:18:32,009 than the Endurance. 303 00:18:36,048 --> 00:18:38,449 But even if it's well preserved, the Endurance 304 00:18:38,651 --> 00:18:41,986 rests 10,000 feet down. 305 00:18:42,055 --> 00:18:45,990 And right now, the sea there is entirely frozen over. 306 00:18:52,932 --> 00:18:53,998 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The crew 307 00:18:54,066 --> 00:18:56,000 is now beyond the reach of helicopter rescue. 308 00:18:59,072 --> 00:19:02,006 If something goes wrong, they're on their own. 309 00:19:09,082 --> 00:19:12,149 They've reached the west side of the Weddell Sea, 310 00:19:12,218 --> 00:19:16,020 as close as they can get to the wreck site in open water. 311 00:19:16,089 --> 00:19:20,992 Beyond their position is pack ice up to 16 feet thick. 312 00:19:26,966 --> 00:19:30,500 Chad and Devin want to test their AUV subs 313 00:19:30,570 --> 00:19:33,104 under a nearby ice floe. 314 00:19:33,172 --> 00:19:34,504 We'll be going into sea trials where we're actually 315 00:19:34,574 --> 00:19:35,973 going to launch the AUV. 316 00:19:36,175 --> 00:19:41,044 We'll go ahead and release it, send it underwater. 317 00:19:41,113 --> 00:19:41,846 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): At the wreck site, 318 00:19:42,048 --> 00:19:45,716 the AUVs will dive down and use sonar 319 00:19:45,785 --> 00:19:48,118 to scan the seabed for the wreck. 320 00:19:48,187 --> 00:19:53,191 It may sound simple, but even testing the AUVs like this 321 00:19:53,393 --> 00:19:54,859 is risky. 322 00:19:54,927 --> 00:19:58,996 They've never been under Antarctic ice. 323 00:19:59,064 --> 00:20:02,933 AUV team leader Channing Thomas knows the dangers. 324 00:20:03,002 --> 00:20:06,937 CHANNING THOMAS: There is a lot of pressure. 325 00:20:07,006 --> 00:20:11,142 If this works, it's going to be extraordinary. 326 00:20:11,210 --> 00:20:13,143 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Two years of planning 327 00:20:13,213 --> 00:20:17,415 and tens of millions of dollars rests on the AUV sub doing 328 00:20:17,483 --> 00:20:20,017 its job right. 329 00:20:20,219 --> 00:20:22,286 DEVON JAMES: We're being extra cautious before we put it 330 00:20:22,488 --> 00:20:23,221 in the water. 331 00:20:23,423 --> 00:20:25,990 Once we launch it, there's no turning back. 332 00:20:28,628 --> 00:20:29,760 CHAD BONIN: All right. 333 00:20:29,829 --> 00:20:30,995 Let's go get us a successful launch. 334 00:20:43,443 --> 00:20:43,774 All right. 335 00:20:43,976 --> 00:20:45,009 Crank up hydraulics. 336 00:20:49,315 --> 00:20:50,314 Yeah. 337 00:20:50,516 --> 00:20:53,517 We definitely don't see this in the Gulf of Mexico. 338 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:54,986 MAN (ON RADIO): [inaudible]. 339 00:21:02,594 --> 00:21:03,527 MAN: AUV in the water. 340 00:21:03,730 --> 00:21:03,995 CHAD BONIN: Like a torpedo. 341 00:21:06,332 --> 00:21:07,331 All right. 342 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,000 Looking good. 343 00:21:09,202 --> 00:21:11,002 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): All systems are go. 344 00:21:14,674 --> 00:21:16,340 Stay back here and monitor. 345 00:21:16,409 --> 00:21:17,341 Roger that. 346 00:21:17,410 --> 00:21:18,009 Ready to dive? 347 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:22,013 30 seconds till it dives. 348 00:21:36,429 --> 00:21:36,994 Come on, cowboy. 349 00:21:42,368 --> 00:21:43,233 Good job. 350 00:21:43,303 --> 00:21:43,834 Good job. 351 00:21:43,903 --> 00:21:45,002 It's done a good job. 352 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:49,640 It's a great relief to finally get it under. 353 00:21:49,708 --> 00:21:51,008 We're on our first mission. 354 00:21:54,981 --> 00:21:57,915 Now we can pull forward a little more. 355 00:21:57,984 --> 00:22:01,252 AUV's getting down to 300 meters right now. 356 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:02,853 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): While the team tracks the AUV 357 00:22:02,922 --> 00:22:07,858 sub, expedition archaeologist Mensun Bound 358 00:22:07,927 --> 00:22:10,995 investigates how Shackleton's ship ended up 359 00:22:11,063 --> 00:22:14,998 on this side of the Weddell Sea a century ago. 360 00:22:15,068 --> 00:22:17,935 Here he is coming down the coast of the Weddell Sea 361 00:22:18,004 --> 00:22:21,004 and all the while working his way south, south. 362 00:22:21,074 --> 00:22:24,208 But as he's going, the ice is becoming more and more 363 00:22:24,276 --> 00:22:27,277 dense and impenetrable until eventually he gets all the way 364 00:22:27,347 --> 00:22:28,212 down here. 365 00:22:28,281 --> 00:22:32,149 And right here is where he becomes beset. 366 00:22:32,351 --> 00:22:34,752 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Just 60 miles from the South 367 00:22:34,821 --> 00:22:36,820 Coast of the Weddell Sea, the ice pack 368 00:22:36,889 --> 00:22:39,557 freezes solid around Shackleton's ship. 369 00:22:39,625 --> 00:22:40,991 The Endurance is trapped. 370 00:22:51,237 --> 00:22:52,903 LEONARD HUSSEY (VOICEOVER): The temperature suddenly dropped 371 00:22:52,972 --> 00:22:56,507 from 20 degrees above 0 to 20 degrees below. 372 00:22:56,576 --> 00:22:57,507 The whole sea froze over. 373 00:22:57,576 --> 00:22:58,976 And we froze in with it. 374 00:22:59,178 --> 00:23:01,778 Of course, we had no explosive to blast our way out 375 00:23:01,847 --> 00:23:05,916 but we just had picks and shovels. 376 00:23:05,985 --> 00:23:06,983 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): For 40 hours, 377 00:23:07,052 --> 00:23:10,387 his men fight desperately but they can't free her 378 00:23:10,456 --> 00:23:10,988 from the ice. 379 00:23:15,928 --> 00:23:20,197 And at that moment, Shackleton's heart 380 00:23:20,266 --> 00:23:24,802 sank because he knew, because it was so late in the season, 381 00:23:24,871 --> 00:23:28,071 that he was frozen in place for winter. 382 00:23:28,140 --> 00:23:29,740 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): And in the six month 383 00:23:29,809 --> 00:23:32,609 long Antarctic winter, just staying 384 00:23:32,678 --> 00:23:35,946 alive is nearly impossible. 385 00:23:36,148 --> 00:23:38,549 ERIC LARSEN: Everything is pushing against you. 386 00:23:38,617 --> 00:23:40,617 It's trying to kill you. 387 00:23:40,686 --> 00:23:43,887 That cold is physically painful. 388 00:23:43,956 --> 00:23:46,891 Any piece of exposed skin, just a little bit 389 00:23:47,093 --> 00:23:49,626 of a gap in your clothing, that's like somebody 390 00:23:49,695 --> 00:23:52,095 cutting your face with a knife. 391 00:23:52,164 --> 00:23:56,567 CONRAD ANKER: The wind's unrelenting and the snow driven 392 00:23:56,636 --> 00:23:59,003 like needles into your face. 393 00:24:00,973 --> 00:24:02,439 SCOTT SHACKLETON: I was at the South Pole. 394 00:24:02,508 --> 00:24:03,841 It was so cold. 395 00:24:04,043 --> 00:24:06,643 I removed my glove for just about a minute, 396 00:24:06,712 --> 00:24:08,579 maybe a minute and 20 seconds. 397 00:24:08,647 --> 00:24:09,847 And my thumb froze solid. 398 00:24:10,049 --> 00:24:13,183 And you think about Shackleton and his men 399 00:24:13,252 --> 00:24:16,587 out there in wool, and cotton, and things that weren't really 400 00:24:16,656 --> 00:24:17,988 designed for that environment. 401 00:24:22,061 --> 00:24:24,995 It just reminds me how tough those men were. 402 00:24:29,001 --> 00:24:30,401 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The Endurance 403 00:24:30,603 --> 00:24:32,069 is completely stuck. 404 00:24:32,137 --> 00:24:37,475 But she's 550 miles from where she will finally sink. 405 00:24:37,677 --> 00:24:39,009 So how did she get there? 406 00:24:42,081 --> 00:24:46,617 Turns out the Endurance is still on the move 407 00:24:46,686 --> 00:24:49,887 because the ice is on the move. 408 00:24:50,089 --> 00:24:51,555 ERIC LARSEN: While it may look like a land mass, 409 00:24:51,623 --> 00:24:52,990 it's floating on water. 410 00:24:56,295 --> 00:24:59,763 That means whatever the water is doing, whatever the wind is 411 00:24:59,832 --> 00:25:04,101 doing, that affects that surface. 412 00:25:04,170 --> 00:25:05,970 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Strong currents and winds 413 00:25:06,038 --> 00:25:08,572 in the Weddell Sea spin the entire ice pack 414 00:25:08,774 --> 00:25:10,007 in a giant clockwise rotation. 415 00:25:13,111 --> 00:25:17,014 For 10 months, the Endurance moves with the ice. 416 00:25:22,388 --> 00:25:26,790 MENSUN BOUND: This is the route that the Endurance was carried. 417 00:25:26,859 --> 00:25:32,129 We can follow the route very precisely. 418 00:25:32,197 --> 00:25:33,931 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The crew was trapped, 419 00:25:34,133 --> 00:25:37,801 but they had reason to believe they would escape. 420 00:25:37,870 --> 00:25:40,070 Several years before, another ship, 421 00:25:40,139 --> 00:25:43,340 a ship called the Deutschland, had also become beset 422 00:25:43,408 --> 00:25:44,207 down here. 423 00:25:44,276 --> 00:25:46,009 Because the Deutschland was eventually 424 00:25:46,078 --> 00:25:48,879 released from the ice, the people on the Endurance 425 00:25:49,081 --> 00:25:51,015 thought the same thing would happen to them. 426 00:25:55,354 --> 00:25:58,021 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Out on deck in the early hours 427 00:25:58,090 --> 00:26:00,557 of the morning, the team is waiting for their AUV sub 428 00:26:00,626 --> 00:26:04,494 to return from its test run. 429 00:26:04,563 --> 00:26:05,829 But there's a problem. 430 00:26:05,898 --> 00:26:09,033 I don't know what the hell is going on. 431 00:26:09,235 --> 00:26:10,900 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): They've lost all contact 432 00:26:10,970 --> 00:26:15,005 with their brand new multimillion dollar sub. 433 00:26:18,044 --> 00:26:20,577 BLAKE HOWARD: Everything started to go well. 434 00:26:20,646 --> 00:26:24,448 We were gaining confidence. 435 00:26:24,517 --> 00:26:26,984 And then we lost it. 436 00:26:27,053 --> 00:26:32,656 When we saw that it did not surface in front of us 437 00:26:32,858 --> 00:26:35,526 or to either side of us, we figured 438 00:26:35,594 --> 00:26:39,195 it had to be in the ice. 439 00:26:39,264 --> 00:26:42,599 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The team needs to move fast. 440 00:26:42,668 --> 00:26:45,936 The AUV has 54 hours of battery. 441 00:26:46,005 --> 00:26:49,006 If the battery dies, they'll never get it back. 442 00:26:49,075 --> 00:26:53,877 That's a multimillion dollar loss they can't take. 443 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,613 We're going to search that area right there. 444 00:26:56,682 --> 00:26:59,950 The AUV has two flashes on it. 445 00:27:00,019 --> 00:27:03,153 And the general idea is to get the ROV down deep, 446 00:27:03,221 --> 00:27:07,891 turn off all our lights, and hopefully see those beacons. 447 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,828 MENSUN BOUND: Right now, I'm very worried. 448 00:27:11,030 --> 00:27:14,565 From day one, we recognized that our nemesis 449 00:27:14,767 --> 00:27:16,099 was going to be the ice pack. 450 00:27:16,168 --> 00:27:19,903 Just as it was Shackleton's, so was it going to be ours. 451 00:27:19,972 --> 00:27:24,008 And hey what, it's proved to be just that. 452 00:27:30,249 --> 00:27:34,718 After hours of tension, AUV operator Blake Howard finally 453 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,988 detects a signal from the missing sub. 454 00:27:44,329 --> 00:27:48,932 The sub is within a mile of the ship somewhere under the ice. 455 00:27:49,001 --> 00:27:50,801 The first ping when it actually did come through 456 00:27:50,869 --> 00:27:54,138 was a great feeling for everybody. 457 00:27:54,206 --> 00:27:57,207 It was extremely exciting for her to actually talk back 458 00:27:57,276 --> 00:27:58,141 to us. 459 00:27:58,210 --> 00:28:01,211 And it gave us a direction to head towards. 460 00:28:01,279 --> 00:28:03,813 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The team continues pinging 461 00:28:03,882 --> 00:28:05,983 the sub to triangulate its location. 462 00:28:13,759 --> 00:28:16,693 Then they pick up a response. 463 00:28:16,762 --> 00:28:18,695 That was almost definitely a hit, 464 00:28:18,764 --> 00:28:20,998 so it's got to be within range. 465 00:28:24,103 --> 00:28:26,303 MENSUN BOUND: Compared to where we were two hours ago. 466 00:28:26,371 --> 00:28:27,304 Yes, sir. 467 00:28:27,506 --> 00:28:28,572 Exactly right. 468 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:29,006 So we're getting there. 469 00:28:37,583 --> 00:28:38,648 What are we looking at? 470 00:28:38,717 --> 00:28:41,251 3 meters to 7 meters, Captain? 471 00:28:41,319 --> 00:28:41,985 Yeah. 472 00:28:45,124 --> 00:28:46,256 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): To reach the sub, 473 00:28:46,325 --> 00:28:51,128 the Agulhas must get closer, penetrating a 20 foot thick ice 474 00:28:51,197 --> 00:28:54,464 wall that's well beyond what their ship is built to break, 475 00:28:54,533 --> 00:28:55,999 but they have no choice. 476 00:29:07,879 --> 00:29:10,547 The Agulhas II doesn't ram the ice. 477 00:29:10,616 --> 00:29:13,951 It rides up onto the ice. 478 00:29:14,019 --> 00:29:17,821 And under the weight of the 14,000 ton ship, 479 00:29:17,889 --> 00:29:19,990 the ice floe starts to break apart. 480 00:29:25,297 --> 00:29:30,000 DAVE O'HARA: The AUV is about here, about 200 meters away. 481 00:29:39,912 --> 00:29:40,777 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Each strike 482 00:29:40,846 --> 00:29:43,580 releases colossal ice chunks bigger 483 00:29:43,648 --> 00:29:46,783 than the size of a house. 484 00:29:46,852 --> 00:29:48,852 By the time they're done, the ship's 485 00:29:49,054 --> 00:29:51,989 smashed away 114 football fields worth of ice. 486 00:29:57,062 --> 00:29:58,728 CHANNING THOMAS: We're going to launch the ROV. 487 00:29:58,797 --> 00:29:59,929 We're going to go in and locate it. 488 00:29:59,998 --> 00:30:01,999 And basically, they're going to drag her out. 489 00:30:14,146 --> 00:30:15,745 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Across the ship, 490 00:30:15,815 --> 00:30:18,015 all eyes are glued to the live feed. 491 00:30:26,158 --> 00:30:28,992 DAVE O'HARA: Right now we are at six and 1/2 meters. 492 00:30:33,498 --> 00:30:34,298 And under the ice. 493 00:30:34,366 --> 00:30:35,365 MAN: Hey. 494 00:30:35,434 --> 00:30:36,900 Is that an AUV? 495 00:30:36,969 --> 00:30:40,503 DAVE O'HARA: And we've got the AUV visual. 496 00:30:40,572 --> 00:30:41,572 MAN (ON RADIO): Roger. 497 00:30:41,774 --> 00:30:42,773 Tell the bridge we got a vis. 498 00:30:42,975 --> 00:30:44,574 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Binding 499 00:30:44,643 --> 00:30:47,710 the AUV is a huge relief. 500 00:30:47,779 --> 00:30:50,981 But now they need to break it out. 501 00:30:51,049 --> 00:30:54,584 You can see the end of the SUV with the prop, 502 00:30:54,653 --> 00:30:55,986 so it's definitely in a crack. 503 00:30:58,791 --> 00:31:00,791 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Dave 504 00:31:00,993 --> 00:31:03,460 has to grab the AUV with the robot arm. 505 00:31:03,662 --> 00:31:05,128 DAVE O'HARA: All right. 506 00:31:05,196 --> 00:31:07,998 So you're pretty much going to have to fly me into it. 507 00:31:14,473 --> 00:31:15,005 Come on, Bubba. 508 00:31:18,677 --> 00:31:20,010 Slow, slow, slow, slow, slow. 509 00:31:32,291 --> 00:31:35,692 As soon as we started the move, the fish dropped away below us. 510 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:36,994 We got to go chase a fish down. 511 00:31:39,965 --> 00:31:41,999 I can't walk in there, but I'll try again. 512 00:31:59,318 --> 00:31:59,983 Ugh. 513 00:32:10,996 --> 00:32:12,929 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): At this depth, 514 00:32:12,998 --> 00:32:15,598 the weight of water pressing down on the AUV 515 00:32:15,668 --> 00:32:19,069 is equivalent to two jumbo jets. 516 00:32:19,138 --> 00:32:24,341 Pilot Dave O'Hara is finding that fishing at this depth 517 00:32:24,543 --> 00:32:26,009 is far from easy. 518 00:32:39,625 --> 00:32:40,991 The hook has to hold. 519 00:32:49,501 --> 00:32:50,233 DAVE O'HARA: Yeah. 520 00:32:50,302 --> 00:32:51,768 Copy. 521 00:32:51,836 --> 00:32:53,970 You could probably get the bridge 522 00:32:54,039 --> 00:32:58,041 to start moving real slowly forward now I'm in. 523 00:32:58,109 --> 00:32:59,976 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): After four days, 524 00:33:00,045 --> 00:33:03,013 the AUV is finally in hand and on the way up. 525 00:33:14,793 --> 00:33:15,993 MAN (ON RADIO): Visual on the AUV. 526 00:33:19,464 --> 00:33:20,330 We got a hook. 527 00:33:20,398 --> 00:33:21,465 All right. 528 00:33:21,667 --> 00:33:24,134 Back down a little bit. 529 00:33:24,336 --> 00:33:25,468 Woo. 530 00:33:25,537 --> 00:33:26,003 That's cold, buddy. 531 00:33:29,207 --> 00:33:30,340 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): After a very close call, 532 00:33:30,409 --> 00:33:32,009 the AUV is safe. 533 00:33:36,548 --> 00:33:37,347 CHAD BONIN: All right. 534 00:33:37,549 --> 00:33:38,982 Coming up easy. 535 00:33:47,426 --> 00:33:50,293 Got it, Paul. 536 00:33:50,362 --> 00:33:51,161 That's it. 537 00:33:51,229 --> 00:33:54,698 I just I'm glad to have it on board. 538 00:33:54,900 --> 00:33:58,167 It's been a rough four or five days. 539 00:33:58,236 --> 00:34:00,570 So it'll be nice to actually get a full night's sleep instead 540 00:34:00,772 --> 00:34:02,005 of a few hours here and there. 541 00:34:04,243 --> 00:34:05,175 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): With the critical gear 542 00:34:05,243 --> 00:34:09,645 now on board, the hunt for the wreck is back on. 543 00:34:09,714 --> 00:34:11,014 The team can now press ahead. 544 00:34:26,197 --> 00:34:31,201 After a near disaster, the team can move forward again. 545 00:34:31,269 --> 00:34:34,271 But they're still 230 miles from where Shackleton's ship went 546 00:34:34,339 --> 00:34:35,005 down. 547 00:34:37,275 --> 00:34:41,011 And in that area, the sea is still entirely covered in ice. 548 00:34:44,282 --> 00:34:47,751 Shackleton and his ship drifted into this northwestern part 549 00:34:47,819 --> 00:34:54,758 of the Weddell Sea in October 1915. 550 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:56,960 For 10 long months, they'd been locked 551 00:34:57,028 --> 00:35:02,098 in the ice in a bitter struggle for survival. 552 00:35:02,167 --> 00:35:06,636 It's so damn cold, if you don't have an elaborate safety 553 00:35:06,705 --> 00:35:11,241 net of equipment, you'll die. 554 00:35:11,309 --> 00:35:13,977 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Shackleton's only safety net 555 00:35:14,179 --> 00:35:17,447 is his ship, but now the mounting pressure in the ice 556 00:35:17,649 --> 00:35:20,783 is breaking it apart. 557 00:35:20,852 --> 00:35:21,852 EDWARD J. LARSON: They're in the ship. 558 00:35:22,054 --> 00:35:25,789 They can hear this ice moving against the ship. 559 00:35:25,857 --> 00:35:27,724 You hear the creaking of the ship. 560 00:35:27,926 --> 00:35:30,059 You hear the pressure on the joints. 561 00:35:30,129 --> 00:35:34,731 You never know if the ship's just going to break apart. 562 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:36,532 WALTER HOWE (VOICEOVER): The timbers 563 00:35:36,601 --> 00:35:39,202 began to crack and groan. 564 00:35:39,271 --> 00:35:42,005 It was they were like heavy fireworks and blasting of guns. 565 00:35:54,219 --> 00:35:59,155 To see the pack ice move in and just squeeze the life out 566 00:35:59,224 --> 00:36:07,998 of that boat, it must have been so trying and so depressing. 567 00:36:11,169 --> 00:36:12,435 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Mother nature overwhelms 568 00:36:12,638 --> 00:36:14,004 the mighty Endurance. 569 00:36:17,175 --> 00:36:20,010 Finally, Shackleton gives the order to abandon ship. 570 00:36:25,183 --> 00:36:26,249 CONRAD ANKER: Their only hope was to take everything 571 00:36:26,318 --> 00:36:29,852 off that ship that they needed, and put it on their rescue 572 00:36:29,922 --> 00:36:35,858 boats, and then switch into survival mode. 573 00:36:35,928 --> 00:36:37,127 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The 28 men 574 00:36:37,329 --> 00:36:42,999 and 49 dogs can only watch as the Endurance is overwhelmed. 575 00:36:47,005 --> 00:36:48,938 I can only imagine what it was like for him when 576 00:36:49,007 --> 00:36:51,540 he sat there, stood on the ice, and watched 577 00:36:51,610 --> 00:36:53,009 it just slowly implode. 578 00:36:55,814 --> 00:36:57,948 Just a piece of his heart and soul 579 00:36:58,150 --> 00:36:59,983 probably went down with that ship when it went. 580 00:37:03,955 --> 00:37:05,622 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The ship 581 00:37:05,691 --> 00:37:07,991 disappears beneath the surface. 582 00:37:12,964 --> 00:37:17,233 Shackleton and his men are truly alone. 583 00:37:17,302 --> 00:37:21,771 I think they were much more lonely than I was on Apollo 13, 584 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:24,774 because I had communication with home. 585 00:37:24,843 --> 00:37:26,910 Shackleton, he didn't have a radio. 586 00:37:27,112 --> 00:37:31,314 He didn't have Wi-Fi, didn't have a cell phone. 587 00:37:31,516 --> 00:37:32,983 He was alone. 588 00:37:35,053 --> 00:37:37,120 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Shackleton's dream 589 00:37:37,189 --> 00:37:40,523 of becoming the first man to cross Antarctica is ultimately 590 00:37:40,726 --> 00:37:42,993 crushed along with his ship. 591 00:37:48,132 --> 00:37:52,002 This is where his real battle for survival begins. 592 00:37:57,142 --> 00:38:01,144 Back on the Agulhas II, Mensun searches the records. 593 00:38:01,212 --> 00:38:04,347 He believes these hold the secret to understanding how 594 00:38:04,416 --> 00:38:05,015 the ship sank. 595 00:38:07,219 --> 00:38:11,688 You see in this picture here, the stern rose up 45 degrees. 596 00:38:11,756 --> 00:38:13,957 The bow went even further down. 597 00:38:14,025 --> 00:38:19,028 And then she just slid and was gone in minutes. 598 00:38:19,097 --> 00:38:21,831 All this clutter that you see in this picture here, 599 00:38:21,899 --> 00:38:25,034 all these masts and yards, all that 600 00:38:25,103 --> 00:38:27,170 was still attached to the ship when it went down. 601 00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:31,240 And that would have imposed an incredible drag on the sinking 602 00:38:31,309 --> 00:38:32,441 ship. 603 00:38:32,510 --> 00:38:34,444 That would have kept her upright and would, to some extent, 604 00:38:34,646 --> 00:38:36,245 have slowed her down. 605 00:38:36,315 --> 00:38:37,780 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): As Mensun Bound reviews records 606 00:38:37,849 --> 00:38:40,783 about the Endurance, suddenly there's 607 00:38:40,852 --> 00:38:43,987 another crisis aboard the Agulhas II. 608 00:38:56,401 --> 00:38:58,001 Pod's gone. 609 00:39:05,343 --> 00:39:07,877 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): While rescuing the AUV sub, 610 00:39:07,945 --> 00:39:09,813 a critical part of the underwater robot 611 00:39:10,015 --> 00:39:12,682 has imploded under the extreme pressures 612 00:39:12,750 --> 00:39:15,017 10,000 feet below the surface. 613 00:39:15,086 --> 00:39:21,691 The robot's electronic brain is now mangled metal. 614 00:39:21,893 --> 00:39:25,028 We've got a catastrophic failure. 615 00:39:25,230 --> 00:39:30,700 We don't have all the electronics to rebuild the ROV. 616 00:39:30,769 --> 00:39:32,368 I don't know what to say, really. 617 00:39:32,437 --> 00:39:33,169 I just don't. 618 00:39:33,371 --> 00:39:34,437 Yeah. 619 00:39:34,505 --> 00:39:35,004 I'm speechless. 620 00:39:38,109 --> 00:39:39,108 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The aluminum pod 621 00:39:39,177 --> 00:39:42,379 was designed to withstand pressure nearly three miles 622 00:39:42,581 --> 00:39:44,047 below the surface. 623 00:39:44,115 --> 00:39:46,983 But Steve thinks the combination of extreme cold 624 00:39:47,051 --> 00:39:49,519 and a material flaw has caused it to be crushed. 625 00:39:49,587 --> 00:39:51,120 This is what we found. 626 00:39:51,189 --> 00:39:53,389 One half of the bottle has pancaked into the other half 627 00:39:53,458 --> 00:39:54,858 of the bottle. 628 00:39:54,926 --> 00:39:56,726 They were quite substantial electronics. 629 00:39:56,794 --> 00:39:58,661 And they've been entirely crushed. 630 00:39:58,864 --> 00:40:00,796 This is the first time in my career 631 00:40:00,865 --> 00:40:01,998 that I've ever seen this firsthand. 632 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:05,001 This is an example of what hydraulic pressure can do. 633 00:40:06,805 --> 00:40:08,070 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): It's 634 00:40:08,140 --> 00:40:12,475 a bitter blow for expedition archeologist Mensun Bound. 635 00:40:12,544 --> 00:40:13,943 The worst possible news. 636 00:40:14,011 --> 00:40:17,547 I mean, to lose our electronics like that, 637 00:40:17,615 --> 00:40:19,615 there is no replacement. 638 00:40:19,684 --> 00:40:21,484 We can't fly in spare parts. 639 00:40:21,686 --> 00:40:24,019 There's nothing we can do. 640 00:40:24,088 --> 00:40:26,890 This was what I was going to use to study the wreck, 641 00:40:26,958 --> 00:40:28,992 really eyeball to eyeball with the wreck. 642 00:40:40,906 --> 00:40:42,838 The hunt for Shackleton's Endurance 643 00:40:42,907 --> 00:40:46,575 is stalled thanks to equipment failure. 644 00:40:46,644 --> 00:40:48,110 And there's a new problem. 645 00:40:48,180 --> 00:40:51,647 The bridge learns their closest route to the wreck site 646 00:40:51,716 --> 00:40:53,983 is now totally blocked by ice. 647 00:40:56,855 --> 00:40:59,188 Analyzing daily satellite photographs, 648 00:40:59,257 --> 00:41:04,794 ice pilot Freddy Lighthelm is hunting for another way in. 649 00:41:04,863 --> 00:41:07,063 We can actually approach the search site 650 00:41:07,131 --> 00:41:09,399 coming right around all the ice and approaching it 651 00:41:09,601 --> 00:41:11,067 from the southeast. 652 00:41:11,135 --> 00:41:15,872 With a bit of luck, we can be cautiously optimistic. 653 00:41:15,941 --> 00:41:18,007 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The new plan 654 00:41:18,076 --> 00:41:21,810 is to go the long way around, skirt the pack ice, 655 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:24,747 and then head toward the wreck site. 656 00:41:24,816 --> 00:41:27,016 CHAD BONIN: I'm excited about it. 657 00:41:27,085 --> 00:41:29,552 You can't beat the smile off my face right about now. 658 00:41:29,754 --> 00:41:32,822 You know, finally getting there. 659 00:41:32,890 --> 00:41:35,091 To be in the same area where he was at 660 00:41:35,159 --> 00:41:42,565 and to finally locate that ship is just an excitement 661 00:41:42,634 --> 00:41:44,167 that I really can't explain. 662 00:41:44,235 --> 00:41:45,902 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Finding Shackleton's ship 663 00:41:45,970 --> 00:41:48,004 is the ultimate goal of this expedition. 664 00:41:51,910 --> 00:41:54,977 But 100 years ago, losing the Endurance 665 00:41:55,046 --> 00:41:57,647 was just the start of a journey that would make 666 00:41:57,715 --> 00:41:59,015 Ernest Shackleton a legend. 667 00:42:05,856 --> 00:42:08,457 Stranded on the ice, Shackleton's men 668 00:42:08,527 --> 00:42:11,060 face impossible odds. 669 00:42:11,262 --> 00:42:15,598 But they have blind faith in the man they call the boss. 670 00:42:15,667 --> 00:42:17,934 There's this classic quote. 671 00:42:18,003 --> 00:42:20,936 And to paraphrase it, when the chips are down 672 00:42:21,005 --> 00:42:23,539 and all hope is gone, get down on your knees 673 00:42:23,608 --> 00:42:26,008 and pray for Shackleton. 674 00:42:26,077 --> 00:42:28,010 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Shackleton orders 675 00:42:28,079 --> 00:42:32,015 his men to march for land 200 miles across the ice. 676 00:42:35,219 --> 00:42:41,624 Shackleton has these massive sleds with full wooden boats 677 00:42:41,693 --> 00:42:42,992 on them loaded with supplies. 678 00:42:47,231 --> 00:42:51,167 And you could come up to a massive pressure ridge, blocks 679 00:42:51,236 --> 00:42:57,373 of ice as big as semi trucks that are shoved up into the air 680 00:42:57,442 --> 00:42:59,175 10, 15, 20 feet. 681 00:42:59,244 --> 00:43:05,048 And so as you're approaching it, it basically is a wall of ice. 682 00:43:05,116 --> 00:43:07,050 I mean I don't like to say things are impossible, 683 00:43:07,118 --> 00:43:08,985 but I don't know how they would get over that stuff. 684 00:43:12,323 --> 00:43:13,456 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The men cover only nine miles 685 00:43:13,525 --> 00:43:16,992 of pack ice in a week. 686 00:43:17,061 --> 00:43:22,131 Shackleton realizes reaching land is impossible. 687 00:43:22,199 --> 00:43:26,603 To make matters worse, they're slowly starving to death. 688 00:43:26,805 --> 00:43:29,072 As food supplies run out, they're 689 00:43:29,140 --> 00:43:31,607 forced to eat the only things that brought them joy 690 00:43:31,676 --> 00:43:35,077 in the wilderness, their dogs. 691 00:43:35,146 --> 00:43:38,615 CONRAD ANKER: The companionship that the dogs provided 692 00:43:38,817 --> 00:43:42,084 the team was quite significant. 693 00:43:42,153 --> 00:43:47,956 That moment must have been hard on an emotional point, 694 00:43:48,026 --> 00:43:52,561 but it was also a mirror of how extended they were 695 00:43:52,631 --> 00:43:55,164 and how precarious life was. 696 00:43:55,233 --> 00:44:00,003 If you're shooting your dogs, you're on the down and outs. 697 00:44:04,042 --> 00:44:05,908 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Then as the ice 698 00:44:05,976 --> 00:44:09,845 they're on drifts closer to the open ocean, 699 00:44:09,914 --> 00:44:12,015 it starts to break apart beneath them. 700 00:44:20,858 --> 00:44:22,925 And they have to rush onto their boats. 701 00:44:22,994 --> 00:44:26,062 They have to throw their things on their boats. 702 00:44:26,130 --> 00:44:28,464 They have to get into these boats with everything 703 00:44:28,533 --> 00:44:31,200 they need to survive. 704 00:44:31,269 --> 00:44:36,539 ERIC LARSEN: They have no choice but to go from relative safety 705 00:44:36,741 --> 00:44:38,007 to basically certain death. 706 00:44:41,279 --> 00:44:42,812 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Shackleton has finally left 707 00:44:43,014 --> 00:44:46,015 the ice that's trapped him for 15 months. 708 00:44:46,217 --> 00:44:50,987 But now he faces a new danger, the open Weddell Sea. 709 00:44:56,227 --> 00:45:00,896 Even today, this sea is nearly impossible to navigate, 710 00:45:00,965 --> 00:45:04,000 as the crew of the Agulhas II is finding out. 711 00:45:07,105 --> 00:45:12,008 She's stuck in the ice, just like Shackleton's ship. 712 00:45:15,713 --> 00:45:16,512 MENSUN BOUND: We're stuck. 713 00:45:16,580 --> 00:45:18,914 We're in a whiteout. 714 00:45:18,983 --> 00:45:21,450 The ice is well over 3 meters thick, possibly 715 00:45:21,519 --> 00:45:22,584 even as much as 5. 716 00:45:22,653 --> 00:45:24,987 And we're way, way below 0. 717 00:45:28,059 --> 00:45:29,992 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): In the early hours 718 00:45:30,061 --> 00:45:32,461 of the morning, The ship was brought to a standstill 719 00:45:32,530 --> 00:45:34,930 by impenetrable fog. 720 00:45:34,999 --> 00:45:39,001 The ice moved in around her and froze her in. 721 00:45:42,807 --> 00:45:44,741 If the temperature drops further, 722 00:45:44,943 --> 00:45:47,076 the ice could trap the crew for days. 723 00:45:47,145 --> 00:45:50,279 And the harsh Antarctic winter is already barreling down 724 00:45:50,347 --> 00:45:51,480 on them. 725 00:45:51,549 --> 00:45:53,082 But Devon's got an idea. 726 00:45:53,150 --> 00:45:54,884 DEVON JAMES: Well, we could do like Shackleton did 727 00:45:55,086 --> 00:45:57,019 on the Endurance when they got stuck in the ice 728 00:45:57,222 --> 00:45:58,955 and had the whole crew run from one side of the vessel 729 00:45:59,023 --> 00:46:01,991 to the other together to rock the ship free. 730 00:46:05,363 --> 00:46:07,964 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Instead of using Shackleton's 731 00:46:08,166 --> 00:46:13,035 method, Captain Bengu tries a different solution, 732 00:46:13,104 --> 00:46:18,007 shifting a 40 ton container of fuel using his crane. 733 00:46:48,940 --> 00:46:52,074 CHAD BONIN: It sounds we're moving again. 734 00:46:52,143 --> 00:46:56,212 You can hear the distinct difference in the sound here. 735 00:46:56,280 --> 00:47:00,416 That's definitely ice scraping along the side of the vessel 736 00:47:00,618 --> 00:47:00,983 as we're moving forward. 737 00:47:17,234 --> 00:47:19,368 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): A century ago, Shackleton 738 00:47:19,437 --> 00:47:20,969 wasn't so lucky. 739 00:47:21,038 --> 00:47:25,041 When he and his men are forced onto lifeboats, 740 00:47:25,109 --> 00:47:27,376 they have to battle freezing winds and ice storms 741 00:47:27,578 --> 00:47:29,011 on the open ocean. 742 00:47:32,116 --> 00:47:36,451 Shackleton sets out for a tiny island 60 miles away. 743 00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:37,987 It's his final hope. 744 00:47:41,326 --> 00:47:44,593 MAN (VOICEOVER): On the seventh day at sea and barely alive, 745 00:47:44,662 --> 00:47:47,196 they miraculously spot land. 746 00:47:47,264 --> 00:47:51,467 WALTER HOWE (VOICEOVER): And when they saw Elephant Island, 747 00:47:51,535 --> 00:47:53,068 everybody cheered. 748 00:47:53,137 --> 00:47:59,075 And we pulled as hard as we could to make our landing. 749 00:47:59,143 --> 00:48:00,810 EDWARD J. LARSON: But it was a weird sort of euphoria 750 00:48:00,878 --> 00:48:02,945 because they hadn't made it home. 751 00:48:03,013 --> 00:48:08,017 They had made it onto a inhospitable rock. 752 00:48:08,086 --> 00:48:11,620 The first night there, what was left of their tents 753 00:48:11,689 --> 00:48:13,689 were just shredded in the wind. 754 00:48:13,891 --> 00:48:15,824 Humans were not meant to be there. 755 00:48:15,893 --> 00:48:19,695 The whalers didn't even come by there. 756 00:48:19,897 --> 00:48:20,963 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): They 757 00:48:21,032 --> 00:48:26,102 are on a tiny, storm battered pinprick of a rock. 758 00:48:26,304 --> 00:48:27,836 LEONARD HUSSEY (VOICEOVER): Of course, food was very short. 759 00:48:27,905 --> 00:48:30,772 We had very little except a little seal 760 00:48:30,841 --> 00:48:33,242 and penguin whenever they came up. 761 00:48:33,310 --> 00:48:35,578 EDWARD J. LARSON: Shackleton knew the men could not survive. 762 00:48:35,780 --> 00:48:37,513 Conditions would only get worse. 763 00:48:37,581 --> 00:48:39,915 He had to get help. 764 00:48:39,984 --> 00:48:43,986 And he knew he had to go as quick as possible. 765 00:48:44,188 --> 00:48:45,988 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): But the only way out 766 00:48:46,057 --> 00:48:48,991 is across the most dangerous ocean on the planet. 767 00:49:00,939 --> 00:49:03,739 507 days after he was first trapped by ice 768 00:49:03,941 --> 00:49:05,607 Shackleton begins the perilous journey 769 00:49:05,676 --> 00:49:08,944 that will make him a legend. 770 00:49:09,013 --> 00:49:12,147 Taking only five men, two barrels of water, 771 00:49:12,216 --> 00:49:15,284 and four weeks of food rations, he launches their largest 772 00:49:15,352 --> 00:49:15,985 lifeboat. 773 00:49:18,222 --> 00:49:21,824 There's a picture taken by Hurley with a little brownie 774 00:49:21,892 --> 00:49:23,892 camera, with a little camera he had. 775 00:49:23,961 --> 00:49:27,096 That picture scares the bejesus out of me, 776 00:49:27,298 --> 00:49:33,702 this tiny speck of a boat, them all waving bravely at them 777 00:49:33,771 --> 00:49:38,173 as if to give them encouragement. 778 00:49:38,242 --> 00:49:41,777 Most of them must have felt they were never going to make it 779 00:49:41,846 --> 00:49:43,012 and we're never going to be saved. 780 00:49:46,050 --> 00:49:47,983 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Shackleton's plan 781 00:49:48,052 --> 00:49:52,521 is to head to the island of South Georgia, 800 miles 782 00:49:52,590 --> 00:49:55,124 across the Southern Ocean. 783 00:49:55,326 --> 00:49:59,461 Southern Ocean is probably one of the most treacherous bodies 784 00:49:59,530 --> 00:50:03,265 of water on this planet. 785 00:50:03,334 --> 00:50:07,469 It's not uncommon to have winds in the 50, 60, 70 mile an hour, 786 00:50:07,538 --> 00:50:09,005 swells up to 100 foot. 787 00:50:09,207 --> 00:50:12,675 The water temperature is just a little above freezing. 788 00:50:12,743 --> 00:50:15,011 It can sink a vessel in seconds. 789 00:50:18,015 --> 00:50:21,550 It's like going up a hill or a mountain. 790 00:50:21,752 --> 00:50:22,885 And you go up, and up, and up. 791 00:50:23,087 --> 00:50:24,353 And then you reach the top and then you go down. 792 00:50:24,555 --> 00:50:25,988 And you skid down. 793 00:50:28,893 --> 00:50:30,559 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The odds 794 00:50:30,627 --> 00:50:32,961 are stacked against them. 795 00:50:33,031 --> 00:50:36,498 But Shackleton knows if he doesn't make it to land, 796 00:50:36,567 --> 00:50:38,000 all his men will perish. 797 00:50:44,041 --> 00:50:47,309 He finally spots the island of South Georgia. 798 00:50:47,512 --> 00:50:48,977 They made it. 799 00:50:49,047 --> 00:50:51,980 They had made the toughest crossing in the world, 800 00:50:52,049 --> 00:50:55,651 and a vessel never made that crossing before. 801 00:50:55,719 --> 00:50:57,987 There was a sense of euphoria. 802 00:51:01,325 --> 00:51:04,126 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): From his landing point at King 803 00:51:04,195 --> 00:51:07,530 Haakon Bay, the closest settlement is a whaling station 804 00:51:07,598 --> 00:51:11,133 30 miles to the east. 805 00:51:11,201 --> 00:51:15,004 But blocking his path now is a towering mountain range. 806 00:51:17,408 --> 00:51:21,010 EDWARD J. LARSON: The mountains were covered with snow and ice. 807 00:51:21,078 --> 00:51:23,946 And to get some sort of traction on the snow, 808 00:51:24,015 --> 00:51:28,617 they took nails out of the boat and pounded them 809 00:51:28,686 --> 00:51:29,985 through the bottom of the shoe. 810 00:51:38,295 --> 00:51:42,898 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): After climbing for 36 hours, 811 00:51:42,966 --> 00:51:47,002 Shackleton finally limps into civilization. 812 00:51:52,109 --> 00:51:54,243 EDWARD J. LARSON: When Shackleton told his story 813 00:51:54,311 --> 00:51:57,580 of what they'd been through, no one in the whaling statioN-- 814 00:51:57,648 --> 00:51:58,981 they couldn't believe it. 815 00:51:59,183 --> 00:52:02,985 It was-- every step of this story was beyond belief. 816 00:52:06,991 --> 00:52:10,059 But of course, it wasn't over for Shackleton then. 817 00:52:10,261 --> 00:52:11,994 He had to go back and save the people on Elephant Island. 818 00:52:30,948 --> 00:52:33,015 This is the point where she went down. 819 00:52:41,092 --> 00:52:41,957 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The Agulhas II 820 00:52:42,159 --> 00:52:47,630 has finally broken through to the exact coordinates 821 00:52:47,698 --> 00:52:48,998 of the Endurance wreck site. 822 00:52:55,573 --> 00:52:58,007 It's a major achievement. 823 00:53:03,981 --> 00:53:06,015 Only a handful of ships have ever been here. 824 00:53:11,522 --> 00:53:12,655 It feels great. 825 00:53:12,857 --> 00:53:14,523 I was up on the bridge till late. 826 00:53:14,725 --> 00:53:15,391 I only got two hours sleep. 827 00:53:15,459 --> 00:53:16,926 I'm shattered. 828 00:53:17,128 --> 00:53:20,863 But you know, at the same time, I'm really happy. 829 00:53:20,931 --> 00:53:24,066 But, you know, we still got to find it. 830 00:53:24,135 --> 00:53:29,338 To actually be here and able to be part of the search 831 00:53:29,540 --> 00:53:30,405 is very exciting. 832 00:53:30,474 --> 00:53:31,006 I'm ready for it. 833 00:53:33,210 --> 00:53:35,010 CHANNING THOMAS: We're going to launch from where we're 834 00:53:35,079 --> 00:53:40,015 at all the way down to 3,000 meters to the bottom. 835 00:53:40,217 --> 00:53:42,618 Hopefully, everything works well according to plan. 836 00:53:42,686 --> 00:53:43,986 And we'll see what happens. 837 00:53:49,026 --> 00:53:50,825 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Existing scans 838 00:53:50,894 --> 00:53:54,563 revealed that the Agulhas II is floating 839 00:53:54,765 --> 00:53:59,034 above a vast underwater plane. 840 00:53:59,102 --> 00:54:01,970 Here the sea floor plunges down 40 times the height 841 00:54:02,039 --> 00:54:06,842 of Niagara Falls to a depth of 10,000 feet. 842 00:54:07,044 --> 00:54:10,178 This is the deepest zone of the Weddell Sea. 843 00:54:10,247 --> 00:54:14,516 And the crew believes this plane is the final resting ground 844 00:54:14,584 --> 00:54:15,985 of Shackleton's ship. 845 00:54:22,126 --> 00:54:28,731 10,000 feet down, somewhere in these icy depths, 846 00:54:28,933 --> 00:54:34,136 lie the remains of Shackleton's ship. 847 00:54:34,205 --> 00:54:38,007 Remarkably, the water at the sea floor is below 32 degrees. 848 00:54:41,345 --> 00:54:45,681 It doesn't freeze solid because of the vast pressures at depth. 849 00:54:45,883 --> 00:54:47,015 MENSUN BOUND: The depths combined 850 00:54:47,084 --> 00:54:50,419 with the super cold water, any bacterial activity 851 00:54:50,488 --> 00:54:52,020 will be slowed down. 852 00:54:52,089 --> 00:54:54,423 This is all pretty good news for the preservation 853 00:54:54,491 --> 00:54:55,991 of the Endurance. 854 00:54:59,229 --> 00:55:03,165 All they've got to do now is launch the AUV sub to hunt it 855 00:55:03,367 --> 00:55:03,999 down. 856 00:55:17,315 --> 00:55:19,181 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): The propellers bite and the AUV 857 00:55:19,383 --> 00:55:19,982 dives. 858 00:55:26,123 --> 00:55:29,591 That was a successful launch for the first mission 859 00:55:29,660 --> 00:55:32,794 to search for the Endurance. 860 00:55:32,863 --> 00:55:34,997 If all goes well on the mission plan, 861 00:55:35,065 --> 00:55:38,801 we should be recovering in about 42, 43 hours. 862 00:55:39,003 --> 00:55:40,935 Everything's looking good at the moment. 863 00:55:41,004 --> 00:55:42,938 And we're going to keep our fingers crossed, 864 00:55:43,140 --> 00:55:45,007 keep thinking positive, and keep pushing forward. 865 00:55:48,078 --> 00:55:49,345 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Shackleton, too, 866 00:55:49,547 --> 00:55:51,146 pushes forward. 867 00:55:51,215 --> 00:55:54,883 After battling across 800 miles of open sea for two weeks, 868 00:55:54,952 --> 00:55:57,986 he finally reaches the island of South Georgia. 869 00:56:03,227 --> 00:56:06,161 SCOTT SHACKLETON: But of course, it wasn't over for Shackleton 870 00:56:06,363 --> 00:56:07,363 then. 871 00:56:07,565 --> 00:56:11,232 He had to go back and save the people on Elephant Island. 872 00:56:11,301 --> 00:56:12,968 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Shackleton strives tirelessly 873 00:56:13,170 --> 00:56:16,004 for four months to break back through the frozen sea. 874 00:56:19,910 --> 00:56:23,912 At last he approaches Elephant Island. 875 00:56:24,114 --> 00:56:26,849 And as he's going ashore, the men on the island 876 00:56:27,051 --> 00:56:28,050 are seeing that their rescue boat is here. 877 00:56:28,252 --> 00:56:30,986 And they're starting to come out from under the shelter. 878 00:56:31,188 --> 00:56:35,524 And Shackleton is counting 1, 2, 3, 4, all the way up 879 00:56:35,726 --> 00:56:37,993 until he's counted everyone. 880 00:56:43,133 --> 00:56:47,469 And he looks to Worsley and says, they're all there. 881 00:56:47,537 --> 00:56:48,870 They're all alive. 882 00:56:48,939 --> 00:56:51,540 And the emotion that he had at that time 883 00:56:51,742 --> 00:56:54,009 had to be just overwhelming. 884 00:56:59,149 --> 00:57:02,084 JAMES LOVELL: To bring everybody on his expedition 885 00:57:02,286 --> 00:57:05,954 back home alive was probably one of the greatest adventure 886 00:57:06,023 --> 00:57:08,991 achievements that we have in our history books. 887 00:57:15,031 --> 00:57:17,899 On board the Agulhas II, the crew hunting down 888 00:57:17,968 --> 00:57:20,002 Shackleton's wreck has suffered a major blow. 889 00:57:25,376 --> 00:57:30,445 30 hours into the dive, the AUV that's scanning the sea floor 890 00:57:30,514 --> 00:57:33,182 has gone missing. 891 00:57:33,384 --> 00:57:38,654 The multimillion dollar machine has likely located the wreck, 892 00:57:38,856 --> 00:57:41,523 but AUV operators Devon and Blake 893 00:57:41,592 --> 00:57:44,192 have lost contact with it. 894 00:57:44,261 --> 00:57:46,995 If they can't reconnect, they'll never find out what's below. 895 00:57:54,671 --> 00:57:58,674 The AUV could be anywhere. 896 00:57:58,876 --> 00:58:02,611 And temperatures are dropping fast. 897 00:58:02,680 --> 00:58:05,013 The ice floes are closing in. 898 00:58:11,088 --> 00:58:14,990 As conditions worsen, the team makes a difficult call. 899 00:58:21,298 --> 00:58:24,966 It's tough to search for an AUV in this kind of situation. 900 00:58:25,035 --> 00:58:26,968 You know, mother nature, you know, at some point 901 00:58:27,037 --> 00:58:29,004 puts her foot down and lets you know who's boss. 902 00:58:33,109 --> 00:58:34,109 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): For now, the team 903 00:58:34,177 --> 00:58:38,013 halts their mission and reluctantly heads home. 904 00:58:42,119 --> 00:58:43,652 MENSUN BOUND: We were always up against the ice. 905 00:58:43,854 --> 00:58:45,587 That was always the enemy for us, 906 00:58:45,656 --> 00:58:48,190 just as it was for Shackleton. 907 00:58:48,392 --> 00:58:49,391 And yeah. 908 00:58:49,593 --> 00:58:50,993 It's beaten us also. 909 00:59:00,004 --> 00:59:01,870 LAURENCE FISHBURNE (VOICEOVER): Three years 910 00:59:01,939 --> 00:59:04,205 later, undeterred by the same freezing seas 911 00:59:04,274 --> 00:59:07,809 and howling winds that defeated both Shackleton and the team 912 00:59:08,012 --> 00:59:10,612 on their previous attempt, the Agulhas II 913 00:59:10,681 --> 00:59:14,882 returns on a new expedition. 914 00:59:14,952 --> 00:59:17,986 This time, the crew realizes their dream. 915 00:59:20,290 --> 00:59:22,624 NEWS ANCHOR (VOICEOVER): One of the most remarkable stories 916 00:59:22,693 --> 00:59:25,093 of survival and determination. 917 00:59:25,161 --> 00:59:27,629 NEWS ANCHOR (VOICEOVER): 10,000 feet below the surface 918 00:59:27,697 --> 00:59:28,830 of Antarctica's Weddell Sea. 919 00:59:28,898 --> 00:59:29,898 NEWS ANCHOR (VOICEOVER): The secret 920 00:59:29,967 --> 00:59:33,001 the ocean has kept hidden for over 100 years. 921 00:59:39,176 --> 00:59:44,446 They find the Endurance resting on the sea floor nearly 922 00:59:44,514 --> 00:59:45,981 two miles down. 923 00:59:46,183 --> 00:59:50,051 As Mensun anticipated, the ship is largely intact, 924 00:59:50,120 --> 00:59:53,989 standing upright, its wood well preserved by the cold. 925 00:59:58,796 --> 01:00:02,063 The team leaves the wreck untouched. 926 01:00:02,132 --> 01:00:06,068 Endurance remains in its final resting place, a chilling 927 01:00:06,136 --> 01:00:10,272 monument to the singular courage of Ernest Shackleton 928 01:00:10,474 --> 01:00:11,006 and his men. 929 01:00:14,277 --> 01:00:18,012 CONRAD ANKER: Whenever I'm out there in a tricky situation 930 01:00:18,081 --> 01:00:22,818 climbing or where things might not be going my way, 931 01:00:23,020 --> 01:00:25,887 I take a bit of Shackleton and I plug it in. 932 01:00:25,956 --> 01:00:31,426 And I'm like, yeah, Sir Ernest Shackleton. 933 01:00:31,495 --> 01:00:33,962 He would persevere. 934 01:00:34,030 --> 01:00:36,999 And that is the power of Shackleton's story. 935 01:00:43,107 --> 01:00:48,976 Shackleton resonates today because of keeping his men 936 01:00:49,046 --> 01:00:53,514 together, keeping morale up, doing the impossible, 937 01:00:53,583 --> 01:00:55,383 and then saving them. 938 01:00:55,452 --> 01:00:56,985 That's Endurance. 939 01:01:00,257 --> 01:01:04,926 The astonishing story of the Endurance, its loss at sea, 940 01:01:04,994 --> 01:01:08,196 and its recent discovery inspires the world. 941 01:01:08,398 --> 01:01:13,402 Like Shackleton himself and his men, the team on the Agulhas II 942 01:01:13,604 --> 01:01:15,803 refused to give up. 943 01:01:15,872 --> 01:01:18,740 And now after a century, we finally 944 01:01:18,942 --> 01:01:21,943 know the last chapter in this mystery. 945 01:01:22,012 --> 01:01:27,548 Shackleton's lost ice ship is lost no more. 946 01:01:27,617 --> 01:01:28,750 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 947 01:01:28,819 --> 01:01:33,989 And thanks for watching "History's Greatest Mysteries."