page_title: Voyage of the James Caird
section_title: Open-boat journey
hierarchical_section_title: Voyage of the James Caird / Open-boat journey
caption_attribution_description: English: A depiction of the James Caird boat party landing at South Georgia, 10 May 1916
context_page_description: The voyage of the James Caird was a journey of 1,300 kilometres from Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands through the Southern Ocean to South Georgia, undertaken by Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions to obtain rescue for the main body of the stranded Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917. Polar historians regard the voyage of the crew in a 22.5' lifeboat through the "Furious Fifties" as one of the greatest small-boat journeys ever completed.
  In October 1915, pack ice in the Weddell Sea had sunk the main expedition ship Endurance, leaving Shackleton and his 27 companions adrift on a floe. They drifted northward until April 1916, when the floe they had encamped broke up, then made their way in the ship's lifeboats to Elephant Island. Shackleton decided to sail one of the lifeboats to South Georgia, not the closest human settlement but the only one not requiring sailing into the prevailing westerlies.
  Of the three lifeboats, the James Caird was deemed the strongest and most likely to survive the journey. Shackleton had named it after Sir James Key Caird, a Dundee philanthropist whose sponsorship had helped finance the expedition.
context_section_description: Before leaving, Shackleton instructed Frank Wild that he was to assume full command as soon as the James Caird departed, and that should the journey fail, he was to attempt to take the party to Deception Island the following spring. The James Caird was launched from Elephant Island on 24 April 1916. The wind was a moderate south-westerly, which aided a swift getaway, and the boat was quickly out of sight of the land.
  Shackleton ordered Worsley to set a course due north, instead of directly for South Georgia, to get clear of the menacing ice-fields that were beginning to form. By midnight they had left the immediate ice behind, but the sea swell was rising. At dawn the next day, they were 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) from Elephant Island, sailing in heavy seas and force 9 winds. Shackleton established an on-board routine: two three-man watches, with one man at the helm, another at the sails, and the third on bailing duty. The off-watch trio rested in the tiny covered space in the bows. The difficulties of exchanging places as each watch ended would, Shackleton wrote, "have had its humorous side if it had not involved us in so many aches and pains". Their clothing, designed for Antarctic sledging rather than open-boat sailing, was far from waterproof; repeated contact with the icy seawater left their skins painfully raw.
  Success depended on Worsley's navigation, based on sightings attempted during the very brief appearances of the sun, as the boat pitched and rolled. The first observation was made after two days, and showed them to be 128 nautical miles (237 km; 147 mi) north of Elephant Island. The course was now changed to head directly for South Georgia. They were clear of the dangers of floating ice but had reached the dangerous seas of the Drake Passage, where giant waves sweep round the globe, unimpeded by any land. The movement of the ship made preparing hot food on the Primus nearly impossible, but Crean, who acted as cook, somehow kept the men fed.
  The next observation, on 29 April, showed that they had travelled 238 nautical miles (441 km; 274 mi). Thereafter, navigation became, in Worsley's words, "a merry jest of guesswork", as they encountered the worst of the weather. The James Caird was taking on water in heavy seas and in danger of sinking, kept afloat by continuous bailing. The temperature fell sharply, and a new danger presented itself in the accumulations of frozen spray, which threatened to capsize the boat. In turns, they had to crawl out on to the pitching deck with an axe and chip away the ice from deck and rigging. For 48 hours they were stopped, held by a sea anchor, until the wind dropped sufficiently for them to raise sail and proceed. Despite their travails, Worsley's third observation, on 4 May, put them only 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) from South Georgia.
  On 5 May the worst of the weather returned, and brought them close to disaster in the largest seas so far. Shackleton later wrote: "We felt our boat lifted and flung forward like a cork in breaking surf". The crew bailed frantically to keep afloat. Nevertheless, they were still moving towards their goal, and a dead reckoning calculation by Worsley on the next day, 6 May, suggested that they were now 115 nautical miles (213 km; 132 mi) from the western point of South Georgia. The strains of the past two weeks were by now taking their toll on the men. Shackleton observed that Vincent had collapsed and ceased to be an active member of the crew, McCarthy was "weak, but happy", McNish was weakening but still showing "grit and spirit".
  On 7 May Worsley advised Shackleton that he could not be sure of their position within ten miles. To avoid the possibility of being swept past the island by the fierce south-westerly winds, Shackleton ordered a slight change of course so that the James Caird would reach land on the uninhabited south-west coast. They would then try to work the boat round to the whaling stations on the northern side of the island. "Things were bad for us in those days", wrote Shackleton. "The bright moments were those when 
caption: A depiction of the James Caird landing at South Georgia at the end of its voyage on 10 May 1916
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