serviceyears laterwork branch commands death_date death_place birth_place allegiance awards battles birth_date alt rank image article_title name
1902 -- 1920 polar explorer author merchant navy 23px royal navy reserve pc '' hms '' m24 '' .61 hms '' pangloss '' hms '' cricket 1 february 1943 claygate , england akaroa , new zealand new zealand 23px distinguished of the british empire polar medal order of saint stanislaus service -lrb- imperial russia -rrb- order & bar officer of the order first world war north russia intervention second world war 22 february 1872 unshaven of binoculars man in heavy clothing and holding a pair lieutenant commander frank worsley.jpg frank worsley
 frank arthur worsley
frank worsley

frank arthur worsley -lrb- 22 february 1872 -- 1 february 1943 -rrb- was a new zealand sailor and explorer who served on ernest shackleton 's imperial trans-antarctic expedition of 1914 -- 1916 , as captain of the `` endurance '' .
he also served in the royal navy reserve during the first world war .
born in akaroa , new zealand , on 22 february 1872 , worsley joined the new zealand shipping company in 1888 .
he served aboard several vessels running trade routes between new zealand , england and the south pacific .
while on south pacific service , he became renowned for his ability to navigate to tiny , remote islands .
he joined the royal navy reserve in 1902 and served on hms `` swiftsure '' for a year before returning to the merchant navy .
in 1914 , he joined the imperial trans-antarctic expedition , which aimed to cross the antarctic continent .
after the expedition 's ship `` endurance '' was trapped in ice and wrecked , he and the rest of the expedition sailed three lifeboats to elephant island , off the antarctic peninsula .
from here , he , along with shackleton and four others , sailed the lifeboat `` james caird '' some across the stormy south atlantic ocean , eventually arriving at their intended destination , south georgia .
his navigation skills were crucial to the safe arrival of the `` james caird '' .
shackleton , worsley and seaman tom crean then walked across south georgia in a 36-hour march to fetch help from stromness whaling station .
he and shackleton returned to elephant island aboard a whaling ship to rescue the remaining members of the expedition .
during the first world war , worsley captained the q-ship `` pc .61 '' .
he was responsible for the sinking of a german submarine , sm `` uc-33 '' on 26 september 1917 by carrying out a skilful ramming maneuver .
for his role in the sinking of the `` uc-33 '' , worsley was awarded the distinguished service order -lrb- dso -rrb- .
later in the war he worked in transportation of supplies in arctic russia , and in the north russia intervention against the bolsheviks , earning a bar to his dso .
he was later appointed an officer of the order of the british empire .
from 1921 to 1922 he served on shackleton 's last expedition to the antarctic as captain of the `` quest '' .
in between berths in the merchant navy he led an expedition to the arctic circle and participated in a treasure hunt on cocos island .
he also wrote several books relating to his experiences in polar exploration and during his sailing career .
during the second world war he initially served with the international red cross in france and norway .
in 1941 , he falsified his age so he could rejoin the merchant navy .
when officials discovered his actual age , he was released from duty .
he died from lung cancer in 1943 in england .
