National Geography’s immersive new documentary on Disney+, Resistance, tracks the 2022 Antarctic expedition led by celebrated maritime archaeologist Mensun Bound. The expedition, aboard the Agulhas II, tries to locate the castaways Resistancethe ship abandoned by Captain Ernest Shackleton and his crew in October 2015. Shackleton set out in November 1914 to restore Britain’s reputation as the world’s greatest explorer, after Norwegian Roald Amundsen defeated British hero Captain Scott to the South Pole in 1911. Undeterred, Shackleton insisted that a greater prize would be obtained by crossing Antarctica from sea to sea, via the pole.
As the documentary makes clear, the subsequent Imperial Transatlantic Expedition failed, even though all 27 of Shackleton’s crew miraculously survived the ordeal. Resistance recounts how the ship became trapped in ice in the Wendell Sea, eventually succumbing to the brutal elements and sinking in November 1915. The crew camped on the ice for months, before ferrying two lifeboats across 830 miles of arid terrain and launching them into tumultuous seas to get to Elephant Island and then South Georgia Island, and safety. Although the expedition failed in its ultimate objective, Shackleton’s success in saving his men was later hailed as a heroic feat.
All Endurance crew members survived the sinking and were eventually rescued
Despite impossible conditions, Shackleton’s leadership shined
In Resistance, Mensun Bound and his team tell Shackleton’s story alongside their own narrative – to locate the wreckage of the Endurance. The trials and tribulations of Shackleton’s 27 crew members as they fight for their lives are graphically represented, as they battle brutal cold, hunger and boredom, and the sheer mental toughness required to overcome setback after setback as your situation progressively worsens. After Shackleton decides to move and try to get to Elephant Island, his journey to safety is truly epic.
Although all 28 survived, against all odds, they did not do so unscathed. Percy Blackborow, who was refused a job on the expedition but was stowaway on the Endurance, lost his toes to frostbite during the journey. Henry Mcnish, John Vincent and Tim McCarthy were so weakened when the group reached Georgia Island that they had to be left behind. Shackleton, Tom Crean and Frank Worsley then made the perilous final march across the mountainous island. to join the Stromness whaling station that would save them. Scott then sailed back to collect his sick colleagues.
Why Some of Endurance’s Animals Didn’t Survive
Hunger forced the crew to take drastic measures
Keeping his men alive was ultimately Shackleton’s greatest achievement. Scott was seen as Britain’s greatest explorer, but after Shackleton’s death in 1922, public perception of his exploits began to change. However, not all living beings that accompanied Shackleton to Antarctica survived. The expedition took more than 70 dogs to Antarctica – large dogs bred from collies, mastiffs and hunting dogs. Several litters were also born on the trip. But after 10 months on packed ice while the Resistance was slowly strangled by the elements, the food supply suffered, and Shackleton, for canterburymuseum. withmade the terrible decision to shoot the dogs for food.
Famously, the ship’s male cat, Mrs. Chippy, was also shot, but not for food.
Shackleton wrote that “It was the worst job we ever had,” but it had to be done. Alexander Macklin, the ship’s doctor and dog trainer, wrote: “My hands were shaking so much that I had to pick up 2 cartridges to finish him off. Poor animal. It’s not much fun to eat tough old dogs. The puppies were softer.” Famously, the ship’s male cat, Mrs. Chippy, was also shot, but not for food.. Node Resistance documentary, the men’s living conditions were incredibly hostile, and the crew simply believed that the cat had suffered irrationally.
Source: canterburymuseum. with