Building Shackleton s Endurance

Transcription

1 Building Shackleton s Endurance..... by Richard Wright Figure 1. Designed by Ole Aanderud Larsen, this 348-ton wooden auxiliary steam-powered barkentine was built at Norway s famous Framnæs shipyard in Sandefjord under the supervision of master shipwright Christian Jacobsen. The vessel was launched on December 17, 1912 and christened Polaris. It was designed and strongly constructed for polar conditions and its intended service was as a tourist ship for polar bear hunters. Financial difficulties led the owners to sell Polaris to Ernest Shackleton before it ever went to sea for service with his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Shackleton renamed his vessel Endurance, from his family motto Fortitudine Vincimus (By Endurance We Conquer), which was a fitting name for his endeavor. The expedition left England on August 6, In January 1915, Endurance became trapped in the ice in the Weddell Sea, where it drifted, icebound, until ice crushed the hull and the ship sank in November In 1998 I purchased Caroline Alexander s book The Endurance: Shackleton s Legendary Antarctic Expedition NAUTICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 49

2 Figure 2. Figure 3. (New York, 1998). It was a fascinating story of survival, but the photographs that illustrated it were what impressed me most. There was one of the ship, covered with snow and frost and trapped in the ice, that was very haunting to me. After retiring in the late 1990s I began building ship models. With several 50 Vol. 61, No 1 SPRING 2016

3 Figure 4. Figure 5. kit models under my belt, I decided to give scratch-building a try, and, of course, my first choice was to construct Endurance. I wanted it to look like it did in the photograph. While doing research on Endurance, NAUTICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 51

4 Figure 6. Figure 7. I scratch-built the United States Revenue Cutter Bear (NRJ 58:3 (Autumn 2013), ), because plans and information were more readily available than for Endurance. This project also gave me insight into the scratch-building process. 52 Vol. 61, No 1 SPRING 2016

5 Figure 8. Figure 9. Research for building Endurance was challenging, to say the least. There were plenty of books and other information on the expedition, but little, very little, on the ship itself. Finally, in February 2011, I located and obtained a set of plans NAUTICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 53

6 Figure 10. Figure Vol. 61, No 1 SPRING 2016

7 Figure 12. Figure 13. NAUTICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 55

8 Figure 14. Figure 15. for Polaris from the Hvalfangstmuseet (Whaling Museum), administered by Vestfoldmuseene IKS at Sandefjord in Norway, and the fun began. (Figure 2) These plans were good for the basic hull and deck arrangements, but they were for Polaris as built, not Endurance as outfitted for the expedition. Furthermore, they were in Norwegian, and my Norwegian-English dictionary did not include nautical terms. 56 Vol. 61, No 1 SPRING 2016

9 Figure 16. The hull was built plank-on-frame style. I photocopied the plans to serve as patterns for the frames, cemented them to the stock, and cut out the frames. Small blocks maintained the frame spacing. The planking was fastened to the frames with treenails. This was not prototypical I simply preferred to use them. (Figures 3-6) After I completed the basic hull, all the necessary changes were determined from reference to Frank Hurley s photographs in the book South With Endurance: Shackleton s Antarctic Expedition , The Photographs of Frank Hurley (New York, 2001). As far as I can tell, these images are the only photographs of the ship during this time frame. Some of the changes include: wooden protection on the fore and main mast chain plates, (Figure 7) removal of the catwalk between the forward and aft cabins, (Figure 8) the forward launches suspended from davits, (Figure 9) a boom added at the base of the mainmast, (Figure 10) the skylight forward of the mainmast replaced with a companionway hatch, and adding dog houses on Figure 17. NAUTICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 57

10 Figure 18. the main deck. (Figure 11) The rigging was as a basic barkentine, using Hurley s photographs as references. I fitted a full suit of sails, all with their boltropes. (Figure 12) To protect the rigging while I was working on the model, I built a framework into which I could slide the model. (Figure 13) A first for me was the use of rungs instead of rope for the ratlines. The fore topmast was Figure 19. no problem as I was able to rig the ratlines while holding it in a vise. (Figure 14) Rigging the lower shrouds was a different story. I made a cradle to hold the model while laid on its side. (Figure 15) Using graph paper for spacing and alignment, I glued the rungs in place and then laced them to the 58 Vol. 61, No 1 SPRING 2016

11 Figure 20. Figure 21. shrouds. (Figure 16) Contrary to the normal procedure (from forward to aft), I rigged the mizzen and main masts first. I needed the time to figure out the fore topsail yard. I found a drawings and description of Colling s & Pinkney s patent self-reefing topsail. (The Lore of Ships, 92 & 112) Now all I had to do was fabricate it. Figures show the steps to make the rollers, the components of the yard, the completed yard, and the yard installed and rigged. The best part was that, when it was finished, it actually worked! This was, I think, the most challenging and rewarding part of the entire project. I found that it was much easier to NAUTICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 59

12 Figure 22. Figure Vol. 61, No 1 SPRING 2016

13 Figure 24. Figure 25. NAUTICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 61

14 Figure 26. Figure 27. fit out and rig the launches off the model and then install them. (Figure 21 and 22) Figures 23 and 24 show the completed model in both in its pristine state and after adding the winterizing covering over the fantail. I then set the model in a base to reproduce the ship trapped in the ice. (Figure 25) Before committing myself to reproducing the snow and frost covering the ship in the original photograph, I built a mock-up to test various techniques. (Figures 26 and 27) Figures 28 and 29 show the completed model in its base and suitably weathered. Willie the penguin used to Figure Vol. 61, No 1 SPRING 2016

15 Figure 29. Figure 30. NAUTICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 63

16 work for Kool cigarettes but was downsized. Unfortunately, he is a little out of scale. (Figure 30) I feel that this project met all the aims and goals of scratch-building. It was challenging, educational, and increased my abilities and skill level in ship model building. The project would not have been accomplished without the support and encouragement I received from the Tulsa Ship Modelers Society. I would like especially to thank our master builder, Ron Thompson, our historical and technical expert, Daryl Richter, and Carla Hinkle, our restoration expert. References Alexander, Caroline, The Endurance: Shackleton s Legendary Antarctic Expedition. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998). Hurley, Frank, South With Endurance: Shackleton s Antarctic Expedition , The Photographs of Frank Hurley. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001). Tre Tryckare, The Lore of Ships. (New York: Crescent Books, 1975). Editor s Note The National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh holds a rare copy of Shackleton s Imperial Tran-Antarctic Expedition program, published in 1914 to promote the project. Inside the rear cover are broadside and longitudinal cutaway drawings of Endurance, illustrating some of the alterations the author mentions. Neptunia No. 281 Contents Japanese traditional craft (part one: large coasters) Bicentenary of "la Revue Maritime" Building a model of a French galley of war of the 1690s (part one) History and heritage of the Cercle de la voile de Paris (est. 1858) The Maritime Museum of Ireland (Dun Laoghaire) The personal archives of Marin-Marie (maritime artist) 64 Vol. 61, No 1 SPRING 2016