The Olympian Sisters #2 The Great War

Chapter 11

OCTOBER 1915 WEDDELL SEA, ANTARCTICA "ENDURANCE"

For one year I had been beset in the ice. I don't know how far I drifted but Shackleton told me I was at 59oS Latitude, that's about 2000 nautical miles from where I was one year before.

The pressure began later that day. It nipped and nudged at my sides. To it, I was just an obstacle in its Grand Design.

I know it was only a matter of time before I was crushed. But I would not go down without a fight. I shoved back with all my might against this white enemy and the pressure subsided. I knew the ice would be back soon though.

Sure enough, a few days later it was. It came suddenly and unexpectedly, forcing me over 30o to port before I knew what was happening. With my bulwarks resting on the ice and the ice still pushing against my side, I was left breathless.

Anger coursed through me. The pressure was agony, yes. But this ice had trapped me for a year, keeping me from being a real ship, it had carried me 2000 miles from my goal at Vahsel Bay and now it was endangering the lives of my men. I had had enough!

"You may crush me." I snarled at it. "But I'll be dammed if I move over one more inch for you. I'll see you melting in hell first!" I pushed back with all my strength and was able to force the horrid ice off me.

"Well done, Endurance!" Captain Worsley cried. The men echoed him. Breathless, but triumphant I reveled in my victory but I should've known that ice doesn't give up so easily.

I should've known that no matter how hard I fought, how hard I tried to free myself, what the ice gets, is what the ice keeps.

The ice returned with a vengeance. After my previous two attempts to shake it off, I was weakening. I couldn't hold much longer. The ice was relentless, determined to sink me, to crush me, to kill me. I would fight this enemy until I sank or could fight no more.

I was in the worst possible spot to fight though. The ice had jammed against my port bow, starboard side, and port quarter. It was literally trying to move me to three places at once.

It was incredibly painful too. Sometimes, it would nip at my sides and I'd wince. Or, it'd jam against my hull and push hard, causing me to gasp and strain. Even the men noticed my struggle. "How much more can she take" was the common question?

On October 30, I reached my breaking point. All three floes began pressing simultaneously. I shrieked in agony.

I tried to fight back, but the ice was just too powerful. After one month of fighting relentless pressures beyond belief, I was exhausted. I couldn't go on. I had no choice but to surrender myself to the ice.

"Get out of here while you still can!" I cried to the men. "Endurance, we can't do that." Captain Worsley said. Some of the men agreed with him.

"I can't hold much longer." I argued. "You have to leave before I'm crushed." Captain Worsley was about to argue but a look from Shackleton kept him quiet. Shackleton nodded.

"Listen to her, she's right." He whispered to Captain Worsley. "Abandon ship!" He gave the order. The men scrambled onto the ice.

Only Shackleton remained behind. "I let you down." I whispered. "No, Endurance, no. You carried us for 5000 miles of unknown territory. You've never even been out to sea before, this was your maiden voyage. You were properly named, that's for sure. Fortitudine Vincimus, 'by endurance we conquer,' my family motto. You were beyond our highest expectations. You did a good job, Endurance and I'm proud of you." He murmured.

"Stay safe." I said. He nodded. "Godspeed, Endurance." He said. "And to you, Boss." I replied. He stroked my side in farewell and left.

I couldn't fight anymore, my timbers were crushed, my keel was torn, and I didn't have the strength to fight. Panting and gasping, I was left on the ice to die. I blamed no one for this, Antarctica was a dangerous place. Many a ship before me had come here, never to come back.

I always knew what I wanted to be in life, an exploration ship to the southern continent. It was every polar ships dream. It was a dangerous job yes, but I loved it nevertheless.

The ice squeezed against my sides again. Some of my timbers cracked and then broke with a report like artillery fire. So much for escaping the Great War that was going on back home. I shrieked in pain. Once the wounds were open, I could feel the pains of Sand Sickness setting in.

The only way to cure Sand Sickness was to repair the injuries that caused it. I didn't have that luxury. For a while, I coughed an agonizing dry cough.

Then, as my injuries progressed, I was coughing up blood. A ships blood emerges from the body as the dark, black liquid petroleum. Even if the ship runs on coal, she'd still spit oil.

That's why the ice was black all around me. When the men returned a final time for some supplies, they found it was impossible. I had sunk lower, so my top deck was level with the ice. I watched them turn around and head back to Ocean Camp.

I was only afloat because the ice was holding me, once it let go, I would sink. On November 21, 1915, the ice did. For almost 2 years, it had held me. For one month, it had tortured me. Now, it was finished with me and I was relieved that it was over at last.

"You must live, my men. You must survive. Think of your family, think of your friends. Think of your brothers who are fighting a war, who are holding on because somewhere, their brothers are giving them a reason to fight. You are England's reason. You are what the Lion of Europe fights for. Survive, live, go home, they are waiting for you." I cried to them.

The men murmured their assent and waved goodbye. "Farewell, Endurance!" They called. I heard both Shackleton's and Worsley's voices in my head as they were both my skippers.

"Farewell, our brave and gallant little ship. May you rest in peace, sailing with the Ancients. Where there is no suffering, no pain." They thought. "Thank you, my friends." I thought back. And with a sigh, I vanished beneath the ice.

Miraculously, I was still alive when I hit the ocean floor, but the resulting jolt was the last straw.

I didn't try to fight it. I knew it was a losing battle. So I closed my eyes and allowed Death to wrap his arms around me and take me home, to the Ancients.