Hope Still Floats
Through September, the Endurance encountered more ice pressure. The frame warped, timbers buckled and broke. A break came on October 15, when the ice broke enough to free the ship. This gave the crew the optimism to prepare for departure. But hope sank on October 17th, when the ice tightened again. The ice dangerously squeezed the foundering ship. The Endurance started to list at a 30-degree angle yet managed to shift back upright.
Still intent on reaching their destination, the crew prepared for departure. They filled the boiler. Carpenter Harry “Chippy” McNish built a coffer dam to shore up the engine room and keep water out. Despite McNish’s efforts, steam pumps ran constantly against leaks coming through the cracks. The ship was flooding, sinking ever lower into the Antarctic waters. What was a problem, a temporary delay, was now a deadly race against time.
