Shackleton Loses the Fight: “She’s going, boys.”
They made do until October 25, 1915. Shackleton, McNish, and the crew assessed the situation. A crewmember declared, “She’s going, boys. It’s time to get off.” It was clear they were losing the battle. The crew stopped the pumps. The ice continued its iron squeeze on the ship. The cook, Charles Green, made one last dinner in the galley. The men gathered in the wardroom and had a final dinner on the Endurance, their home for so many months.
That evening, Shackleton ordered the men onto the ice floe. The ship was no longer structurally safe, and definitely not habitable. The crew knew their ship was lost, and they were in danger. The ice floe that served as their home was starting to melt at the edges. The Endurance held itself up for nearly a month after its abandonment, but on November 21, 1915, it slid beneath the waters.
