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SY Aurora's drift

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The Aurora in New Zealand, after the drift

Aurora's drift refers to the Antarctic expedition ship SY Aurora, and its drift in the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean pack ice for a period of 282 days from 7 May 1915 to 12 February 1916. Aurora had brought the Ross Sea party—a support team for Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition—to McMurdo Sound in Antarctica in January 1915. The party's task was to lay a series of depots on the Ross Ice Shelf to supply Shackleton's party on its projected journey across the continent from the Weddell Sea. After its shore parties had been landed, Aurora sought a suitable berth within the Sound where it could overwinter. After some manoeuvring she was firmly anchored to the shore off Cape Evans, and allowed to settle into the sea ice.

On 6 May 1915 a gale parted the ship from its mooring and carried it away, firmly attached to thick ice. The drift northward began, leaving ten shore party members marooned, with much of their equipment and supplies still aboard ship. The crew's initial hopes of a swift return to Cape Evans faded, as the ship drifted out of McMurdo Sound and into the Ross Sea; they vanished altogether when the rudder was destroyed by the ice pressure. The drift continued northwards, through the 1915 southern winter season and throughout the following spring and summer months. It extended for a distance of approximately 1,600 miles (2,600 km) before the ship was set free when the ice suddenly broke up, in February 1916.

After its release, with the assistance of a jury rudder assembled during the drift, Aurora managed to reach New Zealand on 3 April 1916. After a refit she returned to McMurdo Sound to rescue the shore party members, three of whom had died during the ship's absence. Within a year of completing its rescue mission, Aurora, sold by Shackleton and employed as a coal carrier, was lost in the Pacific Ocean, either during a storm or through enemy action.

In McMurdo Sound

Winter mooring

McMurdo Sound frozen over, looking north, with the snow-covered Erebus Ice Tongue ("Glacier Tongue") visible in the foreground. Cape Evans is the southernmost of the headlands on the Ross Island coast, top right, the others being (south to north) the Barne Glacier, Cape Barne and Cape Royds.

Aurora, commanded by Captain Aeneas Mackintosh and carying the 28 men comprising ship's and shore parties, arrived in McMurdo Sound on 14 January 1915 intending to winter there.[1] This was a risk; since Captain Scott's ship Discovery had been trapped in the ice for two years during the 1901–04 expedition, no ship had attempted to winter in the Sound. The party was inexperienced; Mackintosh and Ernest Joyce of the shore party had been on Shackleton's Nimrod expedition, 1901–09,[2] and Joyce had also been with the Discovery Expedition. Otherwise only James "Scotty" Paton, Aurora's boatswain, had sailed in these waters before, most recently with Terra Nova, 1910–13.[3]

Shackleton had instructed Mackintosh not to anchor the ship anywhere south of the Glacier Tongue, an ice promontory which projected into the Sound six miles north of the old Discovery quarters at Hut Point. Shackleton believed that staying to the north of this feature would lessen the risk of repeating Discovery's experience.[4][5] As Mackintosh was leaving the ship to lead the first depot-laying party, the task of finding a secure winter berth fell to first officer Joseph Stenhouse, 27 years old, who had no experience of Antarctic waters. The search proved difficult and prolonged. Eventually Stenhouse decided to anchor at Cape Evans, site of Captain Scott's old Terra Nova headquarters, some seven miles north of the Glacier Tongue.[6] On 14 March he manoeuvred Aurora into position, stern-first into the stony shore where two large anchors had been sunk and cemented into the ground. To these were attached cables and hawsers which, together with a heavy chain, were attached to the ship's stern. Two bower anchors were also dropped. According to Second Officer Thompson there were "enough hawsers and anchors to hold a battleship",[7] and the ship was seemingly secure as it settled into the shore ice that steadily thickened around it. 18 men were aboard ship; four members of the shore party were living in the Cape Evans hut while, having concluded the season's depot-laying on 25 March, Mackintosh's party of six were at Hut Point, awaiting secure sea ice in the Sound before attempting to cross to Cape Evans.

Blown away

Although the Cape Evans anchorage lessened the dangers of the ship becoming trapped as Discovery had been, it was exposed to the full harshness of the winter weather, which grew wilder as the season progressed. By mid-April Aurora resembled a "wrecked hulk", listing sharply to starboard and subject to violent shocks and tremors as the ice moved around it.[8] At about 9:00 pm on the night of 6 May the men aboard heard two "explosive reports"[8] as the main hawsers parted from the anchors. Boatswain Paton raised the alarm, shouting "She's away wi' it!".[8] The ship was now adrift with the ice, torn from its moorings by the combined forces of the wind and moving ice. Held fast, and dragging its bower anchors, Aurora moved rapidly away from the shore and into the Sound. The roar of the wind prevented the four men ashore in the Cape Evans hut from hearing anything, and it was early next morning before they found the ship had gone.[9][10] Aboard was much of the essential food, clothing and equipment that the shore party needed for its depot-laying work.[11] With its engines dismantled for winter maintenance, the ship drifted steadily northwards away from Cape Evans, leaving the ten men ashore stranded.[12]

Drift

There were three phases to the drift: the Ross Sea phase, which lasted until the return of the sun on 6 August (92 days); the Southern Ocean phase, which extended to the year's end (147 days); and a final phase, leading to the ship's release from the ice on 12 February 1916 (43 days). After that date Aurora was able to manoeuvre under her own power, although still surrounded by loose pack. She did not enter open water until 14 March.

Ross Sea phase

During the first few days, Stenhouse's priorities were to restore the ship's engines to use and to make wireless contact with the shore party. At this time he was hoping that Aurora would be able to return to Cape Evans as soon as the storm abated. The engines were made operational on 8 May, but a continuous southerly gale took the ship, still encased in ice, out of McMurdo Sound and into the open Ross Sea. On 9 May the only land visible was Cape Bird on Ross Island, some 8 miles (13 km) distant and, with mountainous pack-ice all around, it was clear that there would be no quick return to Cape Evans.[13] On 11th May a wireless aerial was rigged, and wireless operator Hooke tried without success to contact the men ashore (whose equipment was rudimentary and unreliable). He optimistically tried to reach the radio stations at McQuarie Island and New Zealand Bluff, respectively 1,340 miles (2,200 km) and 1,860 miles (3,000 km) away,[14] again unsuccessfully.

Heavy pack ice, of the kind that held Aurora during its drift

On 14 May the bower anchors, which were threatening to capsize the ship, were hauled aboard.[15] During the following days the pack thickened, and in increasingly turbulent weather the boilers were closed down, since no manoeuvering under power could now be attempted.[15] On 25 May, as Aurora drifted 20 miles (32 km) east of the Victoria Land coast, conditions were such that Stenhouse feared that the ship might be crushed. As a precaution, he ordered the crew to prepare sledging gear and supplies for a possible march for the shore.[16] When that immediate danger had passed, he rested his hopes on a quick release from the ice that would allow the ship to sail to New Zealand for repairs and resupply, returning to Cape Evans in September or October in time for the second depot-laying season.[17]. On 8 June they were at 75°59′S, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Cape Evans but with no possibility of reaching it, and out of radio contact.[18] During a relatively uneventful period, Midwinter's Day was celebrated on 22 June, but general conditions aboard were cold and miserable, and there were tensions among the crew members. [19]

By 9 July the direction of the drift had changed, away from the coast, and the ship was an estimated 28 miles (45 km) north-east of Franklin Island.[20] The speed of the drift had increased, and there were new and ominous signs of increasing pressure in the pack. On 21 July heavy pressure caught the ship and destroyed its rudder;[21] Stenhouse made further preparations for sledging to the coast, now 100 miles (161 km) away, but once again the situation eased, and Stenhouse withheld the order.[22] Aurora survived a further series of blizzards and pressure attacks, and on 6 August was closing on Cape Adare, the northern tip of Victoria Land where the Ross Sea merges into the Southern Ocean. She was now 440 miles (710 km)* north of Cape Evans. That day, the sun made its first appearance over the horizon since the start of the drift.[23]

Southern Ocean phase

Map of Cape Adare, at the northern extremity of Victoria Land where the Ross Sea merges with the Southern Ocean. Auora drifted past the cape during August 1915.

After the ship had cleared Cape Adare, the direction of drift changed to north-westerly, and on 10 August a position was fixed at 70°40′S, with the speed of drift estimated at 20 miles (32km) per day.[24] Work on the construction of a jury rudder had started; this was completed by 13 August and stored on deck, ready to be rigged as soon as the ship was clear of the ice.[25] On 25 August, Hooke picked up radio signals being exchanged between McQuarie Island and New Zealand, but could not make contact with either.[26]

By the end of August, although open leads were beginning to appear, there was no sign of a general break-up. Severe weather returned in September, when a blizzard destroyed the wireless aerial and put paid to Hooke's efforts for the time being.[27] Temperatures were noticeably rising, but this did not presage early release from the ice. On 22 September they were 820 miles (1,300 km) distant from Cape Evans at 69°12′S, 165°00′E, still held firmly in the pack. Observations and records of the nature of the ice and direction of the drift were maintained throughout. Stenhouse wrote: "It (the drift) has not been in vain, and...knowledge of the set and drift of the pack will be a valuable addition to the sum of human knowledge"[28].

During the next two months Aurora continued drifting slowly north-west, with little change in its conditions. On 23 November it crossed the Antarctic Circle, and its speed slowed still further, making only 40 miles (64 km) in the next 25 days. Hooke had meanwhile commenced work on the wireless again. Christmas approached with the ice still firm, and "no appreciable change in our surroundings"[29]. "Mild festivities" celebrated Christmas Day: at the year's end the latitude reading was 65°45′S.[30]

Final phase

As the year turned there were the first real signs that the pack might finally be breaking up. Although the ship was still held in the ice, a swell was discernible and a mile away the pack was observed on the move. This remained the situation through January.[31] The speed of drift was now almost imperceptible, but at the end of the month the direction changed again, and became north-easterly. As summer waned, Stenhouse's private fear was that Aurora might be held for another year. He reviewed fuel and stores, and ordered the capture of more seals and penguins. This proved a difficult ask due to the soft state of the ice[31].

A new problem now manifested itself: the ship was leaking. The timber seams, which had been temporarily "caulked" by the ice, were now admitting three or four feet of water daily. This was easily dealt with by the pumps, but added to discomfort and anxieties. However, on 12 February 1916 the ice around the ship finally began to break away. A pool of water opened up around the ship, and to the astonishment of the crew she was floating free. The drift thus ended quite suddenly, after 282 days and about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) of distance covered.[31]

The ship was not yet safe, as a heavy swell made for hazardous sailing among broken floes and growler bergs. Control over direction was limited, as the emergency rudder could not yet be used, and progress was very slow. On 1 March Stenhouse ordered the engines started, and the ship made five miles distance at the expense of three tons of coal.[31] This rate of consumption could not continue, and Stenhouse ordered the furnaces banked. The next day the edge of the pack was sighted from the crow's nest. It took a further 12 days for the ship to work the few miles to the open sea, but on 14 March, at 64°27′S, 157°32′E, Aurora cleared the pack. Four days later the rudder was lowered, and the ship began to steam cautiously north-east, towards New Zealand, 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away.[31]

Aftermath

On 23 March Hooke finally made wireless contact with a coastal station at Awarua, New Zealand. By 30 March, resisting calls for assistance, Aurora was 330 miles (530 km) from port. As the seas grew heavier and the rudder became ineffective, Stenhouse finally accepted an offer from the tug Plucky[32] to bring Aurora into Port Chalmers, where she arrived on 3 April 1916.

Stenhouse was anxious for the ship to be repaired and refitted, and to return to McMurdo Sound as soon as possible to rescue the stranded men. This mission was delayed, mainly for cost reasons, and Stenhouse did not participate in the relief expedition. When Aurora sailed, on 20 December 1916, it was under Capt. John King Davis[33]. On 10 January 1917 she arrived at Cape Evans, and on 20th, with the seven survivors of the Ross Sea shore party (Mackintosh, Victor Hayward and Arnold Spencer-Smith had perished), Aurora returned to New Zealand.

For much of the period of the Aurora's drift, Shackleton's ship Endurance was likewise drifting, having been beset in the Weddell Sea ice near Vahsel Bay on 19 January 1915, at 76°30′S. It drifted northwards in the ice until it was crushed and abandoned on 27 October 1915, at 67°5′S 51°30′W.[34][35]

Less than a year after its return to New Zealand Aurora, having been sold by Shackleton, sank with all hands in the Pacific Ocean, while carrying a cargo of coal to Chile. She left Newcastle, New South Wales, on 20 June 1917 and was never seen again. Whether this was due to weather or to enemy action was never established.[36] She was officially posted as missing by Lloyds of London on 2 January 1918. Among those lost was Scotty Paton, who had acted as Aurora's boatswain throughout the Ross Sea Party expedition and the drift, and on the subsequent relief mission.[37]

Notes and References

  1. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 64
  2. ^ Huntford, p. 413
  3. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 116
  4. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 114
  5. ^ Capt. John King Davis would later say that Shackleton's instruction should have been ignored. Hut Point was the only known safe anchorage in the Sound; Aurora should have been left there and risked becoming frozen in. Tyler-Lewis, p. 221
  6. ^ This was against the wishes of Aurora's only experienced Antarctic sailor, James Paton, who disliked the Cape Evans anchorage and considered that wintering a ship there was a "nightmare". Paton preferred a small bay in the Cape Royds vicinity, that would offer some protection from the weather, but Stenhouse dismissed the suggestion. See Tyler-Lewis, pp. 120–21 and p.126
  7. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 123
  8. ^ a b c Tyler-Lewis, pp. 125–27 Cite error: The named reference "Tyler-Lewis_125–27" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 128
  10. ^ Six more men, including Captain Mackintosh, were ashore at Hut Point, waiting for the sea-ice to stabilize before they crossed to Cape Evans.
  11. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 130
  12. ^ The engine, had it been operative, could not have done much in this situation, with only 98 horse power. Bickel, p. 218
  13. ^ South, p. 189: Stenhouse diary 9 May 1915
  14. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 199
  15. ^ a b South, p. 190 Cite error: The named reference "South_190" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  16. ^ South, p. 190: Stenhouse diary, 25 May 1915
  17. ^ South, p. 190: Stenhouse diary, 26 May 1915
  18. ^ Position fixed by a reading on 8 June: South, p. 190: Stenhouse diary, 8 June 1915
  19. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 200
  20. ^ South, p. 190: Stenhouse diary 9 July 1915
  21. ^ South, p. 191
  22. ^ South, p. 191: Stenhouse diary, 22 July 1915
  23. ^ South, p. 191:Stenhouse diary, 9 August 1915
  24. ^ South, p. 191: Stenhouse diary 10 August 1915
  25. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 205
  26. ^ South, p. 191: Stenhouse diary, 25 August 1915
  27. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 205
  28. ^ South, p. 192: Stenhouse diary entry, 22 September 1915
  29. ^ South, p. 192: Stenhouse diary 17 December) 1915
  30. ^ South, p. 192
  31. ^ a b c d e Tyler-Lewis, p. 207 Cite error: The named reference "Tyler-Lewis_207–09" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  32. ^ Tyler-Lewis identifies this tug as Dunedin. Tyler-Lewis, p. 214
  33. ^ Tyler-Lewis, pp. 220–31
  34. ^ South, p. 67
  35. ^ Coincidentally, the duration of Endurance's drift was 282 days—the same as Aurora's.
  36. ^ Bickel. p. 236
  37. ^ Tyler-Lewis, p. 274

Sources

  • Bickel, Lennard: Shackleton's Forgotten Men Pimlico Original, London 2001 ISBN 0 7126 6807 1
  • Huntford, Roland:Shackleton Hodder & Stoughton, London 1985 ISBN 0 340 25007 0
  • Shackleton, Sir Ernest (ed. Peter King): South Century Ltd Edition, London 1991 ISBN 0 7126 3927 6
  • Tyler-Lewis, Kelly: The Lost Men Bloomsbury Publications, London 2007 ISBN 978 0 7475 7972 4
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