Furthest South - June/July 1999 British Heritage Feature

The co-sponsors were equally divided about the expedition’s priorities. Sir Clements’ group believed that the Antarctic wilderness was an ideal proving ground on which to demonstrate British fortitude to the world, and thought it vital that the first expedition to reach the South Pole should be British. The Royal Society was more interested in practical scientific research. The orders that were finally drafted for Commander Scott instructed him to pursue neither geographic exploration nor scientific research at the expense of the other. Despite the Commander’s refusal to be firmly bound by instructions from London, his actions, on the whole, admirably fulfilled this fundamental mission.

On 16th August, 1901, Discovery left for New Zealand, where she was supplied and overhauled prior to her long trek beyond the Antarctic Circle. After making these preparations, Discovery departed on the final southward leg on 21st December, the start of summer in the southern hemisphere. On 3rd January, 1902, the ship crossed the Antarctic Circle and began grinding its way even farther south through pack ice.

The Royal Society had long debated the wisdom of letting Commander Scott spend the winter in the Antarctic, and had only reluctantly given him permission to stay if circumstances made it necessary. The Commander, however, knew that an early departure would not give him enough time to reach the Pole, and had already made his decision. Only about two weeks after crossing the Antarctic Circle, he wrote that “We were now in a latitude where it was most desirable that we should make a diligent search for safe winter quarters for the ship.”

For another two weeks, Discovery crept back and forth along the edge of the ice, exploring both the extent of the Great Ice Shelf, first seen by James Clarke Ross in the 19th century, and the coast of the continent to the east of the ice shelf, using instruments to study the Southern Magnetic Pole.

Finally, on 8th February, Commander Scott began preparing for the winter. The ship was secured to the edge of the ice shelf until the bay froze over and locked it firmly into a block of ice. The crew set up huts, practiced working with dog teams, and learned to ski. With the arrival of the Antarctic night came constant dangers. Crewmen frequently became lost when snowstorms overtook them or a misplaced step sent them sliding down ledges. Blizzards were so intense that in one case two men got hopelessly lost while marching the 200 yards between the ship and the huts. Search parties hunted for nearly two hours before locating them just 30 yards from the camp. Most of the incidents ended without tragedy, but on 11th March Able Seaman George Vince slipped, careened down a slope and disappeared into the sea.

When spring arrived, Commander Scott, with a small party, set off on his attempt to reach the Pole. The three men who were to make the attempt were Scott himself; Dr. Edward Wilson; and Discovery’s third mate, Ernest Shackleton. Shackleton was a surprise choice, since he was a member of the Merchant Marine, rather than the Royal Navy, and the jealousies between the two services made him and Commander Scott rivals of a sort.

The odds against the three pioneers quickly became apparent. The dogs selected to pull their sleds were of an insufficiently hardy breed and poorly handled. Scott never mastered, or even fully appreciated the necessity for, the skill of managing dog teams. On his trek to the Pole, the animals died one by one, in some instances killing each other, and leaving the explorers to haul their supplies themselves. The three could move only half the provisions at a time, and so were forced to continuously retrace their steps and recover what they had left behind. But despite the obvious futility of this effort, they advanced southward, at the rate of only three or four miles a day towards a goal more than 800 miles distant. Not until the last day of the year did they finally turn back. On the return trip Shackleton became terribly ill with scurvy and suffered a nearly complete physical collapse.