Shackleton’s iconic ship Endurance has been found, bringing to a successful close the search for “one of the world’s most important shipwrecks.” The team that found it contended with the physical and logistical challenges that Antarctica in general and the Weddell Sea in particular threw at them, and nailed it cleanly on their first complete attempt. I’m guessing the anonymous donor who fronted most of the $10 million cost is well pleased (as they should be).
Amelia Earhart is still missing. Despite spending more than $5 million over 30 years, Ric Gillespie and his TIGHAR group have found nothing at Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific, where Gillespie contends she ended up. Neither have Bob Ballard and National Geographic, despite spending millions more. Gillespie will no doubt say, “That’s different!” when comparing the two efforts, and point to the $10 million spent to find the Endurance. But:
A rational person might conclude that Earhart was never at Nikumaroro. It was a given that the Endurance was somewhere at the bottom of the Weddell Sea. What is it going to take for Gillespie to admit that he might, possibly, be wrong?
By: RPM Fuel Flow TGT - 5th April 2022 at 06:48
All credit to the team that found the Endurance. Astounding that they did it 100 years to the day since Shackleton passed away.
By my reckoning due to the circumstances as explained in my hypothesis on my website, I do believe Earhart and Noonan crashed into the PNG jungle around 7 pm on the 3rd July 1937
I am planning for a late June entry into the wilds provided the Covid situation remains “stable” and I can get some of what is called “funding”. So far I am $30,000 short of the target….
A few things have happened since our last visit in 2017. Four addendums have been added to four ‘Parts’ of the website story. At last we found out who made the penciled writing on the map edge. Turns out he was in exactly the right place to know all about the find of aircraft wreckage and to know of the cryptic “600H/P, S3H/1, C/N1055” and that the US Army had replied, “…not one of ours….”
I have also remembered a GPS Waypoint where I got a hit with my Metal Detector but thought at the time that it maybe was ironstone (of which there is a lot in the area). Since reviewing the WP on a TOPO map the site fits with the Patrol Lieutenant’s drawing of the site. Also and more importantly, a WWII Photo Recon aerial picture shows what looks like wreckage on the ground at the WP. There are blurred shapes on the ground which give off a metallic glow.
If we get enough funding we could possibly do a dig and find C/N1055 on the 85th Anniversary of the loss.
Regards,
RPM, FF, TGT….
By: Arabella-Cox - 13th March 2022 at 05:58
MFowler – yes, the ice conditions in 2019 did not help the search. What finally finished off the mission was the loss of the AUV7 submarine under the ice.
All credit to the 2022 team for their remarkable success. Spooky that they should rediscover the ship 100 years to the day after Shackleton’s death.
By: MFowler - 12th March 2022 at 22:42
Oracal – I realize it’s their second try, I should have explained that’s what I meant by “complete attempt.” To me, they never got a chance to even look the first time because of ice conditions, so it wasn’t a “complete” effort, and that was something out of their control.
Plough – you and I may agree Earhart never made it to Nikumaroro, but … let’s just say I have grown baffled by the cult-like devotion Gillespie has managed to inspire to his theory for more than three decades.
By: plough - 11th March 2022 at 20:09
Is it a valid comparison?
There is a major difference between the two seaches – the team that searched for Endurance were looking for it in an area where they knew it would be; Tighar keep looking for Earhart in places where intelligent people know she definitely isn’t!
By: Arabella-Cox - 11th March 2022 at 20:02
Point of order.
There was an unsuccessful attempt to find Endurance in 2019. So it wasn’t found at the first attempt.
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March 11, 2022 at 5:48 pm