NZ EXPLORERS
SUMMER SERIES
Worsley was born in Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula in 1872. In 1887, he followed in the footsteps of his brother Harry and joined the New Zealand Shipping Company, starting off as a junior midshipman aboard a clipper shipping wool to London. He developed a reputation as a hard worker, though not averse to mischief. In 1899, while second mate on a ship anchored off Samoa − then a German colony − he went onshore and stole a German flag from its consulate. In 1900, he earned his certification as a qualified master, meaning he could be a captain. By 1914, he had served aboard a number of ships while also going through the ranks of the Royal Navy Reserve. Following a dream in London about navigating a ship around icebergs, Worsley signed up to Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Within a few minutes of meeting Shackleton the next day, he had been offered the role of captain. Endurance left London for Antarctica that August, via Buenos Aires and South Georgia Island. By January 1915 it had become trapped in Antarctic ice floes and the crew prepared to settle in for the winter. In October, Endurance was crushed by the surrounding ice packs and the crew abandoned ship, forming camps on the ice until they were forced into lifeboats in December. Next April the ship’s company journeyed north in their lifeboats to Elephant Island, the trip navigated expertly by Worsley. On April 24 after realising the island was far from inhabitable, Worsley and Shackleton departed in a lifeboat on a 1500km journey to South Georgia Island. Against all the odds, Worsley successfully charted a passage to the remote whaling outpost where they arrived on May 15. After a threeday trek to the whaling station, the small crew arranged for the rescue of those men left on Elephant Island.