Orde-Lees' Journal - October 24, 1915
In this journal entry, we see Shackleton, in a crisis, ahead of his team. #LeadingByExample
"We had the good luck to secure two seals on 22nd inst. A male & female one year old animals probably & therefore excellent eating, especially the latter as she was not with pup.
I had written the above & had discontinued writing for the evening in order to work the gramaphone for the general entertainment of the party, and had just put on the third tune - "The Wearing of the Green" - when a terrific crash shook the ship with a prolonged shiver like an earthquake & she listed over about 8 degrees to starboard.
We finished the tune and then went up on deck to see if anything unusual had occurred. By this time Sir Ernest had been out on the floe and one could judge by his grave look that something really was amiss, & it soon proved to be even more serious than any of us had anticipated for within five minutes we were all hard at work preparing to abandon the ship as she had had her sternpost almost wrenched out and water was pouring in through the crack.
There was little time to ask questions or to comment at all upon the damage for we were working like demons getting up all possible provisions and clothing, navigation instruments, sledging gear, dog food & miscellaneous impedimenta with a view to quitting ship and sledging over the ice to Graham's Land.
It is surprising what an enormous amount of work can be got through in a given time when one realizes thoroughly that dear life depends on it.
Marston, James & I were working down in the after hold extracting cases close by where the water was coming in down there & we could plainly hear the ominous rush of running water below us, meanwhile the noise of the ship breaking up was deafening.
That Sir Ernest had decided to fill up the boiler some days ago was a piece of miraculous foresight though it was probably more with a view to steaming than to pumping out that he determined upon it.
Some of us who recently ventured amongst ourselves to criticize his decision on this point as being a little premature now feel well reproached for our hasty utterances.
It was, as I said, a mercy that we had the boilers full and the furnaces alight. They were, however, "banked" i.e. being kept as low as possible in order to economize coal, just enough fire being maintained to keep the water hot.
Orders were at once given to get up steam to drive the steam pump and the two engineers worked desperately, piling on seal's blubber & coal like fiends in hell.
Seal's blubber is a wonderful fuel especially for obtaining a sudden & fierce heat as the fat is entirely impregnated with a richly inflammable oil. ...
Twice between 7 p.m. and midnight we were all out on the floe digging trenches along the port side of the ship, the first trench about ten feet from the ship, the second one as many yards away. The first one soon collapsed and enabled the ice to bend up and rise up along the ship's side, the second one partially collapsed & there was no doubt that this time that they eased the pressure very considerably.
We all dressed up in plenty of underclothing and in Burberry suits & everyone got ready on deck their special properties in case of abandoning ship."
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