1 00:00:04,533 --> 00:00:06,467 and may contain mature subject matter. 2 00:00:06,467 --> 00:00:11,900 Viewer discretion is advised. 3 00:00:12,033 --> 00:00:14,066 FISHBURNE: It is, perhaps, the most famous expedition 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:16,033 of the twentieth century. 5 00:00:17,500 --> 00:00:20,367 Ernest Shackleton's disastrous mission 6 00:00:20,500 --> 00:00:22,100 to cross Antarctica. 7 00:00:23,734 --> 00:00:26,700 When Shackleton's ship, The Endurance, 8 00:00:26,834 --> 00:00:28,166 got snared in polar ice... 9 00:00:29,133 --> 00:00:32,333 The mission became an all out fight for survival. 10 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,567 The ship disappeared beneath the surface. 11 00:00:39,033 --> 00:00:42,900 Tonight's mystery: What happened to Shackleton's ship? 12 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:45,467 Can we find it? 13 00:00:46,433 --> 00:00:48,200 And what secrets might it hold? 14 00:00:50,367 --> 00:00:53,133 Now, for the first time an expedition 15 00:00:53,266 --> 00:00:55,867 is heading into the frozen waters of the Antarctic. 16 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:58,433 Put it in the water! 17 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:00,734 This is pretty much the Holy Grail 18 00:01:00,867 --> 00:01:02,433 because it's so inaccessible. 19 00:01:03,066 --> 00:01:05,200 FISHBURNE: Armed with the latest technology... 20 00:01:05,333 --> 00:01:06,633 Ready for armed state. 21 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:12,800 FISHBURNE: And a century old logbook... 22 00:01:15,100 --> 00:01:17,734 They'll use sonar and drone submarines 23 00:01:17,867 --> 00:01:19,967 to track down Shackleton's famous ship. 24 00:01:21,367 --> 00:01:23,133 But with winter approaching... 25 00:01:24,467 --> 00:01:26,333 There is no margin for error. 26 00:01:26,934 --> 00:01:28,900 MAN: Oh, well... What the hell is going on? 27 00:01:29,033 --> 00:01:30,800 This is the start of it here. 28 00:01:30,934 --> 00:01:33,367 FISHBURNE: The hunt for The Endurance. 29 00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:33,600 Tonight on History's Greatest Mysteries. 30 00:01:55,433 --> 00:01:56,533 FISHBURNE: Antarctica, 31 00:01:59,667 --> 00:02:01,633 the most extreme place on Earth. 32 00:02:04,367 --> 00:02:06,333 Temperatures reach 100 below. 33 00:02:09,266 --> 00:02:12,000 Wind whips across it at 200 mph. 34 00:02:16,767 --> 00:02:19,633 This frozen continent surrounds the South Pole. 35 00:02:21,533 --> 00:02:25,533 It's a vast land, entirely covered in ice. 36 00:02:28,300 --> 00:02:30,033 Somewhere in these frozen seas 37 00:02:30,166 --> 00:02:32,300 lies the Holy Grail of shipwrecks, 38 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:34,734 the Endurance, 39 00:02:35,867 --> 00:02:38,133 the ship that carried legendary explorer, 40 00:02:38,266 --> 00:02:41,834 Sir Ernest Shackleton, south in 1914. 41 00:02:43,667 --> 00:02:46,100 (MAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY ON RADIO) 42 00:02:46,433 --> 00:02:49,100 Down here, the water is so cold, 43 00:02:49,233 --> 00:02:51,767 the wooden ship is likely perfectly preserved. 44 00:02:55,667 --> 00:02:57,400 But it's so hard to get to 45 00:02:57,533 --> 00:02:59,200 that no one's ever been able to 46 00:02:59,333 --> 00:03:01,533 hunt for the wreck. Until now. 47 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:08,166 Flying in from across the globe 48 00:03:08,300 --> 00:03:10,800 is an international team of ship hunters, 49 00:03:10,934 --> 00:03:12,900 explorers, and scientists. 50 00:03:16,166 --> 00:03:18,400 Two years in the planning 51 00:03:18,533 --> 00:03:23,300 and over $250 million of cutting-edge technology 52 00:03:23,433 --> 00:03:27,500 make them think they can pull off a world first. 53 00:03:27,633 --> 00:03:31,333 If the data that we have for the wreck site is correct, 54 00:03:31,467 --> 00:03:32,834 then we'll find it. 55 00:03:36,500 --> 00:03:38,100 Maritime archaeologist Mensun Bound 56 00:03:38,233 --> 00:03:39,900 is heading up the search. 57 00:03:41,834 --> 00:03:44,300 He's got 40 years' experience excavating shipwrecks, 58 00:03:46,633 --> 00:03:49,467 but finding the Endurance is the ultimate challenge. 59 00:03:50,767 --> 00:03:52,233 BOUND: The Endurance is, to my mind, 60 00:03:52,367 --> 00:03:54,633 the most famous wreck of all time. 61 00:03:54,767 --> 00:03:58,834 You know, she's up there with the Titanic. 62 00:03:58,967 --> 00:04:00,233 If anybody can find the Endurance, 63 00:04:00,367 --> 00:04:02,734 it's going to be this expedition. 64 00:04:06,433 --> 00:04:10,233 This is the greatest wreck hunt that there's ever been. 65 00:04:13,367 --> 00:04:14,967 FISHBURNE: The first mission for the team members 66 00:04:15,100 --> 00:04:16,834 not arriving by chopper... 67 00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:21,533 ...is just getting onto the ship with their gear. 68 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:25,433 Three meters, closing. 69 00:04:25,567 --> 00:04:28,500 FISHBURNE: Access from a 100-ft ice cliff 70 00:04:28,633 --> 00:04:30,233 is not for the faint of heart. 71 00:04:32,767 --> 00:04:34,467 -Okay, everyone happy? -Yep. 72 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:36,400 Good to go. 73 00:04:36,533 --> 00:04:39,367 You'll be in the centre like this, holding here and here, 74 00:04:39,500 --> 00:04:40,667 -basically -Okay. 75 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:42,233 And then the other guys will surround you. 76 00:04:43,266 --> 00:04:44,767 It's quite interesting. 77 00:04:50,700 --> 00:04:53,834 This expedition will face the same risks and dangers 78 00:04:53,967 --> 00:04:56,266 that Shackleton did a century ago. 79 00:04:57,834 --> 00:04:59,800 But today's team has come prepared. 80 00:05:01,734 --> 00:05:02,667 The ROV has the tension. 81 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:04,633 -You can release it. -Got it. 82 00:05:04,767 --> 00:05:06,367 It's just going to go under. 83 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:09,233 Steve Saint Amour, 84 00:05:09,367 --> 00:05:11,633 leads one of the elite teams of sub-sea explorers. 85 00:05:12,867 --> 00:05:14,467 SAINT AMOUR: Our job will be to document 86 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,333 the condition of the wreck on the sea floor. 87 00:05:17,467 --> 00:05:19,700 FISHBURNE: Based in Maryland, his team has found 88 00:05:19,834 --> 00:05:24,200 missing plane wrecks and most famously, surveyed the Titanic. 89 00:05:29,166 --> 00:05:31,166 But hunting Shackleton's wreck 90 00:05:31,300 --> 00:05:33,033 is their most challenging mission yet. 91 00:05:38,567 --> 00:05:41,533 A ship has not been to the Shackleton location primarily 92 00:05:41,667 --> 00:05:46,000 due to the ice pack and how difficult it is to get here. 93 00:05:47,300 --> 00:05:49,500 This is the equivalent of going to Mars 94 00:05:49,633 --> 00:05:53,567 and looking for, you know, the wreckage of a space craft. 95 00:05:53,700 --> 00:05:55,367 It's just that remote. 96 00:05:58,266 --> 00:06:00,633 To help him search, Steve's got a secret weapon. 97 00:06:03,300 --> 00:06:06,233 A purpose-built, remotely operated vehicle, 98 00:06:06,367 --> 00:06:08,166 or ROV. 99 00:06:12,500 --> 00:06:15,734 This $2 million bot weighs in at over 6,000 pounds. 100 00:06:18,066 --> 00:06:20,166 It's equipped with deep sea cameras 101 00:06:20,300 --> 00:06:23,066 and two articulated titanium arms. 102 00:06:26,266 --> 00:06:31,300 Its mission: to dive to the sea bed and explore the wreck. 103 00:06:32,500 --> 00:06:35,667 It can descend to nearly four miles under the water 104 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:37,333 and withstand pressure 105 00:06:37,467 --> 00:06:39,633 that would crush a human in an instant. 106 00:06:42,133 --> 00:06:44,266 Before the ship sets off, 107 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,300 Steve's team needs to give their robot a health check. 108 00:06:49,767 --> 00:06:52,533 And so one of the things we do to prepare for the mission 109 00:06:52,667 --> 00:06:54,533 is go through and double-check all the connections, 110 00:06:54,667 --> 00:06:57,233 and tighten up hardware. 111 00:06:57,367 --> 00:06:59,834 FISHBURNE: Dave O'Hara, from Northern Ireland 112 00:06:59,967 --> 00:07:03,100 -is Steve's pilot. -[Dave] Through there. 113 00:07:04,433 --> 00:07:05,967 In there. 114 00:07:06,100 --> 00:07:08,433 An ex-British navy engineer, 115 00:07:08,567 --> 00:07:11,467 he's been working on robot subs for 12 years. 116 00:07:12,333 --> 00:07:14,133 O'HARA: We've had the brains of the system out, 117 00:07:14,266 --> 00:07:16,400 put it back in and we'll hook her back up 118 00:07:16,533 --> 00:07:18,400 and give it a test again in a few minutes. 119 00:07:21,433 --> 00:07:24,133 For me personally, it's a bucket list job. 120 00:07:24,266 --> 00:07:26,533 The shipwreck side of things have got me inspired 121 00:07:26,667 --> 00:07:30,734 to come do this for a living, watching guys find Titanic. 122 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:34,100 Just for the history behind it, the story, 123 00:07:34,233 --> 00:07:35,900 the human aspect of it. 124 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:38,500 And I think that's the same with Endurance. 125 00:07:38,633 --> 00:07:40,900 Okay, guys, just let her be. I'm gonna start the hydraulics. 126 00:07:42,767 --> 00:07:45,633 FISHBURNE: Dave's confident he can get the sub 10,000 feet 127 00:07:45,767 --> 00:07:48,200 down to the wreck. 128 00:07:48,333 --> 00:07:49,600 But first they've got to find it. 129 00:07:53,166 --> 00:07:55,967 Fortunately, the team has a big clue to where it could be. 130 00:07:59,633 --> 00:08:02,033 To find the exact spot to search, 131 00:08:02,166 --> 00:08:03,467 wreck archaeologist Mensun Bound 132 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:05,633 is investigating nautical charts 133 00:08:05,767 --> 00:08:08,066 and the ship's original log 134 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,533 kept meticulously by Shackleton's captain, 135 00:08:10,667 --> 00:08:11,834 Frank Worsley. 136 00:08:14,133 --> 00:08:17,400 These record Endurance's position on the day she sank. 137 00:08:19,667 --> 00:08:22,166 It gives us the coordinates, a latitude and a longitude. 138 00:08:23,500 --> 00:08:25,033 If we look at the chart, 139 00:08:25,166 --> 00:08:27,834 here we have it, right here. 140 00:08:29,767 --> 00:08:31,467 This is where she sank. 141 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:33,600 This is "X marks the spot." 142 00:08:35,734 --> 00:08:37,233 FISHBURNE: Using the data, 143 00:08:37,367 --> 00:08:40,967 Mensun calculates a target 1,200 miles away 144 00:08:41,100 --> 00:08:42,934 across the treacherous Weddell Sea. 145 00:08:43,734 --> 00:08:45,000 It's a minefield 146 00:08:46,533 --> 00:08:49,400 of giant waves and jagged ice. 147 00:08:53,266 --> 00:08:57,133 LARSON: The Weddell Sea is a churning bed of sea ice. 148 00:08:57,266 --> 00:09:01,467 This sea ice breaks into pieces and it floats around 149 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,333 and runs into each other, throwing up pressure ridges, 150 00:09:05,467 --> 00:09:08,467 and you never know when it will turn totally solid again. 151 00:09:11,667 --> 00:09:14,133 FISHBURNE: The expedition is also in a race against time. 152 00:09:16,166 --> 00:09:18,700 The Weddell Sea is full of ice year round, 153 00:09:19,667 --> 00:09:21,300 but as winter approaches, 154 00:09:21,433 --> 00:09:23,900 the ocean around the continent freezes over. 155 00:09:25,834 --> 00:09:29,200 Impassable sea ice covering an area 156 00:09:29,333 --> 00:09:32,433 one-and-a-half times the size of the United States. 157 00:09:39,667 --> 00:09:43,300 The team has a short window to get in and back out 158 00:09:43,433 --> 00:09:46,100 or they'll get stuck in the ice. 159 00:09:46,233 --> 00:09:48,834 Anyone going into that area with a ship 160 00:09:48,967 --> 00:09:52,166 is putting their ship and their crew in jeopardy. 161 00:10:01,233 --> 00:10:03,467 FISHBURNE: In 1914, two years after 162 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,000 the sinking of the Titanic, 163 00:10:05,133 --> 00:10:09,200 British explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton, heads south. 164 00:10:11,500 --> 00:10:13,166 ERNEST SHACKLETON: I believe it is in our nature 165 00:10:13,300 --> 00:10:17,200 to explore, reach out into the unknown. 166 00:10:17,333 --> 00:10:20,867 The only true failure would be not to explore at all. 167 00:10:23,700 --> 00:10:26,533 FISHBURNE: It's the golden age of polar exploration. 168 00:10:27,767 --> 00:10:30,233 Shackleton is full of ambition, 169 00:10:30,367 --> 00:10:33,166 seeking glory for himself and his country. 170 00:10:35,233 --> 00:10:37,934 He was really driven by the fact that 171 00:10:38,066 --> 00:10:39,900 it was one of the last few places on Earth 172 00:10:40,033 --> 00:10:41,734 that hadn't been touched by man 173 00:10:41,867 --> 00:10:44,367 and he wanted to be one of the first persons there. 174 00:10:48,533 --> 00:10:52,967 Antarctica was the last place to show this sense of adventure. 175 00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:54,700 It was the last challenge left. 176 00:11:00,333 --> 00:11:02,700 FISHBURNE: Shackleton's aim, to make history 177 00:11:02,834 --> 00:11:06,233 by crossing the entire Antarctic continent 178 00:11:06,367 --> 00:11:09,767 from coast to coast for the first time. 179 00:11:09,900 --> 00:11:12,000 A hundred years ago, crossing Antarctica would be more 180 00:11:12,133 --> 00:11:15,000 difficult than us going to the moon today. 181 00:11:18,333 --> 00:11:20,333 I think it's the nature of man 182 00:11:20,467 --> 00:11:24,066 to always see something we haven't seen before, 183 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:25,867 whether it's the moon or the South Pole. 184 00:11:30,166 --> 00:11:32,734 ANKER: Shackleton and his 27 men, 185 00:11:32,867 --> 00:11:36,600 they sailed off what we knew of the world. 186 00:11:39,767 --> 00:11:42,266 FISHBURNE: But Shackleton will never even make landfall. 187 00:11:43,700 --> 00:11:46,600 Here at the end of the Earth, 188 00:11:46,734 --> 00:11:50,133 Shackleton's ship, the Endurance, will sink 189 00:11:52,633 --> 00:11:55,133 in a disaster that will capture the world's attention. 190 00:12:01,567 --> 00:12:05,200 Fully loaded, the Agulhas II finally sets off, 191 00:12:05,333 --> 00:12:07,500 ready to take on the Weddell Sea. 192 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,433 So much has gone into this project, 193 00:12:11,567 --> 00:12:13,867 so many years of work, so many dreams. 194 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:19,633 It feels like my whole life has come down to this moment. 195 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,000 FISHBURNE: Now it's time to put everything to the test. 196 00:12:26,900 --> 00:12:28,800 The team will battle ice... 197 00:12:28,934 --> 00:12:31,500 SAINT AMOUR: Roger, I got a berg right on the stern. 198 00:12:31,633 --> 00:12:33,734 -Hurry, please. -...bitter cold... 199 00:12:33,867 --> 00:12:37,533 -We are now stuck. -...and extreme depth. 200 00:12:37,667 --> 00:12:39,567 Guys, we're gonna bring it back. 201 00:12:39,700 --> 00:12:43,667 With so much at stake, how will they overcome the challenges? 202 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:45,667 Pod's gone. I don't know what to say, really. 203 00:13:04,900 --> 00:13:06,333 FISHBURNE: After five days at sea, 204 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:09,166 the expedition to find the ship 205 00:13:09,300 --> 00:13:10,934 of legendary explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton 206 00:13:12,567 --> 00:13:13,867 is making good progress. 207 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:20,934 Now 1,500 miles from her starting point 208 00:13:21,066 --> 00:13:22,100 at Penguin Bukta, 209 00:13:23,333 --> 00:13:25,633 the crew is zeroing in on the wreck site. 210 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,367 On deck, Louisiana native and former Air Force engineer, 211 00:13:34,500 --> 00:13:38,133 Devon James, is part of a second elite team 212 00:13:38,266 --> 00:13:39,934 hunting the 100-year-old wreck. 213 00:13:42,967 --> 00:13:46,500 It's his job to look after a critical set of equipment, 214 00:13:46,633 --> 00:13:52,100 two autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs. 215 00:13:52,233 --> 00:13:54,500 JAMES: It's basically a drone, just like an aerial drone, 216 00:13:54,633 --> 00:13:56,333 but we use it in the ocean. 217 00:13:56,467 --> 00:13:58,867 So this is used all over the world 218 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,433 to survey the sea floor without an operator 219 00:14:02,567 --> 00:14:04,166 going below the surface. 220 00:14:04,300 --> 00:14:06,100 Coming to you. 221 00:14:06,233 --> 00:14:08,800 FISHBURNE: Also working on the subs is Chad Bonin. 222 00:14:08,934 --> 00:14:10,734 Like Devon, he's ex-military. 223 00:14:10,867 --> 00:14:12,734 -Forward. -Roger. 224 00:14:12,867 --> 00:14:15,400 We haven't dealt with ice conditions like this before. 225 00:14:16,967 --> 00:14:19,867 We were hand picked to come onto this job, 226 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,533 so there's a lot of pressure to complete the task. 227 00:14:23,667 --> 00:14:25,800 FISHBURNE: Despite the challenges of sending 228 00:14:25,934 --> 00:14:29,767 their AUV subs under the ice, Chad's got a good attitude. 229 00:14:29,900 --> 00:14:31,700 As long as we're layered up we're okay. 230 00:14:31,834 --> 00:14:33,734 We're from South Louisiana, it's usually hot weather. 231 00:14:41,767 --> 00:14:43,867 FISHBURNE: The team knows where to head, 232 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,567 but getting there is tough. 233 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,567 The expedition's hopes rest on the Agulhas II. 234 00:14:56,367 --> 00:14:58,166 Weighing in at 14,000 tons 235 00:14:59,667 --> 00:15:01,700 and costing $170 million, 236 00:15:04,367 --> 00:15:07,767 this ship is designed to smash through ice three feet thick. 237 00:15:16,767 --> 00:15:19,467 A double hull of extra thick steel protects 238 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:25,166 the Agulhas II, and in the engine room, 239 00:15:25,300 --> 00:15:28,000 second engineer, Mark O'Reilly 240 00:15:28,133 --> 00:15:30,266 is pushing her four engines to the limit. 241 00:15:31,633 --> 00:15:34,600 These deliver 12,000 horsepower. 242 00:15:36,066 --> 00:15:37,500 O'REILLY: This is one of two prop shafts. 243 00:15:37,633 --> 00:15:40,100 six thousand horsepower available on each 244 00:15:40,233 --> 00:15:43,800 and that will give us enough power to break through 245 00:15:43,934 --> 00:15:45,533 one meter of ice at seven miles per hour. 246 00:15:58,233 --> 00:16:00,133 FISHBURNE: The Agulhas II is built 247 00:16:00,266 --> 00:16:02,467 for the worst conditions on the planet, 248 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:04,400 but even for this beast, 249 00:16:04,533 --> 00:16:06,700 hitting ice at speed is bad news. 250 00:16:08,934 --> 00:16:11,800 Captain Freddie Ligthelm, is the ice pilot. 251 00:16:11,934 --> 00:16:14,133 Part of the South African crew, 252 00:16:14,266 --> 00:16:17,867 he has 15 years' experience in the Weddell Sea. 253 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,266 If we should hit any sea ice here at 15 knots, 254 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,967 it could possibly cause heavy damage to the vessel. 255 00:16:25,100 --> 00:16:28,033 So we are continuously looking out. 256 00:16:28,166 --> 00:16:30,367 FISHBURNE: The Titanic famously sank in 1912 257 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,934 because it hit an iceberg at speed. 258 00:16:35,066 --> 00:16:37,734 One wrong move could bring this ship to the same fate. 259 00:16:39,633 --> 00:16:43,000 But unlike the Titanic, the Agulhas II 260 00:16:43,133 --> 00:16:46,000 has an arsenal of modern navigational tools. 261 00:16:47,934 --> 00:16:50,333 LIGTHELM: This is us here and this is our speed vector 262 00:16:50,467 --> 00:16:52,266 and you can see that this iceberg 263 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:54,500 is at a distance of 8.8 miles. 264 00:16:56,934 --> 00:17:00,233 Sometimes you could get 100 targets on the radar 265 00:17:00,367 --> 00:17:02,100 at a 12-mile range, 266 00:17:02,233 --> 00:17:04,667 and you would try to then just skirt as much as you can. 267 00:17:06,700 --> 00:17:09,333 FISHBURNE: To reach the wreck site, the Agulhas II 268 00:17:09,467 --> 00:17:12,500 has been sailing around the northern edge of the ice pack. 269 00:17:12,633 --> 00:17:15,467 She will only head into the thicker ice when she has to. 270 00:17:18,900 --> 00:17:22,133 This sea ice is what explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton faced 271 00:17:22,266 --> 00:17:23,967 more than 100 years ago. 272 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,433 LARSON: When Shackleton took his ship into the Weddell Sea, 273 00:17:31,567 --> 00:17:34,800 he knew the tremendous risk he'd never make it out alive. 274 00:17:38,500 --> 00:17:40,500 FISHBURNE: Caught on camera by photographer Frank Hurley, 275 00:17:42,233 --> 00:17:45,233 the Endurance picks her way through hundreds of miles 276 00:17:45,367 --> 00:17:47,033 of pack ice. 277 00:17:48,166 --> 00:17:51,400 But how could the 144-foot wooden ship 278 00:17:51,533 --> 00:17:55,567 avoid the fate of the Titanic just two years previously? 279 00:18:00,100 --> 00:18:02,133 Wreck archaeologist, Mensun Bound, 280 00:18:02,266 --> 00:18:04,800 is studying the ship's plans. 281 00:18:04,934 --> 00:18:08,000 This is the original design for the Endurance. 282 00:18:08,133 --> 00:18:11,400 She really was a beautiful, beautiful vessel. 283 00:18:11,533 --> 00:18:13,967 If you look at her bow, you can see it's got 284 00:18:14,100 --> 00:18:16,800 four huge oaken timbers here. 285 00:18:16,934 --> 00:18:19,467 That's two times more than any other ship that I know of. 286 00:18:21,133 --> 00:18:22,567 FISHBURNE: Her bow is over four foot thick. 287 00:18:24,433 --> 00:18:27,567 The keel or spine of the ship is seven foot of solid oak. 288 00:18:29,967 --> 00:18:32,467 And to stop her being ripped apart by ice, 289 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,266 her hull is cloaked in a wood called "greenheart", 290 00:18:37,066 --> 00:18:40,633 so durable and strong that it's heavier than iron. 291 00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:46,066 It is extraordinarily hard. 292 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,800 It's so hard, you can't even drive a nail into it. 293 00:18:49,934 --> 00:18:52,333 But this is what Shackleton needed 294 00:18:52,467 --> 00:18:56,433 because it is resistant to the kind of wear and tear 295 00:18:56,567 --> 00:18:59,200 and abrasion that this hull was going to have to withstand 296 00:18:59,333 --> 00:19:01,233 once it got into the Antarctic. 297 00:19:01,367 --> 00:19:04,166 FISHBURNE: Shackleton named his ship Endurance 298 00:19:04,300 --> 00:19:07,100 after his family motto, 299 00:19:07,233 --> 00:19:08,700 "By endurance we conquer." 300 00:19:10,300 --> 00:19:12,967 And the Endurance will need all her strength 301 00:19:13,100 --> 00:19:14,600 as she sails further into the ice. 302 00:19:20,467 --> 00:19:22,266 While the ice makes getting to the wreck site 303 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:24,834 a massive challenge... 304 00:19:24,967 --> 00:19:27,700 these frigid waters are also the reason 305 00:19:27,834 --> 00:19:30,367 Shackleton's wooden ship is likely preserved 306 00:19:30,500 --> 00:19:32,233 at the bottom of the sea. 307 00:19:32,367 --> 00:19:36,533 In warmer seas, marine creatures eat wooden ships, 308 00:19:36,667 --> 00:19:41,100 the most destructive, a mollusk called "shipworm". 309 00:19:41,233 --> 00:19:45,367 Shipworm can be incredibly destructive to wooden ships. 310 00:19:47,367 --> 00:19:49,100 And they are voracious. 311 00:19:49,233 --> 00:19:52,000 They just eat anything and everything in no time at all. 312 00:19:52,133 --> 00:19:55,367 They can be up two feet long and they just eat, eat, eat. 313 00:20:01,233 --> 00:20:04,066 FISHBURNE: Recent experiments have revealed that shipworms 314 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,734 can't survive in the freezing Antarctic waters. 315 00:20:09,266 --> 00:20:11,767 Newly-discovered wrecks from Northern Canada 316 00:20:11,900 --> 00:20:14,800 prove that icy seas can preserve wooden ships 317 00:20:14,934 --> 00:20:16,567 even older than the Endurance. 318 00:20:21,033 --> 00:20:22,967 But even if it's well preserved, 319 00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:26,100 the Endurance rests 10,000 feet down. 320 00:20:26,233 --> 00:20:30,400 And right now, the sea there is entirely frozen over. 321 00:20:32,900 --> 00:20:34,934 Getting the subs under the ice 322 00:20:35,066 --> 00:20:37,767 will push the team to the limit. 323 00:20:37,900 --> 00:20:39,333 BONIN: It's armed and ready to go. 324 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:43,934 JAMES: AUV in the water. 325 00:20:44,066 --> 00:20:45,500 Kill the lights and see what we've got. 326 00:20:46,500 --> 00:20:48,033 Whoa. 327 00:20:49,166 --> 00:20:50,700 We lost it. 328 00:21:10,066 --> 00:21:13,033 FISHBURNE: For 11 days, the expedition 329 00:21:13,166 --> 00:21:15,266 to find Shackleton's lost wreck 330 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:17,934 in the frozen waters of Antarctica 331 00:21:18,066 --> 00:21:22,066 has risked raging storms and ice fields. 332 00:21:31,433 --> 00:21:35,000 Now the crew is beyond the reach of helicopter rescue. 333 00:21:35,133 --> 00:21:37,533 If something goes wrong, they're on their own. 334 00:21:41,100 --> 00:21:44,300 They've reached the west side of the Weddell Sea, 335 00:21:44,433 --> 00:21:48,834 as close as they can get to the wreck site in open water. 336 00:21:48,967 --> 00:21:52,667 Beyond their position is pack ice up to 16 feet thick. 337 00:22:01,967 --> 00:22:05,433 Before they break in, Louisiana boys Chad and Devon 338 00:22:05,567 --> 00:22:09,934 want to test their AUV subs under a nearby ice floe. 339 00:22:10,066 --> 00:22:12,400 We're going into sea trials where we're actually going 340 00:22:12,533 --> 00:22:15,867 to launch the AUV and we'll go ahead and release it, 341 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,233 send it underwater. 342 00:22:18,367 --> 00:22:21,533 FISHBURNE: At the wreck site, the AUVs will dive down 343 00:22:21,667 --> 00:22:24,600 and use sonar to scan the sea bed for the wreck. 344 00:22:26,233 --> 00:22:27,767 It may sound simple, 345 00:22:27,900 --> 00:22:32,400 but even testing the AUVs like this is risky. 346 00:22:32,533 --> 00:22:34,367 They've never been under Antarctic ice. 347 00:22:36,066 --> 00:22:39,100 AUV team leader Channing Thomas knows the dangers. 348 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:42,433 THOMAS: There is a lot of pressure. 349 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,500 If this works, it's going to be extraordinary. 350 00:22:49,300 --> 00:22:52,734 Two years of planning and tens of millions of dollars 351 00:22:52,867 --> 00:22:55,900 rests, on the AUV sub doing its job right. 352 00:22:56,500 --> 00:22:58,500 JAMES: We're being extra cautious 353 00:22:58,633 --> 00:22:59,934 before we put it in the water. 354 00:23:00,133 --> 00:23:02,934 Once we launch it, there's no turning back. 355 00:23:06,767 --> 00:23:08,567 BONIN: Alright, let's go get us a successful launch. 356 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:11,867 FISHBURNE: Chad is taking no chances. 357 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:13,433 Ice is a constant threat. 358 00:23:17,166 --> 00:23:19,834 The fast response craft, or FRC, 359 00:23:19,967 --> 00:23:21,834 is the only way he can hope to protect 360 00:23:21,967 --> 00:23:25,000 their multi-million dollar sub at the surface. 361 00:23:25,133 --> 00:23:29,467 We're on standby in FRC in case anything goes awry. 362 00:23:32,033 --> 00:23:33,834 Alright, crank up hydraulics. 363 00:23:38,066 --> 00:23:40,934 Yeah, we definitely don't see this in the Gulf of Mexico. 364 00:23:41,066 --> 00:23:42,400 (LAUGHS) 365 00:23:44,066 --> 00:23:46,934 They'll do a quick test 366 00:23:47,066 --> 00:23:48,700 to make sure all of our settings are correct, 367 00:23:50,300 --> 00:23:52,166 and then send it under the ice. 368 00:23:52,300 --> 00:23:53,633 This is the start of it here. 369 00:23:53,767 --> 00:23:55,967 MAN: AUV is in armed state. Go ahead, Shane. 370 00:23:56,100 --> 00:23:57,667 BONIN: They put it in armed state. 371 00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:59,433 It's armed and ready to go. 372 00:24:04,133 --> 00:24:06,400 MAN: AUV in the water. BONIN: Like a torpedo. 373 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:09,834 Alright. Looking good. 374 00:24:11,333 --> 00:24:12,500 FISHBURNE: All systems are go. 375 00:24:16,834 --> 00:24:18,734 Stay back here and monitor. 376 00:24:18,867 --> 00:24:20,266 Roger that. Ready to dive. 377 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:23,967 Alright, 30 seconds till it dives. 378 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:39,834 Come on, cowboy. 379 00:24:43,133 --> 00:24:46,166 MAN OVER RADIO: It's not going down. Start making some waves. 380 00:24:49,767 --> 00:24:51,834 JAMES: It's very, very flat. 381 00:24:51,967 --> 00:24:54,233 When it's flat calm like this, it has a tough time diving. 382 00:24:56,133 --> 00:24:57,934 FISHBURNE: The only way to make the AUV dive 383 00:24:58,066 --> 00:25:00,066 is to make their own waves. 384 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,300 Go create that wake in front of it as it's travelling. 385 00:25:03,433 --> 00:25:05,867 It's trying to get the water on top of the bow, 386 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,767 at the forward end of the AUV to get it to start digging in. 387 00:25:14,667 --> 00:25:16,000 Go, baby, go. 388 00:25:23,033 --> 00:25:25,500 Keep coming, you're making headway. 389 00:25:28,533 --> 00:25:30,133 It's going down, my man. 390 00:25:34,967 --> 00:25:36,166 -(LAUGHING) -Good job, fellas. 391 00:25:38,300 --> 00:25:40,166 BONIN: It took a little while, but it started diving. 392 00:25:42,867 --> 00:25:45,000 So as of now, we have a successful dive. 393 00:25:47,900 --> 00:25:49,667 It's a great relief to finally get it under. 394 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:51,667 We're on our first mission. 395 00:25:56,467 --> 00:25:58,700 FISHBURNE: Now it's over to Devon's colleague, 396 00:25:58,834 --> 00:26:01,967 Blake Howard, to communicate with the AUV. 397 00:26:03,867 --> 00:26:05,667 We can pull forward a little more. 398 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:07,967 AUV's getting down to 300 meters right now. 399 00:26:10,900 --> 00:26:13,100 Once the AUV gets going on its pre-programmed 400 00:26:13,233 --> 00:26:14,300 four-hour test mission, 401 00:26:15,266 --> 00:26:17,300 Blake will have no control. 402 00:26:17,433 --> 00:26:19,266 All he can do is track it with this, 403 00:26:21,967 --> 00:26:25,533 a high-precision acoustic positioning system or HiPAP. 404 00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:28,567 (MACHINERY WHIRRING) 405 00:26:29,900 --> 00:26:31,567 Dropped through the hull into the sea, 406 00:26:35,467 --> 00:26:37,667 the HiPAP picks up acoustic signals 407 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:39,200 through the water from the sub. 408 00:26:42,433 --> 00:26:44,266 It even pulls in some curious locals. 409 00:26:46,533 --> 00:26:48,400 (SONAR BEEPING) 410 00:26:51,834 --> 00:26:53,667 While the team tracks the AUV sub, 411 00:26:55,367 --> 00:26:57,734 expedition archaeologist Mensun Bound 412 00:26:57,867 --> 00:26:59,934 investigates how Shackleton's ship 413 00:27:00,133 --> 00:27:05,033 ended up on this side of the Weddell Sea a century ago. 414 00:27:05,166 --> 00:27:08,200 Here he is coming down the coast of the Weddell Sea, 415 00:27:08,333 --> 00:27:11,133 all the while working his way south, south. 416 00:27:11,266 --> 00:27:14,300 But as he's going, the ice is becoming more and more dense 417 00:27:14,433 --> 00:27:15,834 and impenetrable, 418 00:27:15,967 --> 00:27:18,333 until eventually he gets all the way down here. 419 00:27:18,467 --> 00:27:20,834 And right here is where he becomes beset. 420 00:27:21,834 --> 00:27:25,667 FISHBURNE: Just 60 miles from the south coast of the Weddell 421 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:29,166 Sea, the ice pack freezes solid around Shackleton's ship. 422 00:27:29,300 --> 00:27:31,600 The Endurance is trapped. 423 00:27:41,567 --> 00:27:43,567 HUSSEY: The temperature suddenly dropped 424 00:27:43,700 --> 00:27:46,133 from 20 degrees above zero to 20 degrees below it. 425 00:27:46,266 --> 00:27:48,967 The whole sea froze over and we froze in with it. 426 00:27:49,100 --> 00:27:52,200 Of course, we had no explosives to blast our way out. 427 00:27:52,333 --> 00:27:53,867 We just had picks and shovels. 428 00:27:55,834 --> 00:27:58,867 FISHBURNE: For 40 hours, his men throw everything at it. 429 00:28:02,333 --> 00:28:04,200 But they can't free her from the ice. 430 00:28:06,367 --> 00:28:10,734 And at that moment, Shackleton's heart sank 431 00:28:10,867 --> 00:28:14,700 because he knew, because it was so late in the season, 432 00:28:14,834 --> 00:28:16,333 that he was frozen in place for winter. 433 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,000 FISHBURNE: And in the six-month long Antarctic winter, 434 00:28:22,133 --> 00:28:24,633 just staying alive is nearly impossible. 435 00:28:26,300 --> 00:28:28,233 LARSEN: Everything is pushing against you. 436 00:28:28,367 --> 00:28:30,300 It's trying to kill you. 437 00:28:30,433 --> 00:28:33,400 That cold is physically painful. 438 00:28:33,533 --> 00:28:35,867 Any piece of exposed skin, 439 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,233 just a little gap in your clothing, 440 00:28:38,367 --> 00:28:40,633 that's like somebody cutting your face with a knife. 441 00:28:40,767 --> 00:28:44,767 ANKER: The wind's unrelenting. 442 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,500 And the snow is driven like needles into your face. 443 00:28:51,433 --> 00:28:53,600 SCOTT: I was at the South Pole, it was so cold. 444 00:28:53,734 --> 00:28:56,667 I removed my glove for just about a minute, 445 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:58,300 maybe a minute and 20 seconds, 446 00:28:58,433 --> 00:29:00,300 and my thumb froze solid. 447 00:29:00,433 --> 00:29:03,400 When you think about Shackleton and his men, out there 448 00:29:03,533 --> 00:29:05,400 in wool and cotton 449 00:29:05,533 --> 00:29:07,800 and things that weren't really designed for that environment, 450 00:29:12,066 --> 00:29:14,800 it just reminds me how tough those men were. 451 00:29:19,834 --> 00:29:21,934 FISHBURNE: The Endurance is completely stuck, 452 00:29:22,066 --> 00:29:25,900 but she's 550 miles from where she will finally sink. 453 00:29:27,433 --> 00:29:29,066 So how did she get there? 454 00:29:32,300 --> 00:29:34,600 Turns out the Endurance is still on the move... 455 00:29:34,734 --> 00:29:36,367 (ICE CRACKING) 456 00:29:36,500 --> 00:29:39,133 ...because the ice is on the move. 457 00:29:39,266 --> 00:29:41,800 LARSEN: While it may look like a land mass, 458 00:29:41,934 --> 00:29:43,867 it's floating on water. 459 00:29:46,433 --> 00:29:48,734 That means whatever the water is doing, 460 00:29:48,867 --> 00:29:51,967 whatever the wind is doing, that affects that surface. 461 00:29:54,266 --> 00:29:56,967 FISHBURNE: Strong currents and winds in the Weddell Sea 462 00:29:57,100 --> 00:30:00,467 spin the entire ice pack in a giant clockwise rotation. 463 00:30:03,467 --> 00:30:06,533 For ten months, the Endurance moves with the ice. 464 00:30:12,967 --> 00:30:15,200 This is the route that the Endurance was carried. 465 00:30:16,967 --> 00:30:20,467 We can follow the route very precisely. 466 00:30:21,767 --> 00:30:23,000 The crew was trapped, 467 00:30:24,300 --> 00:30:27,867 but they had reason to believe they would escape. 468 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:29,667 Several years before, another ship, 469 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:31,200 a ship called the Deutschland, 470 00:30:31,333 --> 00:30:33,700 had also become beset down here. 471 00:30:33,834 --> 00:30:36,467 Because the Deutschland was eventually released 472 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,333 from the ice, people on the Endurance 473 00:30:39,467 --> 00:30:41,367 thought the same thing would happen to them. 474 00:30:46,533 --> 00:30:48,934 FISHBURNE: Out on deck in the early hours of the morning, 475 00:30:49,066 --> 00:30:51,100 the team is waiting for their AUV sub 476 00:30:51,233 --> 00:30:52,467 to return from its test run. 477 00:30:54,433 --> 00:30:55,700 But there's a problem. 478 00:30:55,834 --> 00:30:57,400 I don't know what the hell's going on. 479 00:30:59,900 --> 00:31:02,367 They've lost all contact with their brand new 480 00:31:02,500 --> 00:31:04,533 multi-million dollar sub. 481 00:31:21,734 --> 00:31:24,000 FISHBURNE: Two weeks into the expedition 482 00:31:24,133 --> 00:31:26,033 to find Shackleton's lost ship, 483 00:31:26,166 --> 00:31:29,333 the team is within striking distance of the wreck site. 484 00:31:32,567 --> 00:31:34,033 But their ship is going nowhere. 485 00:31:36,900 --> 00:31:39,066 Four hours into a test dive, 486 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:41,834 AUV operator Blake Howard lost contact 487 00:31:41,967 --> 00:31:45,033 with their multi-million dollar drone submarine. 488 00:31:45,166 --> 00:31:48,900 Everything started to go well, we were gaining confidence 489 00:31:49,033 --> 00:31:52,233 and then we lost it. 490 00:31:58,033 --> 00:32:01,200 When we saw that it did not surface in front of us 491 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:04,000 or to either side of us, 492 00:32:05,767 --> 00:32:08,433 we figured it had to be in the ice. 493 00:32:08,567 --> 00:32:11,000 FISHBURNE: The fear is that the AUV came up 494 00:32:11,133 --> 00:32:14,166 underneath the seven-mile wide ice floe it was diving under. 495 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:21,567 The team needs to move fast. 496 00:32:23,767 --> 00:32:26,734 The AUV has 54 hours of battery. 497 00:32:26,867 --> 00:32:30,433 If the battery dies, they'll never get it back. 498 00:32:30,567 --> 00:32:33,333 That's a multi-million dollar loss they can't take. 499 00:32:34,767 --> 00:32:36,233 We're going to search that area right there. 500 00:32:38,266 --> 00:32:40,533 The expedition throws everyone 501 00:32:40,667 --> 00:32:43,066 and everything they've got into the hunt. 502 00:32:44,934 --> 00:32:46,166 Boats, 503 00:32:48,100 --> 00:32:49,433 aerial drones, 504 00:32:51,934 --> 00:32:53,700 and the operated vehicles. 505 00:32:55,233 --> 00:32:58,600 The AUV has two flashers on it 506 00:32:58,734 --> 00:33:01,900 and the general idea is to get the ROV down deep, 507 00:33:02,033 --> 00:33:04,967 turn off all our lights, and hopefully see those beacons. 508 00:33:08,166 --> 00:33:09,600 MAN OVER RADIO: Okay, Steve, go into the water. 509 00:33:09,734 --> 00:33:10,934 Bring up all the hydraulics, please. 510 00:33:16,700 --> 00:33:18,734 FISHBURNE: A cable tethers their 6,400 pound 511 00:33:18,867 --> 00:33:20,867 robot to the ship. 512 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,600 It gives pilot Dave O'Hara full control. 513 00:33:25,867 --> 00:33:29,500 MAN 1: Okay, Steve, our depth is 30 meters. 514 00:33:32,834 --> 00:33:34,600 We are at 20 meters. 515 00:33:36,667 --> 00:33:37,934 Can't see very much. 516 00:33:38,066 --> 00:33:39,834 Shall we kill the lights and see what we've got? 517 00:33:40,166 --> 00:33:41,367 MAN 2: Go for it. 518 00:33:43,500 --> 00:33:46,367 O'HARA: Whoa, it's dark. You know something? 519 00:33:46,500 --> 00:33:49,333 There is no way we're even gonna see a flasher. 520 00:33:50,266 --> 00:33:52,333 FISHBURNE: A thick bloom of algae beneath the ice 521 00:33:52,467 --> 00:33:55,734 has reduced visibility to almost zero. 522 00:34:07,500 --> 00:34:09,266 O'HARA: We just couldn't see anything. 523 00:34:10,667 --> 00:34:14,133 So we aborted the dive, come back. 524 00:34:14,266 --> 00:34:16,066 Just keep the vehicle safe, ready to try again. 525 00:34:20,633 --> 00:34:23,734 BOUND: Right now I'm very worried. 526 00:34:23,867 --> 00:34:26,967 From day one we recognized that our nemesis 527 00:34:27,100 --> 00:34:28,433 was going to be the ice pack. 528 00:34:28,567 --> 00:34:30,767 You know, just as it was Shackleton's, 529 00:34:30,900 --> 00:34:32,900 so was it going to be ours. 530 00:34:33,033 --> 00:34:35,800 And, I'll tell you what, it's proven to be just that. 531 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:39,867 FISHBURNE: It's a setback, 532 00:34:41,667 --> 00:34:43,266 but the team can't afford to give up. 533 00:34:48,066 --> 00:34:49,700 Sixteen hours later, 534 00:34:52,900 --> 00:34:55,934 Blake finally detects a signal from the missing AUV sub. 535 00:35:01,633 --> 00:35:02,934 I started looking at everything 536 00:35:03,066 --> 00:35:05,900 and I saw that 45 minutes ago 537 00:35:06,033 --> 00:35:09,200 there was a HiPAP hit that made contact somewhere nearby. 538 00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:15,100 FISHBURNE: The sub is within a mile of the of the ship, 539 00:35:15,233 --> 00:35:17,100 somewhere under the ice. 540 00:35:17,233 --> 00:35:19,500 The first ping, when it actually did come through, 541 00:35:19,633 --> 00:35:21,433 was a great feeling for everybody. 542 00:35:21,567 --> 00:35:23,700 It's extremely exciting for her 543 00:35:23,834 --> 00:35:25,834 to actually talk back to us, 544 00:35:25,967 --> 00:35:28,333 and it gave us a direction to head towards. 545 00:35:29,967 --> 00:35:32,567 FISHBURNE: But with only one acoustic hit, 546 00:35:32,700 --> 00:35:35,900 team leader Channing Thomas can't get an accurate fix. 547 00:35:37,133 --> 00:35:39,467 He needs his team to generate more hits 548 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:41,633 to zero in on the AUV sub's location. 549 00:35:43,633 --> 00:35:45,066 That means a radical makeover 550 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:46,834 to their underwater comms system. 551 00:35:48,133 --> 00:35:50,667 What we need to do is create a 45-degree angle, 552 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:54,533 so the HiPAP is facing outwards instead of downwards. 553 00:36:04,767 --> 00:36:06,767 FISHBURNE: Making the comms system face forward 554 00:36:06,900 --> 00:36:09,000 is something they've never tried before. 555 00:36:09,133 --> 00:36:10,133 Alright, coming down. 556 00:36:11,934 --> 00:36:13,000 All stop. 557 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:18,934 BOUND: We've only got one HiPAP on this ship 558 00:36:19,066 --> 00:36:20,967 and although it looks to be quite robust, 559 00:36:21,100 --> 00:36:23,200 in fact, it's not. 560 00:36:23,333 --> 00:36:26,100 If we take just one knock from an ice floe, 561 00:36:26,233 --> 00:36:28,033 that's it. It's game over. 562 00:36:28,166 --> 00:36:29,867 You know, the search for the Endurance 563 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:31,667 is finished before it even begins. 564 00:36:35,066 --> 00:36:36,233 (SONAR BEEPS) 565 00:36:40,066 --> 00:36:43,767 (SONAR BEEPING CONTINUES) 566 00:36:45,133 --> 00:36:47,700 FISHBURNE: Then the team picks up a response. 567 00:36:52,433 --> 00:36:54,767 It's almost definitely a hit, 568 00:36:54,900 --> 00:36:57,800 so it's got to be within range. 569 00:37:01,166 --> 00:37:03,867 You know, we know we're within its range. 570 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:05,133 Yeah, compared with 571 00:37:05,266 --> 00:37:07,000 -where we were two hours ago. -Yes, yes. 572 00:37:07,133 --> 00:37:10,233 Yes, sir. Exactly right. So we're getting there. 573 00:37:15,667 --> 00:37:17,734 FISHBURNE: After another Antarctic night, 574 00:37:17,867 --> 00:37:19,934 the team has picked up more new signals. 575 00:37:20,066 --> 00:37:21,667 THOMAS: Plotted from three different locations 576 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,433 to triangulate about where she's located 577 00:37:24,567 --> 00:37:26,700 and we're figuring she's about 800 meters ahead. 578 00:37:26,834 --> 00:37:28,900 Now it's not an exact location, 579 00:37:29,033 --> 00:37:30,800 but we've got a pretty good target zone. 580 00:37:30,934 --> 00:37:33,500 FISHBURNE: Half a mile might seem close, 581 00:37:35,300 --> 00:37:37,667 but the ship needs to get closer. 582 00:37:40,567 --> 00:37:42,934 Their robot tasked with rescuing the sub, 583 00:37:43,066 --> 00:37:45,600 can go four miles straight down, 584 00:37:45,734 --> 00:37:47,667 but only 400 feet sideways from the ship. 585 00:37:49,266 --> 00:37:51,367 They have to close the gap. 586 00:37:51,500 --> 00:37:55,100 What are we looking at? Three to seven meters, Captain? 587 00:37:55,233 --> 00:37:56,800 Yeah. 588 00:38:00,834 --> 00:38:03,633 FISHBURNE: Twenty foot thick ice is well beyond 589 00:38:03,767 --> 00:38:04,967 what their ship's built to break, 590 00:38:06,567 --> 00:38:09,600 but it's a risk worth taking to salvage the mission. 591 00:38:12,967 --> 00:38:14,266 (ICE CRACKING) 592 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:16,900 (RUMBLING) 593 00:38:21,700 --> 00:38:24,166 The Agulhas II doesn't ram the ice, 594 00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:26,433 it rides up onto the ice. 595 00:38:28,567 --> 00:38:31,567 And under the weight of the 14,000 ton ship, 596 00:38:31,700 --> 00:38:33,734 the ice floe starts to break apart. 597 00:38:39,066 --> 00:38:44,266 The AUV is about here, about 200 meters away. 598 00:38:47,633 --> 00:38:50,367 (CREAKING AND RUMBLING) 599 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:54,467 (ICE CRACKING) 600 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:56,734 FISHBURNE: Each strike releases colossal ice chunks 601 00:38:56,867 --> 00:38:58,533 bigger than the size of a house. 602 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:02,600 By the time they're done, 603 00:39:02,734 --> 00:39:06,734 the ship's smashed away 114 football fields worth of ice. 604 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,633 Finally, they can attempt a second rescue dive. 605 00:39:13,233 --> 00:39:15,166 THOMAS: We're going to launch the ROV. 606 00:39:15,300 --> 00:39:17,433 They're going to go in and locate it 607 00:39:17,567 --> 00:39:19,000 and basically they're going to drag her out. 608 00:39:26,934 --> 00:39:29,266 FISHBURNE: But what will their ROV robot find? 609 00:39:36,066 --> 00:39:39,667 Across the ship, all eyes are glued to the live feed. 610 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,934 O'HARA: Right now we are at 6.5 meters. 611 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:57,467 -In under the ice. -MAN: Hey, is that an AUV? 612 00:39:57,600 --> 00:39:58,567 O'HARA: That looks like one. 613 00:39:58,700 --> 00:40:00,867 And we've got the AUV visual. 614 00:40:02,166 --> 00:40:03,133 THOMAS OVER RADIO: Roger. 615 00:40:03,266 --> 00:40:04,800 Tell the bridge we've got a vis. 616 00:40:04,934 --> 00:40:07,900 FISHBURNE: Finding the AUV is a huge relief. 617 00:40:10,066 --> 00:40:12,700 But now they need to bring it out. 618 00:40:12,834 --> 00:40:16,367 BONIN: You can see the end of the AUV with the prop. 619 00:40:16,500 --> 00:40:17,800 So it's definitely in a crack. 620 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:26,133 FISHBURNE: Dave has to grab the AUV with the robot arm. 621 00:40:26,266 --> 00:40:29,166 O'HARA: So you're pretty much gonna have to fly me into it. 622 00:40:35,467 --> 00:40:36,967 Come on, bubba. 623 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:41,934 Slow, slow, slow, slow. 624 00:40:53,133 --> 00:40:55,033 O'HARA: As soon as we started the move 625 00:40:55,166 --> 00:40:56,834 the fish dropped away below us. 626 00:40:56,967 --> 00:40:58,400 We gotta go chase the fish down. 627 00:41:01,700 --> 00:41:03,867 Getting back in there. We'll have to try again. 628 00:41:18,567 --> 00:41:20,066 FISHBURNE: Every missed attempt 629 00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:22,433 pushes the AUV farther out of reach. 630 00:41:25,266 --> 00:41:26,900 And at the surface, 631 00:41:27,033 --> 00:41:29,633 moving ice is threatening to snag the robot's tether. 632 00:41:33,700 --> 00:41:36,734 The team needs a new solution and fast. 633 00:41:55,667 --> 00:41:58,734 FISHBURNE: Four days ago, the expedition lost contact 634 00:41:58,867 --> 00:42:01,533 with their multi-million dollar AUV sub. 635 00:42:03,433 --> 00:42:05,400 It's a vital tool in their hunt 636 00:42:05,533 --> 00:42:07,367 for Shackleton's lost Antarctic wreck, 637 00:42:09,266 --> 00:42:13,000 but it's now 1,500 feet below the ship on the sea floor. 638 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:15,834 -(RADIO BEEPS) -Yeah, your heading's good. 639 00:42:17,467 --> 00:42:20,166 FISHBURNE: Sub-sea explorer Steve Saint Amour, 640 00:42:20,300 --> 00:42:23,734 is sending the robot back down to locate the AUV sub 641 00:42:23,867 --> 00:42:25,233 and attempt a rescue. 642 00:42:29,667 --> 00:42:32,300 At this depth, the weight of water 643 00:42:32,433 --> 00:42:34,266 pressing down on the AUV 644 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:36,300 is equivalent to two jumbo jets, 645 00:42:36,433 --> 00:42:38,333 one on top of the other. 646 00:42:39,734 --> 00:42:42,333 The robot's got a hook and line, 647 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:45,667 but pilot Dave O'Hara is finding 648 00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:47,800 that fishing at this depth... 649 00:42:47,934 --> 00:42:49,734 (O'HARA GROANS) 650 00:42:49,867 --> 00:42:51,600 ...is far from easy. 651 00:42:57,600 --> 00:42:58,934 (THUMPS) 652 00:43:04,934 --> 00:43:06,700 The hook has to hold. 653 00:43:11,934 --> 00:43:13,533 (MAN SPEAKING OVER RADIO) 654 00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:17,367 O'HARA: Yeah, copy. 655 00:43:17,500 --> 00:43:20,133 You can probably get the bridge to start moving 656 00:43:20,266 --> 00:43:22,033 real slowly forward now, mate. 657 00:43:23,900 --> 00:43:27,433 FISHBURNE: After four days, the AUV is finally in hand 658 00:43:27,567 --> 00:43:28,567 and on the way up. 659 00:43:31,433 --> 00:43:33,100 But as it approaches the surface, 660 00:43:33,233 --> 00:43:35,266 Steve halts the ascent. 661 00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:37,433 Bridge, go ahead. 662 00:43:37,567 --> 00:43:39,100 (SAINT AMOUR SPEAKING OVER RADIO) 663 00:43:44,834 --> 00:43:47,800 O'HARA: All the ice floes and bergs that we've broken off 664 00:43:47,934 --> 00:43:51,200 overnight are all just sweeping in and around us. 665 00:43:54,300 --> 00:43:57,033 The ROV will get caught in some of these bigger floes. 666 00:43:58,667 --> 00:44:02,300 FISHBURNE: Ice chunks this big can weigh 2,000 tons, 667 00:44:02,433 --> 00:44:04,300 more than 13 blue whales. 668 00:44:06,900 --> 00:44:08,467 If one of them hits the cable, 669 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:11,467 the team could lose their robot and the AUV sub. 670 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:19,633 (MAN SPEAKING OVER RADIO) 671 00:44:19,767 --> 00:44:21,033 (SAINT AMOUR SPEAKING) 672 00:44:26,467 --> 00:44:29,033 (CAPTAIN BENGU SPEAKING OVER RADIO) 673 00:44:30,967 --> 00:44:33,000 SAINT AMOUR: Roger. 674 00:44:40,233 --> 00:44:42,333 FISHBURNE: Finally, the path is clear. 675 00:44:44,734 --> 00:44:46,333 I just got to get it up to surface. 676 00:44:55,467 --> 00:44:58,133 The ROV has the AUV in its grasp. 677 00:44:58,266 --> 00:44:59,467 It's coming back up. 678 00:45:01,033 --> 00:45:04,266 FRC, ROV approaching surface. 679 00:45:08,734 --> 00:45:09,867 BONIN: Alright, here we go. 680 00:45:13,734 --> 00:45:15,734 (MAN SPEAKING OVER RADIO) 681 00:45:18,233 --> 00:45:19,667 -You got a hold of it? -Yep. 682 00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:20,867 Alright, back down a little bit. 683 00:45:22,500 --> 00:45:23,567 Whoo! 684 00:45:23,700 --> 00:45:25,066 That's cold, buddy. 685 00:45:26,967 --> 00:45:31,233 FISHBURNE: After a very close call, the AUV is safe. 686 00:45:35,567 --> 00:45:37,333 Alright, coming up easy. 687 00:45:41,633 --> 00:45:42,867 We're good. 688 00:45:45,867 --> 00:45:46,934 Got it, Paul. 689 00:45:48,500 --> 00:45:49,667 (LAUGHS) That's it. 690 00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:51,500 I'm just glad to have it on board. 691 00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:56,467 JAMES: It's been a rough four or five days, 692 00:45:56,600 --> 00:45:58,800 so it will be nice to actually get a full night's sleep 693 00:45:58,934 --> 00:46:00,433 instead of a few hours here and there. 694 00:46:03,233 --> 00:46:05,200 FISHBURNE: With the critical gear now on board, 695 00:46:05,333 --> 00:46:06,834 the hunt for the wreck is back on. 696 00:46:07,767 --> 00:46:09,166 BOUND: Yeah, this is great. 697 00:46:09,300 --> 00:46:13,433 Having her back on board like this, it's the best. 698 00:46:13,567 --> 00:46:14,967 FISHBURNE: The team can now press ahead. 699 00:46:17,834 --> 00:46:19,767 But there's still 230 miles 700 00:46:19,900 --> 00:46:21,734 from where Shackleton's ship went down. 701 00:46:24,667 --> 00:46:28,433 And in that area, the sea is still entirely covered in ice. 702 00:46:30,967 --> 00:46:34,633 Shackleton and his ship drifted into this northwestern 703 00:46:34,767 --> 00:46:37,967 part of the Weddell Sea, in October 1915. 704 00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:44,834 For 10 long months, they've been locked in the ice 705 00:46:44,967 --> 00:46:46,600 in a bitter struggle for survival. 706 00:46:48,500 --> 00:46:49,867 It's so damn cold. 707 00:46:51,533 --> 00:46:55,233 If you don't have an elaborate safety net of equipment, 708 00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:57,000 you'll die. 709 00:46:58,767 --> 00:47:01,834 FISHBURNE: Shackleton's only safety net is his ship, 710 00:47:01,967 --> 00:47:04,533 but now the mounting pressure in the ice 711 00:47:04,667 --> 00:47:05,967 is breaking it apart. 712 00:47:08,367 --> 00:47:11,367 LARSON: They're in the ship, they can hear this ice 713 00:47:11,500 --> 00:47:12,734 moving against the ship. 714 00:47:12,867 --> 00:47:14,734 You hear the creaking of the ship. 715 00:47:14,867 --> 00:47:17,467 You hear the pressure on the joints. 716 00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:20,667 You never know if the ship's just gonna break apart. 717 00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:22,633 (RUMBLING AND CRACKING) 718 00:47:22,767 --> 00:47:26,100 HOWE: The timbers began to crack and groan. 719 00:47:26,233 --> 00:47:29,100 It was like heavy fireworks and the blasting of guns. 720 00:47:31,567 --> 00:47:33,667 (RUMBLING INTENSIFIES) 721 00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:42,834 ANKER: To see the pack ice move in 722 00:47:42,967 --> 00:47:47,667 and just squeeze the life out of that boat, 723 00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:54,667 it must have been so trying and so depressing. 724 00:47:57,266 --> 00:47:59,500 FISHBURNE: Mother Nature overwhelms 725 00:47:59,633 --> 00:48:01,834 the mighty Endurance. 726 00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:07,400 Finally, Shackleton gives the order to abandon ship. 727 00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:13,467 ANKER: Their only hope was to take everything off 728 00:48:13,600 --> 00:48:15,433 that ship that they needed, 729 00:48:15,567 --> 00:48:18,333 and put it on their rescue boats and then 730 00:48:18,467 --> 00:48:20,567 switch into survival mode. 731 00:48:22,734 --> 00:48:25,700 FISHBURNE: The 28 men and 49 dogs 732 00:48:25,834 --> 00:48:29,800 can only watch as the Endurance is overwhelmed. 733 00:48:29,934 --> 00:48:31,533 (TIMBER CRACKING) 734 00:48:34,467 --> 00:48:37,000 I can only image what it was like for him when he sat there 735 00:48:37,133 --> 00:48:39,834 and stood on the ice and watched it just slowly implode. 736 00:48:43,400 --> 00:48:45,266 Just a piece of his heart and soul 737 00:48:45,400 --> 00:48:47,000 probably went down with that ship when it went. 738 00:48:51,700 --> 00:48:54,900 FISHBURNE: The ship disappears beneath the surface. 739 00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:02,400 Shackleton and his men are truly alone. 740 00:49:03,934 --> 00:49:07,867 I think they were much more lonely than I was on Apollo 13, 741 00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:11,800 because I had communication with home. 742 00:49:11,934 --> 00:49:15,200 Shackleton, he didn't have a radio, he didn't have wi-fi, 743 00:49:15,333 --> 00:49:17,533 didn't have, you know, a cellphone. 744 00:49:18,066 --> 00:49:20,100 He was alone. 745 00:49:22,700 --> 00:49:24,600 FISHBURNE: Shackleton's dream of becoming 746 00:49:24,734 --> 00:49:26,767 the first man to cross Antarctica 747 00:49:26,900 --> 00:49:30,066 is ultimately crushed along with his ship. 748 00:49:34,700 --> 00:49:38,934 This is where his real battle for survival begins. 749 00:49:47,367 --> 00:49:49,633 But if the ice crushed Shackleton's ship, 750 00:49:49,767 --> 00:49:52,500 what can the team expect to find on the sea floor? 751 00:49:54,433 --> 00:49:57,166 Mensun Bound is searching for clues in the records. 752 00:49:58,233 --> 00:50:01,133 BOUND: You see in this picture here, the stern rose up 753 00:50:01,266 --> 00:50:04,000 45 degrees, the bow went even further down 754 00:50:04,133 --> 00:50:07,567 and then she just slid and was gone in minutes. 755 00:50:07,700 --> 00:50:10,000 FISHBURNE: The Endurance then dives 756 00:50:10,133 --> 00:50:12,533 10,000 feet to the sea floor. 757 00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:16,433 But Mensun spots evidence 758 00:50:16,567 --> 00:50:19,133 that the wooden ship likely survived the impact. 759 00:50:21,300 --> 00:50:23,867 All this clutter that you see in this picture here, 760 00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:26,333 all these masts and yards, 761 00:50:26,467 --> 00:50:29,266 all that was still attached to the ship when it went down, 762 00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:31,633 and that would have imposed an incredible 763 00:50:31,767 --> 00:50:34,100 drag on the sinking ship. 764 00:50:34,233 --> 00:50:36,367 That would've kept her upright and would to some extent 765 00:50:36,500 --> 00:50:37,600 have slowed her down. 766 00:50:38,834 --> 00:50:41,367 I do believe that the ship itself 767 00:50:41,500 --> 00:50:44,800 is likely to be in an upright state, 768 00:50:44,934 --> 00:50:47,700 but also three-dimensionally intact. 769 00:50:51,467 --> 00:50:53,834 FISHBURNE: It's promising news for the rest of the team. 770 00:50:56,533 --> 00:50:58,533 But suddenly, there's a new problem. 771 00:50:59,900 --> 00:51:02,467 This time it's not the AUV sub, 772 00:51:02,600 --> 00:51:04,934 but the robot that's supposed to explore the wreck. 773 00:51:05,700 --> 00:51:07,800 The pod's gone. 774 00:51:07,934 --> 00:51:10,133 FISHBURNE: It looks like it's suffered a death blow. 775 00:51:29,633 --> 00:51:31,934 FISHBURNE: Halfway into their mission time, 776 00:51:32,066 --> 00:51:34,967 the team in Antarctica is under mounting pressure 777 00:51:35,100 --> 00:51:38,367 to reach the site of Ernest Shackleton's wreck. 778 00:51:38,500 --> 00:51:41,834 Engineers Steve Saint Amour and Dave O'Hara 779 00:51:41,967 --> 00:51:44,166 are depth testing their underwater robot 780 00:51:44,300 --> 00:51:45,800 so it's ready to go. 781 00:51:47,567 --> 00:51:49,033 But something's not right. 782 00:51:51,633 --> 00:51:53,033 Guys, we're gonna bring it back. 783 00:52:03,533 --> 00:52:05,600 The pod's gone. 784 00:52:05,734 --> 00:52:08,500 FISHBURNE: A critical part has imploded under the extreme 785 00:52:08,633 --> 00:52:11,266 pressure, ten thousand feet below the surface. 786 00:52:13,333 --> 00:52:17,233 The robot's electronic brain is now mangled metal. 787 00:52:17,367 --> 00:52:19,133 We've had a catastrophic failure. 788 00:52:20,767 --> 00:52:24,266 We don't have all the electronics to rebuild the ROV. 789 00:52:26,367 --> 00:52:29,166 I don't know what to say, really, I just don't. 790 00:52:29,300 --> 00:52:30,467 Yeah, I'm speechless. 791 00:52:33,533 --> 00:52:36,300 FISHBURNE: The aluminum pod was designed to withstand 792 00:52:36,433 --> 00:52:39,000 pressure nearly three miles below the surface. 793 00:52:39,667 --> 00:52:41,600 But Steve thinks the combination of extreme cold 794 00:52:41,734 --> 00:52:43,700 and a material flaw 795 00:52:43,834 --> 00:52:45,533 has caused it to be crushed 796 00:52:45,667 --> 00:52:48,266 like it was nothing more than a soda can. 797 00:52:49,333 --> 00:52:50,500 This is what we found. 798 00:52:50,633 --> 00:52:51,967 One half of the bottle has pancaked 799 00:52:52,100 --> 00:52:54,033 into the other half of the bottle. 800 00:52:54,166 --> 00:52:56,300 There were quite substantial electronics 801 00:52:56,433 --> 00:52:58,567 and they are entirely crushed. 802 00:52:58,700 --> 00:53:00,300 This is the first time in my career 803 00:53:00,433 --> 00:53:02,000 that I've ever seen this first hand. 804 00:53:02,133 --> 00:53:04,467 This is an example of what hydraulic pressure can do. 805 00:53:07,467 --> 00:53:10,000 FISHBURNE: It's a bitter blow for expedition archaeologist 806 00:53:10,133 --> 00:53:11,333 Mensun Bound. 807 00:53:12,100 --> 00:53:14,000 The worst possible news. 808 00:53:14,133 --> 00:53:17,066 I mean, to lose our electronics like that. 809 00:53:17,200 --> 00:53:19,100 There is no replacement. 810 00:53:19,233 --> 00:53:21,133 We can't fly in spare parts. 811 00:53:21,266 --> 00:53:24,100 There's nothing we can do. 812 00:53:24,233 --> 00:53:26,800 This was what I was going to use to study the wreck, really, 813 00:53:26,934 --> 00:53:28,667 eyeball to eyeball with the wreck. 814 00:53:37,667 --> 00:53:39,867 FISHBURNE: To add to the problems on deck, 815 00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:42,367 the bridge has discovered their closest route 816 00:53:42,500 --> 00:53:46,400 to the wreck site is now totally shut off by the ice. 817 00:53:47,400 --> 00:53:49,834 Analyzing daily satellite photographs, 818 00:53:49,967 --> 00:53:54,066 ice pilot Freddie Ligthelm is hunting for another way in. 819 00:53:55,767 --> 00:53:59,900 He's looking for channels of open water called leads 820 00:54:00,100 --> 00:54:03,433 on the other side of the pack ice. 821 00:54:05,633 --> 00:54:08,266 LIGTHELM: It does appear that there's some leads opening 822 00:54:08,400 --> 00:54:11,066 up in that area, so we're quite excited about that. 823 00:54:12,467 --> 00:54:14,834 We can actually approach the search site coming right 824 00:54:14,967 --> 00:54:18,867 around all the ice and approaching from the south east. 825 00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:22,867 With a bit of luck, we can be cautiously optimistic. 826 00:54:24,200 --> 00:54:27,033 FISHBURNE: The new plan is to go the long way round, 827 00:54:28,600 --> 00:54:31,567 skirt the pack ice, and then head towards the wreck site. 828 00:54:35,433 --> 00:54:37,567 With a clear path ahead of them, 829 00:54:37,700 --> 00:54:39,500 the ship should be able to reach the wreck site 830 00:54:39,633 --> 00:54:41,133 in a matter of days. 831 00:54:42,934 --> 00:54:45,100 Out on the deck, the AUV team 832 00:54:45,233 --> 00:54:47,266 is making their final preparations. 833 00:54:49,266 --> 00:54:52,000 All hopes now rest on them to find the wreck. 834 00:54:53,667 --> 00:54:55,300 BONIN: I'm excited about it. 835 00:54:55,433 --> 00:54:58,100 Can't beat the smile off my face right now, you know. 836 00:54:58,233 --> 00:54:59,533 Finally getting there. 837 00:55:02,066 --> 00:55:04,066 To be in the same area where he was at 838 00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:07,467 and to finally locate that ship is just... 839 00:55:10,300 --> 00:55:13,367 It's an excitement that I really can't explain. 840 00:55:13,500 --> 00:55:15,533 FISHBURNE: Finding Shackleton's ship is the ultimate goal 841 00:55:15,667 --> 00:55:17,533 of this expedition. 842 00:55:21,133 --> 00:55:23,467 But 100 years ago, losing the Endurance 843 00:55:23,600 --> 00:55:25,233 was just the start of a journey 844 00:55:25,367 --> 00:55:28,000 that would make Ernest Shackleton a legend. 845 00:55:34,967 --> 00:55:36,266 Stranded on the ice, 846 00:55:36,400 --> 00:55:38,367 Shackleton's men face impossible odds, 847 00:55:40,100 --> 00:55:43,200 but they have blind faith in the man they call The Boss. 848 00:55:44,600 --> 00:55:48,567 There's this classic quote, and to paraphrase it, 849 00:55:48,700 --> 00:55:51,066 "When the chips are down and all hope is gone, 850 00:55:51,200 --> 00:55:53,600 "get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton." 851 00:55:56,100 --> 00:55:58,400 FISHBURNE: Shackleton orders his men to march for land, 852 00:55:58,533 --> 00:56:00,567 two hundred miles across the ice. 853 00:56:03,600 --> 00:56:08,200 Shackleton has these massive sleds 854 00:56:08,333 --> 00:56:12,133 with full wooden boats on them loaded with supplies. 855 00:56:16,100 --> 00:56:20,033 And you could come up to a massive pressure ridge, 856 00:56:20,166 --> 00:56:23,300 blocks of ice as big as semi-trucks 857 00:56:23,433 --> 00:56:26,200 that are shoved up into the air 858 00:56:26,333 --> 00:56:28,133 ten, 15, 20 feet, 859 00:56:28,266 --> 00:56:29,867 and so, as you're approaching it, 860 00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:31,834 it basically is a wall of ice. 861 00:56:33,633 --> 00:56:35,734 I mean, I don't like to say things are impossible, 862 00:56:35,867 --> 00:56:38,367 but I don't know how they would get over that stuff. 863 00:56:38,500 --> 00:56:40,633 (DOGS BARKING) 864 00:56:40,767 --> 00:56:42,633 FISHBURNE: The men cover only nine miles 865 00:56:42,767 --> 00:56:44,533 of pack ice in a week. 866 00:56:46,200 --> 00:56:50,333 Shackleton realizes reaching land is impossible. 867 00:56:50,467 --> 00:56:54,734 To make matters worse, they're slowly starving to death. 868 00:56:55,500 --> 00:56:58,333 As food supplies run out, they're forced to eat 869 00:56:58,467 --> 00:57:01,266 the only things that brought them joy in the wilderness, 870 00:57:02,133 --> 00:57:04,333 their dogs. 871 00:57:04,467 --> 00:57:07,934 ANKER: The companionship that the dogs provided the team 872 00:57:08,066 --> 00:57:11,166 was quite significant. 873 00:57:11,300 --> 00:57:17,266 That moment must have been hard in an emotional point, 874 00:57:17,400 --> 00:57:21,467 but it was also a mirror of how extended they were 875 00:57:21,600 --> 00:57:23,900 and how precarious life was. 876 00:57:24,300 --> 00:57:26,700 If you're shooting your dogs, 877 00:57:26,834 --> 00:57:28,633 you're on the down and outs. 878 00:57:33,266 --> 00:57:35,433 FISHBURNE: Then, as the ice they're on 879 00:57:35,567 --> 00:57:36,967 drifts closer to the open ocean, 880 00:57:38,600 --> 00:57:41,567 it starts to break apart beneath them. 881 00:57:41,700 --> 00:57:43,500 (CRACKING AND RUMBLING) 882 00:57:49,533 --> 00:57:52,066 And they have to rush onto their boats. 883 00:57:52,200 --> 00:57:54,266 They have to throw their things on their boats. 884 00:57:54,400 --> 00:57:56,834 They have to get into these boats 885 00:57:56,967 --> 00:57:59,533 with everything they need to survive. 886 00:57:59,667 --> 00:58:04,367 They have no choice, but to go from relative safety 887 00:58:05,600 --> 00:58:07,033 to basically certain death. 888 00:58:09,600 --> 00:58:11,867 FISHBURNE: Shackleton has finally left the ice 889 00:58:12,000 --> 00:58:13,767 that's trapped him for 15 months. 890 00:58:15,400 --> 00:58:19,800 But now he faces a new danger, the open Weddell Sea. 891 00:58:25,233 --> 00:58:27,800 Even today this sea is nearly impossible to navigate, 892 00:58:30,033 --> 00:58:32,700 as the crew of the Agulhas II is finding out. 893 00:58:35,934 --> 00:58:37,700 We are now just stuck. 894 00:58:57,734 --> 00:59:01,000 FISHBURNE: To reach the site of Ernest Shackleton's wreck, 895 00:59:01,133 --> 00:59:03,600 the Agulhas II has powered around the ice pack 896 00:59:03,734 --> 00:59:05,333 at the heart of the Weddell Sea. 897 00:59:07,033 --> 00:59:10,200 And she's smashed through thick ice for the last 24 hours. 898 00:59:15,000 --> 00:59:18,033 But just 19 miles from where the Endurance sank, 899 00:59:18,166 --> 00:59:21,033 the Agulhas II runs into serious trouble. 900 00:59:21,166 --> 00:59:22,934 (ICE CRACKING) 901 00:59:31,834 --> 00:59:35,567 She's stuck in the ice just like Shackleton's ship. 902 00:59:39,967 --> 00:59:41,567 BOUND: We're stuck. We're in a white out. 903 00:59:42,734 --> 00:59:45,133 The ice is well over three meters thick, 904 00:59:45,266 --> 00:59:47,166 possibly even as much as five, 905 00:59:47,300 --> 00:59:49,767 and we're way, way below zero. 906 00:59:52,633 --> 00:59:54,367 FISHBURNE: In the early hours of the morning, 907 00:59:54,500 --> 00:59:58,967 the ship was brought to a standstill by impenetrable fog. 908 00:59:59,100 --> 01:00:02,567 The ice moved in around her and froze her in. 909 01:00:06,867 --> 01:00:08,567 If the temperature drops further, 910 01:00:08,700 --> 01:00:10,667 the ice could trap the crew for days, 911 01:00:10,800 --> 01:00:12,467 and the harsh Antarctic winter 912 01:00:12,600 --> 01:00:15,233 is already barrelling down on them. 913 01:00:15,367 --> 01:00:17,633 But Devon's got an idea. 914 01:00:17,767 --> 01:00:19,900 JAMES: We could do like Shackleton did on the Endurance 915 01:00:20,033 --> 01:00:22,133 when they got stuck in the ice and had the whole crew 916 01:00:22,266 --> 01:00:24,000 run from one side of the vessel to the other, 917 01:00:24,133 --> 01:00:26,100 together, to rock the ship free. 918 01:00:32,166 --> 01:00:34,000 FISHBURNE: Devon's half kidding 919 01:00:34,133 --> 01:00:36,300 but his plan isn't as crazy as it sounds. 920 01:00:38,333 --> 01:00:42,600 Captain Bengu has 18 years' experience in Antarctic ice 921 01:00:42,734 --> 01:00:45,300 and he's got a 21st-century trick up his sleeve. 922 01:00:48,266 --> 01:00:51,533 Instead of moving his crew from one side to the other, 923 01:00:51,667 --> 01:00:54,000 he's shifting a 40-ton container of fuel 924 01:00:57,300 --> 01:00:58,600 using his crane. 925 01:00:59,233 --> 01:01:00,533 (CAPTAIN BENGU SPEAKING) 926 01:01:10,800 --> 01:01:12,000 FISHBURNE: And in the engine room, 927 01:01:12,133 --> 01:01:14,000 engineer Mark O'Reilly is firing up 928 01:01:14,133 --> 01:01:15,734 the two propellers to maximum power. 929 01:01:18,233 --> 01:01:19,433 (WHIRRING) 930 01:01:21,200 --> 01:01:23,033 After 14 hours using its crane, 931 01:01:26,266 --> 01:01:28,667 and its 12,000 horsepower engines, 932 01:01:35,834 --> 01:01:38,300 the Agulhas II finally breaks free. 933 01:01:39,200 --> 01:01:41,100 (ICE CRACKING) 934 01:01:48,300 --> 01:01:50,066 BONIN: Sounds like we're moving again. 935 01:01:50,200 --> 01:01:53,166 See, you can hear the distinct difference 936 01:01:53,300 --> 01:01:55,300 in the sound here, you know. 937 01:01:55,433 --> 01:01:58,667 That's definitely ice scraping alongside the vessel 938 01:01:58,800 --> 01:02:00,200 as we're moving forward. 939 01:02:02,333 --> 01:02:03,934 (ICE SCRAPING) 940 01:02:11,233 --> 01:02:13,700 FISHBURNE: And now that the fog has lifted, 941 01:02:13,834 --> 01:02:15,834 the Captain has a clear view of the route ahead. 942 01:02:19,133 --> 01:02:23,000 But the ship still has to get them inside the wreck zone. 943 01:02:23,133 --> 01:02:27,433 And the closer they get, the thicker the ice becomes. 944 01:02:27,567 --> 01:02:30,800 BOUND: This really is Shackleton territory. 945 01:02:30,934 --> 01:02:33,066 The ice here is old, 946 01:02:33,200 --> 01:02:37,166 it's gnarled, it's all hummocked 947 01:02:37,300 --> 01:02:39,967 and it's all raftered up, steepled up into these ridges. 948 01:02:42,633 --> 01:02:44,767 It's amazing that those guys survived 949 01:02:44,900 --> 01:02:46,934 as long as they did on ice like this. 950 01:02:47,066 --> 01:02:48,667 It's incredible. 951 01:02:53,934 --> 01:02:55,934 FISHBURNE: This is the ice that trapped Shackleton 952 01:02:56,066 --> 01:02:57,967 and his men for 15 months. 953 01:03:02,166 --> 01:03:04,834 When they finally escape it on life boats, 954 01:03:04,967 --> 01:03:07,066 they have to battle freezing winds and ice storms 955 01:03:07,200 --> 01:03:08,533 on the open ocean. 956 01:03:11,367 --> 01:03:14,800 Shackleton sets out for a tiny island 60 miles away. 957 01:03:16,233 --> 01:03:17,500 It's his final hope. 958 01:03:20,800 --> 01:03:24,033 On the seventh day at sea and barely alive, 959 01:03:24,166 --> 01:03:26,567 they miraculously spot land. 960 01:03:26,700 --> 01:03:29,233 HOWE: And when they saw Elephant Island, 961 01:03:29,367 --> 01:03:32,367 everybody cheered. 962 01:03:32,500 --> 01:03:35,967 And we pulled as hard as we could to make our landing. 963 01:03:38,133 --> 01:03:40,633 LARSON: But it was a weird sort of euphoria 964 01:03:40,767 --> 01:03:42,767 because they hadn't made it home, 965 01:03:42,900 --> 01:03:47,500 they had made it onto an inhospitable rock. 966 01:03:47,633 --> 01:03:50,667 The first night there, what was left of their tents 967 01:03:50,800 --> 01:03:52,333 was just shredded in the wind. 968 01:03:53,600 --> 01:03:55,667 Humans were not meant to be there. 969 01:03:55,800 --> 01:03:57,533 The whalers didn't even come by there. 970 01:03:59,533 --> 01:04:02,266 FISHBURNE: They are on a tiny storm battered 971 01:04:02,400 --> 01:04:03,700 pinprick of a rock. 972 01:04:03,834 --> 01:04:07,667 HUSSEY: Of course, food was very short. 973 01:04:07,800 --> 01:04:10,166 We had very little except a little seal and penguin 974 01:04:10,300 --> 01:04:12,200 whenever they came up. 975 01:04:12,333 --> 01:04:15,600 LARSON: Shackleton knew the men could not survive. 976 01:04:15,734 --> 01:04:17,066 Conditions would only get worse. 977 01:04:17,200 --> 01:04:18,333 He had to get help, 978 01:04:19,734 --> 01:04:22,800 and he knew he had to go as quick as possible. 979 01:04:24,266 --> 01:04:26,133 FISHBURNE: But the only way out is across 980 01:04:26,266 --> 01:04:29,000 the most dangerous ocean on the planet. 981 01:04:31,066 --> 01:04:32,633 Taking only five men, 982 01:04:32,767 --> 01:04:35,967 two barrels of water and four weeks of food rations, 983 01:04:36,100 --> 01:04:38,834 Shackleton launches their largest life boat, 984 01:04:38,967 --> 01:04:41,033 the James Caird. 985 01:04:41,166 --> 01:04:43,467 There's a picture taken by Hurley 986 01:04:43,600 --> 01:04:47,000 with a little Brownie camera, with the little camera he had. 987 01:04:47,133 --> 01:04:49,967 LARSON: That picture scares the bejeezus out of me. 988 01:04:50,100 --> 01:04:52,500 This tiny speck of a boat, 989 01:04:52,633 --> 01:04:55,934 them all waving bravely at them 990 01:04:56,066 --> 01:04:59,400 as if to give them encouragement. 991 01:05:01,233 --> 01:05:03,200 Most of them must have felt, 992 01:05:03,333 --> 01:05:04,600 "They're never going to make it 993 01:05:04,734 --> 01:05:06,000 "and we're never going to be saved." 994 01:05:09,667 --> 01:05:11,467 FISHBURNE: Shackleton's plan is to head 995 01:05:11,600 --> 01:05:14,033 to the island of South Georgia, 996 01:05:14,166 --> 01:05:17,734 eight hundred miles across the Southern Ocean. 997 01:05:17,867 --> 01:05:21,300 The Southern Ocean is probably one of the most treacherous 998 01:05:21,433 --> 01:05:24,000 bodies of water on this planet. 999 01:05:26,000 --> 01:05:30,233 It's not uncommon to have winds in the 50s, 60s, 70 mph, 1000 01:05:30,367 --> 01:05:32,533 swells up to 100 foot. 1001 01:05:32,667 --> 01:05:35,967 The water temperature is just a little above freezing. 1002 01:05:36,100 --> 01:05:37,567 It can sink a vessel in seconds. 1003 01:05:40,700 --> 01:05:44,166 It's like going up a hill or a mountain 1004 01:05:44,300 --> 01:05:46,667 and you go up and up and then you reach the top 1005 01:05:46,800 --> 01:05:49,266 and then you go down and you skid down. 1006 01:05:53,033 --> 01:05:54,433 FISHBURNE: The odds are stacked against them, 1007 01:05:56,266 --> 01:05:58,433 but Shackleton knows if he doesn't make it to land, 1008 01:05:59,200 --> 01:06:01,233 all his men will perish. 1009 01:06:11,233 --> 01:06:15,767 FISHBURNE: A century on, after two years of planning... 1010 01:06:15,900 --> 01:06:17,500 BOUND: This is the point where she went down. 1011 01:06:19,700 --> 01:06:21,166 FISHBURNE: ...five and a half weeks at sea, 1012 01:06:25,734 --> 01:06:27,533 and four days battling the ice... 1013 01:06:29,900 --> 01:06:31,867 (CRACKING) 1014 01:06:37,700 --> 01:06:41,467 ...the Agulhas II has finally broken through 1015 01:06:41,600 --> 01:06:45,467 to the exact coordinates of the Endurance wreck site. 1016 01:06:52,734 --> 01:06:54,467 It's a major achievement. 1017 01:07:00,100 --> 01:07:03,066 Only a handful of ships have ever been here. 1018 01:07:07,433 --> 01:07:10,467 BOUND: It feels great. I was up on the bridge till late. 1019 01:07:10,600 --> 01:07:13,200 I only got two hours' sleep, I'm shattered, 1020 01:07:13,333 --> 01:07:16,800 but, you know, at the same time I'm really happy. 1021 01:07:16,934 --> 01:07:20,000 But, you know, we've still got to find it. 1022 01:07:20,133 --> 01:07:23,767 To actually be here and able to 1023 01:07:23,900 --> 01:07:26,567 be part of the search is very exciting. 1024 01:07:26,700 --> 01:07:28,433 I'm ready for it. 1025 01:07:28,567 --> 01:07:31,233 FISHBURNE: But can they reach the Endurance? 1026 01:07:33,700 --> 01:07:35,700 JAMES: Hit the hydraulics. 1027 01:07:35,834 --> 01:07:38,300 FISHBURNE: The challenges of getting down to the wreck... 1028 01:07:38,433 --> 01:07:40,166 What have you got? 1029 01:07:40,300 --> 01:07:42,834 ...will put the mission on the line. 1030 01:07:42,967 --> 01:07:44,133 The battery's running out. 1031 01:08:02,200 --> 01:08:05,633 FISHBURNE: Deep within the iciest part of the Weddell Sea, 1032 01:08:05,767 --> 01:08:08,367 against all odds, 1033 01:08:08,500 --> 01:08:11,000 the expedition to find Shackleton's wreck 1034 01:08:13,400 --> 01:08:16,166 has broken through to the actual site 1035 01:08:16,300 --> 01:08:18,734 where the ship sank over a 100 years ago. 1036 01:08:21,834 --> 01:08:25,667 Steve and Dave's robot sub is out of the game. 1037 01:08:25,800 --> 01:08:28,433 Damaged beyond repair, it can't hunt the wreck. 1038 01:08:29,500 --> 01:08:32,400 But there's still the AUV sub, 1039 01:08:32,533 --> 01:08:35,367 which will use sonar to scan the sea floor. 1040 01:08:36,867 --> 01:08:40,400 We're close to the actual last known location 1041 01:08:40,533 --> 01:08:42,800 of the Endurance. 1042 01:08:42,934 --> 01:08:44,533 We're gonna launch from where we're at, 1043 01:08:44,667 --> 01:08:46,767 all the way down to 3,000 meters, to the bottom. 1044 01:08:48,667 --> 01:08:50,367 Hopefully everything works well, 1045 01:08:50,500 --> 01:08:53,333 according to plan, and we'll see what happens. 1046 01:08:58,500 --> 01:09:01,934 FISHBURNE: Existing scans reveal that the Agulhas II 1047 01:09:02,066 --> 01:09:05,800 is floating above a vast underwater plain. 1048 01:09:07,800 --> 01:09:09,600 Here the sea floor plunges down 1049 01:09:09,734 --> 01:09:11,900 forty times the height of Niagara Falls, 1050 01:09:12,033 --> 01:09:14,233 to a depth of 10,000 feet. 1051 01:09:15,533 --> 01:09:18,800 This is the deepest zone of the Weddell Sea, 1052 01:09:18,934 --> 01:09:21,600 and the crew believes this plain 1053 01:09:21,734 --> 01:09:24,767 is the final resting ground of Shackleton's ship. 1054 01:09:28,033 --> 01:09:30,166 To program their sub's flight path, 1055 01:09:30,300 --> 01:09:32,333 the team needs to know what the water conditions 1056 01:09:32,467 --> 01:09:34,667 are like at the sea floor. 1057 01:09:34,800 --> 01:09:36,400 (WHIRRING) 1058 01:09:37,734 --> 01:09:41,066 They deploy a monitoring device called a CTD 1059 01:09:41,934 --> 01:09:43,734 to analyze the water. 1060 01:09:50,467 --> 01:09:52,867 Somewhere in these icy depths, 1061 01:09:53,000 --> 01:09:54,700 ten thousand feet down, 1062 01:09:57,433 --> 01:09:59,900 lie the remains of Shackleton's ship. 1063 01:10:02,533 --> 01:10:04,533 Mensun Bound wants to know 1064 01:10:04,667 --> 01:10:06,433 what the data might also tell him 1065 01:10:06,567 --> 01:10:08,900 about the condition of the wreck. 1066 01:10:09,033 --> 01:10:10,800 Hey, guys, what have you got? 1067 01:10:10,934 --> 01:10:12,600 This is the CTD over the wreck site 1068 01:10:12,734 --> 01:10:14,233 and it's just got to the bottom, 1069 01:10:14,367 --> 01:10:16,700 so we're at about just over 3,000 meters. 1070 01:10:16,834 --> 01:10:18,500 And as we get right to the bottom, 1071 01:10:18,633 --> 01:10:21,834 sort of in the last couple of hundred meters, 1072 01:10:21,967 --> 01:10:25,433 the temperature goes down considerably. 1073 01:10:25,567 --> 01:10:27,467 FISHBURNE: Remarkably, the water 1074 01:10:27,600 --> 01:10:30,266 at the sea floor is below 32 degrees. 1075 01:10:32,133 --> 01:10:36,667 It doesn't freeze solid because of the vast pressures at depth. 1076 01:10:36,800 --> 01:10:40,333 BOUND: Depth combined with the super cold water, 1077 01:10:40,467 --> 01:10:42,834 any bacterial activity will be slowed down. 1078 01:10:42,967 --> 01:10:44,367 This is all pretty good news 1079 01:10:44,500 --> 01:10:46,433 for the preservation of the Endurance. 1080 01:10:52,000 --> 01:10:55,133 FISHBURNE: All they've got to do now is launch the AUV sub 1081 01:10:55,266 --> 01:10:56,867 to hunt it down. 1082 01:10:57,000 --> 01:10:59,567 Hit that hydraulics when you walk around. 1083 01:11:00,567 --> 01:11:03,400 But all the ice here is a problem. 1084 01:11:03,533 --> 01:11:06,834 The AUV normally needs an open run of several hundred feet 1085 01:11:06,967 --> 01:11:08,367 to get below the water. 1086 01:11:11,333 --> 01:11:13,367 To make it sink faster, 1087 01:11:13,500 --> 01:11:16,700 Devon and Blake are trying out an unusual solution, 1088 01:11:16,834 --> 01:11:20,033 using a bag of salt to add weight. 1089 01:11:23,066 --> 01:11:25,400 But will their improvised fix work 1090 01:11:25,533 --> 01:11:27,500 when it comes to the actual launch? 1091 01:11:29,567 --> 01:11:32,300 JAMES: I've added five kilos of salt. 1092 01:11:32,433 --> 01:11:35,600 Salt should help it get down in this flat calm water 1093 01:11:35,734 --> 01:11:37,900 and get down to bottom, and start tracking. 1094 01:11:39,100 --> 01:11:40,700 Ready for armed state. 1095 01:11:51,700 --> 01:11:52,934 It's heavy. 1096 01:11:53,066 --> 01:11:55,367 Alright. 1097 01:11:55,500 --> 01:11:57,133 FISHBURNE: Adding the salt is a success. 1098 01:11:59,567 --> 01:12:02,834 The propellers bite and the AUV dives. 1099 01:12:08,500 --> 01:12:12,400 That was a successful launch for the first mission 1100 01:12:12,533 --> 01:12:15,533 to search for the Endurance. 1101 01:12:15,667 --> 01:12:17,400 If all goes well on the mission plan, 1102 01:12:17,533 --> 01:12:20,734 we should be recovering in about 42-43 hours. 1103 01:12:22,934 --> 01:12:25,033 JAMES: If it's down there, we should be able to find it. 1104 01:12:25,166 --> 01:12:27,066 Fingers crossed. 1105 01:12:31,000 --> 01:12:33,367 FISHBURNE: So far, so good. 1106 01:12:33,500 --> 01:12:35,433 The plan now is for the AUV 1107 01:12:35,567 --> 01:12:38,700 to spend the next 43 hours away from the ship 1108 01:12:38,834 --> 01:12:42,433 on a pre-programmed route beneath the ice. 1109 01:12:42,567 --> 01:12:46,500 At the moment we've just got to depth, almost 3,000 meters, 1110 01:12:46,633 --> 01:12:48,967 and we just got comms with the AUV. 1111 01:12:49,233 --> 01:12:51,800 Everything's good. She's where she's supposed to be. 1112 01:12:54,834 --> 01:12:57,100 FISHBURNE: Channing's team checks in with the AUV 1113 01:12:57,233 --> 01:13:00,300 at regular intervals using the underwater 1114 01:13:00,433 --> 01:13:02,200 acoustic comms system. 1115 01:13:04,567 --> 01:13:08,233 That's a very big relief that she's not 1116 01:13:08,367 --> 01:13:09,767 given us issues underneath the ice. 1117 01:13:09,900 --> 01:13:11,867 So everything's looking good at the moment. 1118 01:13:12,000 --> 01:13:14,467 We're gonna keep our fingers crossed 1119 01:13:14,600 --> 01:13:16,667 and keep thinking positive and keep pushing forward. 1120 01:13:18,967 --> 01:13:21,500 FISHBURNE: Now the ship must follow the AUV 1121 01:13:21,633 --> 01:13:23,433 no matter how thick the ice. 1122 01:13:26,867 --> 01:13:29,567 After over 100 years, 1123 01:13:29,700 --> 01:13:31,433 the hunt for Shackleton's wreck 1124 01:13:31,567 --> 01:13:36,066 comes down to what happens in the next 40 hours. 1125 01:13:51,767 --> 01:13:54,166 FISHBURNE: The team has succeeded in reaching 1126 01:13:54,300 --> 01:13:57,700 the exact place Sir Ernest Shackleton lost his ship. 1127 01:13:59,166 --> 01:14:01,800 Now can they find it? 1128 01:14:01,934 --> 01:14:04,533 Ten thousand feet down, the AUV sub 1129 01:14:04,667 --> 01:14:06,800 is halfway through its mission. 1130 01:14:06,934 --> 01:14:09,333 THOMAS: She's proceeding onto line three 1131 01:14:09,467 --> 01:14:11,767 and we're actually gonna jump up to that line, 1132 01:14:11,900 --> 01:14:14,100 find a nice comfortable spot in these floes 1133 01:14:14,233 --> 01:14:15,667 and wait for her there. 1134 01:14:15,800 --> 01:14:19,233 FISHBURNE: For now, AUV team leader Channing Thomas 1135 01:14:19,367 --> 01:14:23,400 and his team can only follow their sub's programmed route. 1136 01:14:29,467 --> 01:14:30,600 -(RADIO BEEPS) -Roger. 1137 01:14:31,633 --> 01:14:34,066 We monitor it still on that line 1138 01:14:34,200 --> 01:14:37,567 as long as we can to make sure she's flying true 1139 01:14:37,700 --> 01:14:40,834 and straight and at the right altitude. 1140 01:14:40,967 --> 01:14:43,166 FISHBURNE: Much like on an airplane, 1141 01:14:43,300 --> 01:14:45,533 all the scan data from the AUV sub 1142 01:14:45,667 --> 01:14:49,867 is recorded onto a black box stored on the sub itself. 1143 01:14:51,433 --> 01:14:54,100 Devon will only find out if it's found the wreck 1144 01:14:54,233 --> 01:14:57,166 once they pull it out of the water. 1145 01:14:57,300 --> 01:14:59,734 But that won't be for another 24 hours. 1146 01:15:07,500 --> 01:15:09,834 Five months after losing his ship, 1147 01:15:09,967 --> 01:15:13,567 Shackleton faced impossible odds in Antarctica. 1148 01:15:13,700 --> 01:15:17,166 He left 22 men behind on Elephant Island 1149 01:15:17,300 --> 01:15:22,000 and he's braving the worst ocean on the planet. 1150 01:15:22,133 --> 01:15:25,800 But after battling across 800 miles of it in two weeks 1151 01:15:25,934 --> 01:15:28,900 and painfully dehydrated, 1152 01:15:29,033 --> 01:15:32,300 he finally spots the island of South Georgia. 1153 01:15:32,433 --> 01:15:34,700 They'd made it. They had made 1154 01:15:34,834 --> 01:15:36,834 the toughest crossing in the world 1155 01:15:36,967 --> 01:15:41,233 in a vessel that never made that crossing before. 1156 01:15:41,367 --> 01:15:43,400 There was a sense of euphoria. 1157 01:15:46,834 --> 01:15:49,700 FISHBURNE: From his landing point at King Haakon Bay, 1158 01:15:49,834 --> 01:15:52,300 the closest settlement is a whaling station, 1159 01:15:52,433 --> 01:15:54,266 30 miles to the east. 1160 01:15:56,367 --> 01:16:00,567 But blocking his path now is a towering mountain range. 1161 01:16:03,033 --> 01:16:06,166 LARSON: The mountains were covered with snow and ice 1162 01:16:06,300 --> 01:16:09,300 and to get some sort of traction on the snow, 1163 01:16:09,433 --> 01:16:13,233 they took nails out of the boat 1164 01:16:13,367 --> 01:16:16,367 and pounded them through the bottom of the shoe. 1165 01:16:16,500 --> 01:16:18,700 FISHBURNE: Mountaineer Conrad Anker 1166 01:16:18,834 --> 01:16:20,867 has followed Shackleton's route. 1167 01:16:21,000 --> 01:16:24,066 ANKER: Shackleton's traverse of South Georgia, 1168 01:16:24,200 --> 01:16:26,300 in the context of when he did it, 1169 01:16:26,433 --> 01:16:29,934 was certainly one of the most technical climbs 1170 01:16:30,066 --> 01:16:31,233 done in the mountains. 1171 01:16:32,667 --> 01:16:36,433 If they didn't make it, their men were going to die. 1172 01:16:36,567 --> 01:16:39,700 And when you have that degree of immediacy on your goals, 1173 01:16:40,567 --> 01:16:41,734 you get things done. 1174 01:16:43,600 --> 01:16:46,266 FISHBURNE: After climbing for 36 hours, 1175 01:16:48,934 --> 01:16:52,367 Shackleton finally limps into civilization. 1176 01:16:58,033 --> 01:17:00,767 LARSON: When Shackleton told his story of what they'd 1177 01:17:00,900 --> 01:17:03,433 been through, no-one at the whaling station, 1178 01:17:03,567 --> 01:17:05,033 they couldn't believe it. 1179 01:17:05,166 --> 01:17:08,767 Every step of this story was beyond belief. 1180 01:17:12,266 --> 01:17:15,500 But, of course, it wasn't over for Shackleton then. 1181 01:17:15,633 --> 01:17:18,500 He had to go back and save the people on Elephant Island. 1182 01:17:18,633 --> 01:17:22,667 FISHBURNE: Shackleton strives tirelessly for four months, 1183 01:17:22,800 --> 01:17:25,433 to break back through the frozen sea. 1184 01:17:28,400 --> 01:17:31,300 At last, he approaches Elephant Island. 1185 01:17:32,767 --> 01:17:34,767 And as he's going ashore, the men on the island 1186 01:17:34,900 --> 01:17:37,433 are seeing the rescue boat is here 1187 01:17:37,567 --> 01:17:39,867 and they're starting to come out from under the shelter. 1188 01:17:40,000 --> 01:17:42,967 And Shackleton is counting, "One, two, three, four," 1189 01:17:43,100 --> 01:17:46,066 all the way up until he's counted everyone. 1190 01:17:52,100 --> 01:17:54,934 And he looks to Worsley and says, 1191 01:17:55,066 --> 01:17:57,166 "They're all there, they're all alive." 1192 01:17:57,300 --> 01:18:00,467 And the emotion that he had at that time, 1193 01:18:00,600 --> 01:18:02,066 had to be just overwhelming. 1194 01:18:07,633 --> 01:18:12,000 LOVELL: To bring everybody on his expedition back home alive, 1195 01:18:12,133 --> 01:18:15,767 was probably one of the greatest adventure achievements 1196 01:18:15,900 --> 01:18:18,166 that we have in our history books. 1197 01:18:22,066 --> 01:18:23,834 FISHBURNE: On board the Agulhas II, 1198 01:18:23,967 --> 01:18:25,967 the crew hunting down Shackleton's wreck 1199 01:18:26,100 --> 01:18:27,900 has suffered a major blow. 1200 01:18:32,333 --> 01:18:34,333 Thirty hours into the dive, 1201 01:18:34,467 --> 01:18:38,433 the AUV that's scanning the seafloor has gone missing. 1202 01:18:40,333 --> 01:18:42,000 The multi-million-dollar machine 1203 01:18:42,133 --> 01:18:43,367 has likely located the wreck. 1204 01:18:45,667 --> 01:18:47,900 But AUV operators Devon and Blake 1205 01:18:48,033 --> 01:18:49,767 have lost contact with it. 1206 01:18:50,967 --> 01:18:52,834 If they can't reconnect, 1207 01:18:52,967 --> 01:18:54,633 they'll never find out what's below. 1208 01:18:54,767 --> 01:18:57,100 We've gotten over the site. 1209 01:18:57,233 --> 01:19:01,266 We've got the best equipment and opportunity to find it 1210 01:19:01,400 --> 01:19:03,033 and if we can't recover the data 1211 01:19:03,166 --> 01:19:04,567 after the AUV has already run its mission, 1212 01:19:04,700 --> 01:19:06,500 that's kind of heart-breaking. 1213 01:19:09,400 --> 01:19:12,367 FISHBURNE: Devon's last hope is that it's waiting 1214 01:19:12,500 --> 01:19:15,033 at its rendezvous point, ten miles away, 1215 01:19:15,166 --> 01:19:17,934 600 feet below the surface. 1216 01:19:18,066 --> 01:19:20,967 But they need to get there fast. 1217 01:19:21,100 --> 01:19:24,200 The AUV's battery is running down 1218 01:19:24,333 --> 01:19:27,500 and once the battery dies, the AUV's nothing more 1219 01:19:27,633 --> 01:19:30,233 than a 4,000-pound paperweight. 1220 01:19:33,233 --> 01:19:34,667 The problem is, 1221 01:19:34,800 --> 01:19:37,433 getting anywhere out here is far from easy. 1222 01:19:39,266 --> 01:19:41,066 Twelve hours into the chase, 1223 01:19:42,333 --> 01:19:45,800 the Agulhas II grinds to a halt. 1224 01:19:45,934 --> 01:19:47,533 (JUDDERING) 1225 01:19:52,533 --> 01:19:54,367 BOUND: We're stuck. 1226 01:19:56,433 --> 01:19:58,600 In normal conditions with open water, 1227 01:19:58,734 --> 01:20:01,333 we'd just shoot over to the loiter box, 1228 01:20:01,467 --> 01:20:03,533 pick her up and everything would be fine. 1229 01:20:03,667 --> 01:20:07,300 But, yeah, right now we can't move. 1230 01:20:07,433 --> 01:20:11,433 We're now almost eight nautical miles to get to the spot 1231 01:20:11,567 --> 01:20:13,400 and her battery is running out. 1232 01:20:15,533 --> 01:20:18,433 It's tough to search for an AUV in this kind of situation. 1233 01:20:20,100 --> 01:20:22,400 FISHBURNE: The team doesn't have time to wait. 1234 01:20:22,533 --> 01:20:26,133 Last time the ship got stuck, it took 14 hours to escape. 1235 01:20:27,166 --> 01:20:29,233 If it takes that long again, 1236 01:20:29,367 --> 01:20:32,200 the sub's battery will be dead before they reach it. 1237 01:20:33,467 --> 01:20:35,133 It's just a waiting game. 1238 01:20:35,266 --> 01:20:37,200 It depends on how long we got, we need to wait, 1239 01:20:37,333 --> 01:20:39,333 so, hopefully, not too much longer 1240 01:20:39,467 --> 01:20:41,000 because we are losing time. 1241 01:20:48,033 --> 01:20:49,800 (CRACKING) 1242 01:20:55,567 --> 01:20:59,300 FISHBURNE: At last, the ship breaks free. 1243 01:21:06,667 --> 01:21:08,066 By the time the Agulhas II 1244 01:21:08,200 --> 01:21:10,934 makes it to the planned end point, 1245 01:21:11,066 --> 01:21:14,333 the AUV's only got four hours of battery left. 1246 01:21:16,400 --> 01:21:19,600 The team prepares to lower its main communication system. 1247 01:21:21,066 --> 01:21:22,867 Yeah, we're just gonna get it together here, 1248 01:21:23,000 --> 01:21:25,066 spin it and then lift it. 1249 01:21:32,400 --> 01:21:34,767 FISHBURNE: But there's no signal. 1250 01:21:36,300 --> 01:21:38,300 The AUV is not where they hoped. 1251 01:21:41,066 --> 01:21:43,400 There's just one last possibility. 1252 01:21:45,233 --> 01:21:48,066 Has it come up and gotten stuck under the ice? 1253 01:21:50,100 --> 01:21:52,433 Devon and Blake want to use another device 1254 01:21:52,567 --> 01:21:54,934 to boost the comms system. 1255 01:21:55,066 --> 01:21:59,934 We're gonna drop this transponder down into the water 1256 01:22:00,133 --> 01:22:03,767 and bounce the signal possibly to the AUV. 1257 01:22:07,667 --> 01:22:10,800 At this point, any response is good. 1258 01:22:10,934 --> 01:22:13,033 FISHBURNE: They need to pick up a signal from the sub. 1259 01:22:13,166 --> 01:22:16,233 This is the last known possible location. 1260 01:22:18,266 --> 01:22:20,467 -I'm 50/50. -Yep. 1261 01:22:20,600 --> 01:22:22,800 It's a crap shoot. 1262 01:22:22,934 --> 01:22:25,400 FISHBURNE: It's the team's final roll of the dice. 1263 01:22:27,667 --> 01:22:29,233 But what will they find? 1264 01:22:46,300 --> 01:22:48,433 FISHBURNE: At the site where Ernest Shackleton 1265 01:22:48,567 --> 01:22:51,433 lost his ship a century ago 1266 01:22:51,567 --> 01:22:52,967 the team sent to find it 1267 01:22:53,100 --> 01:22:54,800 has a tough call to make. 1268 01:22:57,767 --> 01:22:59,700 Their final attempt to locate 1269 01:22:59,834 --> 01:23:03,867 their multi-million-dollar AUV sub has failed. 1270 01:23:05,867 --> 01:23:08,934 We got there and we could not establish communication 1271 01:23:09,066 --> 01:23:12,100 and we started realizing it's not here. 1272 01:23:12,233 --> 01:23:16,200 FISHBURNE: Without the AUV, the hunt for the wreck is over. 1273 01:23:18,734 --> 01:23:20,333 It hurt. You know? 1274 01:23:28,700 --> 01:23:31,200 FISHBURNE: The AUV could be anywhere. 1275 01:23:31,333 --> 01:23:33,133 It's likely out of battery. 1276 01:23:35,800 --> 01:23:37,834 And temperatures are dropping fast. 1277 01:23:39,767 --> 01:23:42,967 The ice floes that have trapped them twice in the last 48 hours 1278 01:23:43,100 --> 01:23:44,533 are closing in. 1279 01:23:46,800 --> 01:23:48,667 If they don't get out soon, 1280 01:23:48,800 --> 01:23:51,200 the ice could trap them for weeks, 1281 01:23:51,333 --> 01:23:53,100 just like the Endurance. 1282 01:23:57,266 --> 01:23:59,734 Captain Bengu makes the call. 1283 01:24:02,367 --> 01:24:04,200 I personally feel we've... 1284 01:24:04,333 --> 01:24:06,066 We've done exceptionally well 1285 01:24:06,200 --> 01:24:07,900 under the circumstances. 1286 01:24:08,033 --> 01:24:10,133 I think we just accept and let go. 1287 01:24:10,266 --> 01:24:12,066 We are at the end of the season now. 1288 01:24:12,200 --> 01:24:14,033 This is where the ice starts forming first 1289 01:24:14,166 --> 01:24:17,166 and, yeah, we should certainly get out of this area. 1290 01:24:19,000 --> 01:24:20,567 THOMAS: Antarctica's a tough cookie to crack. 1291 01:24:20,700 --> 01:24:21,967 Shackleton figured that out. 1292 01:24:22,100 --> 01:24:23,333 Obviously we're figuring it out. 1293 01:24:27,333 --> 01:24:29,600 FISHBURNE: The Antarctic has already cost the team 1294 01:24:29,734 --> 01:24:31,633 one of their AUV subs 1295 01:24:31,767 --> 01:24:34,266 and destroyed their underwater robot. 1296 01:24:36,967 --> 01:24:40,834 SAINT AMOUR: We came down with bigger, better technology, 1297 01:24:40,967 --> 01:24:43,166 but the same rules that Shackleton was playing by, 1298 01:24:43,300 --> 01:24:45,100 still apply today. 1299 01:24:48,600 --> 01:24:50,567 You know, Mother Nature, at some point 1300 01:24:50,700 --> 01:24:52,800 puts her foot down and lets you know who's boss. 1301 01:24:55,767 --> 01:24:57,033 ANKER: The ice still rules. 1302 01:24:58,367 --> 01:25:01,734 The ice is still the king and you have no choice. 1303 01:25:01,867 --> 01:25:05,300 You're merely there trying to do the best you can. 1304 01:25:05,433 --> 01:25:08,300 FISHBURNE: For now, the secret of Shackleton's lost ship 1305 01:25:08,433 --> 01:25:12,767 remains locked in the AUV, hidden beneath the ice. 1306 01:25:12,900 --> 01:25:14,834 JAMES: The AUV could be anywhere. 1307 01:25:14,967 --> 01:25:17,734 At this point it's likely that it's buoyant 1308 01:25:17,867 --> 01:25:20,600 and floating under the ice. 1309 01:25:20,734 --> 01:25:22,767 That information that's on that AUV, 1310 01:25:22,900 --> 01:25:25,333 could hold the secret of the Endurance. 1311 01:25:29,033 --> 01:25:30,867 We were always up against the ice. 1312 01:25:31,000 --> 01:25:32,633 That was always the enemy for us, 1313 01:25:32,767 --> 01:25:34,233 just as it was for Shackleton. 1314 01:25:35,300 --> 01:25:38,166 And, yeah, it's beaten us also. 1315 01:25:44,400 --> 01:25:47,767 FISHBURNE: The loss of the Endurance a century ago, 1316 01:25:47,900 --> 01:25:51,033 turned Shackleton into a legend. 1317 01:25:51,166 --> 01:25:54,500 Shackleton resonates today 1318 01:25:54,633 --> 01:25:58,133 because of keeping his men together, 1319 01:25:58,266 --> 01:26:01,867 keeping morale up, doing the impossible 1320 01:26:02,000 --> 01:26:03,834 and then saving them. 1321 01:26:03,967 --> 01:26:05,400 That's Endurance. 1322 01:26:07,667 --> 01:26:11,066 Whenever I'm out there in a tricky situation, 1323 01:26:11,200 --> 01:26:15,467 climbing or where things might not be going my way, 1324 01:26:15,600 --> 01:26:19,166 I take a bit of Shackleton and I plug it in and I'm, like, 1325 01:26:19,300 --> 01:26:22,533 "Yeah, Sir Ernest Shackleton, 1326 01:26:23,900 --> 01:26:26,867 "he would persevere." 1327 01:26:27,000 --> 01:26:30,734 And that is the power of Shackleton's story. 1328 01:26:35,967 --> 01:26:38,133 FISHBURNE: On the hunt for Shackleton's wreck, 1329 01:26:38,266 --> 01:26:40,367 the crew has battled the same conditions 1330 01:26:40,500 --> 01:26:42,700 faced by the Endurance, 1331 01:26:42,834 --> 01:26:45,200 broken through to one of the most 1332 01:26:45,333 --> 01:26:47,400 remote places on the planet, 1333 01:26:47,533 --> 01:26:50,000 and explored for the first time, 1334 01:26:50,133 --> 01:26:53,934 the ship's final resting ground on the sea floor. 1335 01:26:58,133 --> 01:27:00,767 For the expedition, getting this close to the wreck 1336 01:27:00,900 --> 01:27:04,500 is a major feat of exploration. 1337 01:27:04,633 --> 01:27:08,133 And while the onset of winter marks the end of this season, 1338 01:27:08,266 --> 01:27:11,033 the team plans to return. 1339 01:27:11,166 --> 01:27:12,934 If there's an opportunity to come back 1340 01:27:13,066 --> 01:27:15,600 and search for it again, I'm gonna be first on the list. 1341 01:27:17,333 --> 01:27:18,834 BONIN: Hopefully we'll find the AUV 1342 01:27:18,967 --> 01:27:21,066 and Shackleton's ship in the same spot. 1343 01:27:22,734 --> 01:27:25,834 I always said this was the greatest wreck hunt 1344 01:27:25,967 --> 01:27:29,000 that there's ever been and still is. 1345 01:27:29,133 --> 01:27:31,900 I mean, somewhere beneath my feet is the Endurance. 1346 01:27:32,033 --> 01:27:33,467 And do you know what? 1347 01:27:34,066 --> 01:27:35,734 It isn't over yet. 1348 01:27:37,867 --> 01:27:39,967 SCOTT SHACKLETON: They're talking about going back 1349 01:27:40,100 --> 01:27:42,800 to the moon, so why not go back to the Weddell Sea? 1350 01:27:43,800 --> 01:27:46,166 To be able to go down and find it and locate it 1351 01:27:46,300 --> 01:27:47,867 and document it, 1352 01:27:48,000 --> 01:27:51,367 would be a closure for this whole Endurance story.