Nat Geo, History Hit plan exclusive doc after Shackleton’s Endurance found

The stern of Endurance with its emblematic polestar (photo: Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, Nat Geo)

Disney-owned US factual broadcaster National Geographic is preparing an exclusive documentary on Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship Endurance, after the wreck was finally discovered by divers more than 100 years after its sinking.

Nat Geo has partnered with History Hit, the SVoD and content platform co-founded by historian Dan Snow and All3Media-owned Little Dot Studios, on the project.

The production company behind the doc is Consequential, which will detail the successful search and discovery of one of the great lost shipwrecks of history.

Set to premiere this autumn as part of National Geographic’s Explorer series, the doc will air globally on National Geographic Channels and Disney+. The documentary – also produced in partnership with ABC News – will be directed by BAFTA-nominated Natalie Hewit (Antarctica: Ice Station Rescue, Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World).

Courteney Monroe, president of National Geographic Content, said: “Through bold exploration and storytelling, National Geographic has taken generations of loyal fans from the deepest depths of the ocean to the peak of Mount Everest, enabling them to see and engage with the world in entirely new ways.

“The search for Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship Endurance could not be a more perfect story to continue this proud legacy and join the storied Explorer franchise, which for almost four decades has been investigating and reporting on some of the world’s greatest mysteries. It is our hope – along with our incredible partners on this project – that the blockbuster story behind Shackleton’s Endurance, featuring exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to the high-stakes adventure, will inspire the next generation of explorers and adventurers.”

Organised by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, the expedition to locate the shipwreck, which has for over a century remained inaccessible and undiscovered, set off from Cape Town on February 5 on a voyage to the Weddell Sea, off the coast of Antarctica where the Endurance sank in 1915.

It took 10 days for the crew to reach the search area after navigating tricky terrain and icy waters. After overcoming technical challenges and conducting multiple survey sweeps, the wreck was found 100 years after Shackleton’s death, at a depth of 3,008 metres in the Weddell Sea.

Endurance left South Georgia for Antarctica on December 5, 1914, carrying Shackleton and 27 other men with the goal of reaching the South Pole and ultimately crossing the continent via an overland trek. However, when nearing Antarctica, the ship became trapped in pack ice, and the crew was forced to spend the winter in the frozen landscape. After being stuck in the ice for some 10 months, Endurance finally succumbed to the pressure of the pack ice and sank.

The crew was then forced to make its way by sea to uninhabited Elephant Island before Shackleton and five men set off in a lifeboat on an epic journey to seek help from a whaling station in South Georgia, more than 800 miles away. After several attempts, Shackleton eventually made it back to Elephant Island to rescue his crew and, miraculously, all of the men under his command in the Weddell Sea survived two years in the wilds of Antarctica, making it one of history’s great stories of human survival.