The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) has released new underwater images of the Quest, the polar exploration vessel that served as Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's final ship. The wreck was located in June 2024 by an RCGS wreck hunting team at the bottom of the Labrador Sea, 85 kilometres from Labrador's east coast and at a depth of 390 metres.
Discovery and Condition of the Wreck
The RCGS recently returned to the site and, using a remotely operated vehicle, captured detailed photographs of the sunken ship. The Quest is largely intact except for a broken main mast. Its funnel is bent forward, likely as a result of the wreck impacting the seabed. Abandoned fishing nets are draped over the starboard side, and a spotted wolffish hides within the upper wreck structure, which is almost entirely colonized by soft corals and anemones and surrounded by Atlantic cod and redfish.
History of the Quest
The Quest was built in Norway and originally christened as the Foca I. It was renamed Quest in 1921 by Shackleton's wife, Emily. The ship measured 34 metres in length, had a beam of 7.3 metres, and a depth of hold of 3.7 metres. It sailed from 1917 until its sinking in 1962.
The vessel is best known as the final resting place for Shackleton during the ill-fated Shackleton-Rowett Expedition to the Antarctic. Shackleton originally intended to explore the Beaufort Sea region, but the plan was abandoned when the Canadian government withheld financial support, forcing him to head for the Antarctic instead.
Shackleton's Death and the Expedition's Aftermath
The expedition was to sail along previously unvisited stretches of the Antarctic continent. However, before it could truly begin, the Irish-born Shackleton died in January 1922 of heart failure while in harbour on the island of South Georgia, where he is buried. The island is in the South Atlantic Ocean, part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, about 1,400 km east of the Falkland Islands.
The expedition continued under John Robert Francis Wild's command, visiting the South Shetland Islands, Gough Island, and Tristan da Cunha. It proved the non-existence of New South Greenland.
Later Career and Sinking
The wooden-hulled vessel had a subdued history after Shackleton's death, serving as a shore ship and expedition vessel. During the Second World War, it was used as a minesweeper and light cargo vessel. The ship eventually returned to the sealing trade in 1946.
While on a seal-hunting expedition in May 1962, the Quest was crushed by sea ice and sank off the east coast of Labrador. The crew was saved, but the ship lay silent in the cold water until it was found 32 years later.
