He modified the small boat, James Caird, that allowed Shackleton and five men (including McNish) to make a voyage of hundreds of miles to fetch help for the rest of the crew.

Harry "Chippy" McNish was born in 1874 in the former Lyons Lane near the present site of the library in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, Scotland.

McNish held strong socialist views, was a member of the United Free Church of Scotland and detested bad language.

SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL.

He worked on the pram dinghy Nancy Endurance; made a small chest of drawers for Shackleton; specimen shelves for the biologist, Robert Clark; and instrument cases for Leonard Hussey, the meteorologist; and put up wind screens to protect the helmsman.

McNish constructed a six-foot wooden semaphore on the bridge to enable the navigating officer to give the helmsman directions, and built a small stage over the stern to allow the propeller to be watched in order to keep it clear of the heavy ice.

[4] Once Endurance became trapped, and the crew were spending the days on the ice, McNish erected goalposts and football became a daily fixture for the men.

[8] To pass the time in the evening, McNish joined Frank Wild, Tom Crean, James McIlroy, Worsley and Shackleton playing poker in the wardroom.

After the loss of the Endurance four of the sled dogs and Mrs Chippy, the cat McNish had brought on board, were shot on Shackleton's order due to his belief that keeping them alive in such harsh conditions would be an unnecessary drain on the crew's scarce resources.

He vented his feelings in his diary, targeting his tent-mates' language:[20] I have been shipmates with all sorts of men both in sail and steam, but never nothing like some of our party – as the most filthy language is used as terms of endearment, and, worse of all, is tolerated.In great pain while pulling sledges across the ice, McNish briefly rebelled, refusing to take his turn in the harness and protesting to Frank Worsley that since the Endurance had been destroyed the crew was no longer under any obligation to follow orders.

[8] Accounts vary as to how Shackleton handled this: some report that he threatened to shoot McNish; others that he read him the ship's articles, making it clear that the crew were still under obligation until they reached port.

McNish records that he smoked himself sick trying to alleviate the pangs of hunger and although he thought the shooting of the dogs terribly sad,[8] he was happy to eat the meat they provided stating "Their flesh tastes a treat.

McNish had prepared the boats as best he could for a long journey in the open ocean, building up their sides to give them a higher clearance from the water.

He caulked it using a mixture of seal blood and flour, and, using wood and nails taken from packing cases and the runners of the sledges, he built a makeshift frame which was then covered with canvas.

& set sail on our 870 miles to South Georgia for assistance...we were in the open sea wet through but happy through it all.The mood did not last though: conditions aboard the small craft during the trip were terrible, with the crew constantly soaked and cold.

It was clear that McNish and Vincent could not continue, so Shackleton left them in the care of Timothy McCarthy camped in the upturned James Caird, and with Worsley and Crean made the hazardous trip over the mountains.

Putting McNish in command of the remaining men, Shackleton charged him to wait for relief and if none had come by the end of winter to attempt to sail to the east coast.

[8] Once Shackleton's party had crossed the mountains and arrived in Husvik, he sent Worsley with one of the whaler's ships, Samson, to pick up McNish and the other men.

Members of the Scott Polar Research Institute, New Zealand Antarctic Society and Caroline Alexander, the author of Endurance, have criticised Shackleton's denial of the award to McNish.

He often complained that his bones permanently ached due to the conditions during the journey in the James Caird; he would reportedly sometimes refuse to shake hands because of the pain.

[22] He was found a place in the Ohiro Benevolent Home, but his health continued to deteriorate and he died on 24 September 1930, aged 56, in Wellington Hospital.

[2] He was buried in Karori Cemetery, Wellington, on 26 September 1930, with full naval honours; HMS Dunedin (which happened to be in port at the time) provided twelve men for the firing party and eight bearers.

[7] On 18 October 2006, a small oval wall plaque commemorating his achievements was unveiled at the Port Glasgow Library in his home town,[1] and earlier in the same year he was the subject of an exhibition at the McLean Museum, Greenock.

Macklin commented that all the work he did was first class, and even Thomas Orde-Lees, who disliked him, grudgingly admitted he was an "expert wooden ship's man".