Shackleton–Rowett Expedition
Quest, smaller than any recent Antarctic exploration vessel, soon proved inadequate for the task, and progress south was delayed by her poor sailing performance and frequent engine problems.
The major part of the subsequent attenuated expedition was a three-month cruise to the eastern Antarctic, under the leadership of the party's second-in-command, Frank Wild.
The ship was unable to proceed further than longitude 20°E, well short of their easterly target, and her engine's low power coupled with unsuitable bows was insufficient to penetrate southward through the pack ice.
The Quest voyage is not greatly regarded in the histories of polar exploration, due to the event that defines it in public memory, overshadowing its other activities: Shackleton's untimely death.
Too old to enlist, Shackleton nevertheless sought an active role in the war effort,[1] and eventually departed for Murmansk with the temporary army rank of major, as part of the North Russia intervention.
"[2] He returned to England in February 1919 and began plans to set up a company that would, with the cooperation of the North Russian Government, develop the natural resources of the region.
[3] This scheme came to nothing, as the Red Army took control of that part of Russia during the Russian Civil War; to provide himself with an income, Shackleton had to rely on the lecture circuit.
[5] In May 1921, the policy of the Canadian government towards Arctic expeditions changed with the advent of a new prime minister, Arthur Meighen, who withdrew support from Shackleton's proposal.
A varied programme of exploration, coastal mapping, mineral prospecting and oceanographic research in the Southern Ocean would replace the abandoned Beaufort Sea venture.
[16] This ample provision arose from the sponsorship of Rowett, who had extended his original gift of seed money to an undertaking to cover the costs of the entire expedition.
[13] Whatever the total, Rowett appears to have funded the lion's share, enabling Frank Wild to record later that, unique among Antarctic expeditions of the era, this one returned home without any outstanding debt.
[18][19] According to Wild, without Rowett's actions the expedition would have been impossible: "His generous attitude is the more remarkable in that he knew there was no prospect of financial return, and what he did was in the interest of scientific research and from friendship with Shackleton.
[22][24] Although she had some modern facilities, such as electric lights in the cabins,[25] she was unsuited to long oceanic voyages; Shackleton, on the first day out, observed that "in no way are we shipshape or fitted to ignore even the mildest storm".
[26] Leif Mills, in his biography of Frank Wild, says that had the ship been taken to the Beaufort Sea in accordance with Shackleton's original plans, she would probably have been crushed in the Arctic pack ice.
[29] Of the newcomers, Roderick Carr, a New Zealand-born Royal Air Force pilot, was hired to fly the expedition's aeroplane, an Avro Baby modified as a seaplane with an 80-horsepower engine.
[32] Scientific staff included Australian biologist Hubert Wilkins, who had Arctic experience, and Canadian geologist Vibert Douglas, who had initially signed for the aborted Beaufort Sea expedition.
[34] Quest sailed from St Katharine Docks, London, on 17 September 1921, after inspection by King George V.[35] Large crowds gathered on the banks of the river and on the bridges, to witness the event.
At the end of the summer season the ship would visit South Georgia before returning to Cape Town for refitting and preparation for the second year's work.
[39] A severe storm ruined the expedition's proposed Christmas celebrations, and a new problem with the engine's steam furnace slowed progress and caused Shackleton further stress.
Kerr reported that a longstanding problem with the ship's furnace was manageable and, after supplementing stores and equipment, Wild decided to proceed generally in accordance with Shackleton's original intentions.
He would take the ship eastward towards Bouvet Island and then beyond, before turning south to enter the ice as close as possible to Enderby Land, and begin coastal survey work there.
[64] Quest remained in South Georgia for a month, during which time Shackleton's old comrades erected a memorial cairn to their former leader, on a headland overlooking the entrance to Grytviken harbour.
"[70] After the Scout parade and flag presentation, Quest sailed on to Gough Island, 200 miles (320 km) to the east,[68] where members of the expedition took geological and botanical samples.
[74][75] At the end of his account, Wild expressed the hope that the information they had brought back might "prove of value in helping to solve the great natural problems that still beset us".
[76] The summaries reflected the efforts of the scientific staff to collect data and specimens at each port of call,[77] and the geological and survey work carried out by Carr and Douglas on South Georgia, before the southern voyage.
[77] The lack of a clear, defined expedition objective[80][81] was aggravated by the failure to call at Cape Town on the way south, which meant that important equipment was not picked up.
[89] At the end of his narrative of the Quest expedition, Wild wrote of the Antarctic: "I think that my work there is done"; he never returned, closing a career which, like Shackleton's, had bracketed the entire Heroic Age.
[73] In 1923, he emigrated to the Union of South Africa, where, after a series of business failures and dogged by ill health, he was employed in a succession of low-paid jobs.
[90] In March 1939, British authorities awarded him an annual pension of £170; Wild commented: "I don't want to grumble, but I think it might have been made big enough for the poor old hero and his wife to live on".
[94] Of the other crew and staff of Quest, Australian naturalist Hubert Wilkins became a pioneer aviator in both the Arctic and Antarctic, and flew from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Spitsbergen in 1928.
