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Book Review: The Ship Beneath The Ice by Mensun Bound
Review by Professor Fred Lockwood
There are thousands of ship wrecks around the world. Many are associated with both dramatic and tragic events. Some have been captured in paintings and photographs. Stories about a few, like the Titanic, have captured our imagination and entered folk law.
The loss of the Endurance, crushed by ice and sinking 3000 metres to the bottom of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica on 21st November 1915, and Ernest Shackleton’s incredible journey to safety, is one of these amazing stories. If one image captures this story it is the iconic photograph of the Endurance, taken by Frank Hurley, just before the ship sank. It appears on the cover of the book.
When the Endurance sank Shackleton and his crew spent months on the ice as they drifted north – waiting for the right time to drag lifeboats towards open water. They sailed in three open boats, in conditions difficult to imagine, 346 miles to the uninhabited Elephant Island. Then, with five crew, Shackleton sailed another 800 miles to South Georgia and then trekked overland to where the expedition had started months earlier. Not a single crew member was lost.
It is noteworthy that whilst virtually all the credit for their survival is given to Shackleton it was his captain, Frank Worsley, who’s navigation saved three open boats rowing in freezing conditions. It truly was ‘a remarkable feat of nautical wayfinding.’ p 79.
Mensun Bound’s book, The Ship Beneath The Ice, recounts two expeditions, in 2019 and 2022, to find the Endurance. It’s an account based on his daily observations during the two expeditions he led, intertwined with diary entries, books and note books written by those on Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. On each day of the search Bound provides precise coordinates for the search ship so that the reader can check their progress or rather the higgledy-piggledy trace around ice bergs, impenetrable ice flows and through sheets of sea ice.
Bound adopts a relaxed, conversational, uninhibited style that belies a forensic account of both his own search and Shackleton’s ill-fated expedition. In doing so he also provides a reassessment of the myths surrounding Shackleton, not to undermine his achievements, but to acknowledge the contribution of others. The unending cold, exhaustion, lack of food and looming death faced by Endurance’s crew mirrors the challenges and frustrations that Bound’s Expedition faced and their looming failure.
The Ship Beneath The Ice also reveals the pressure Bound and the expedition were under to find the ship. To the uninitiated it would seem to be a simple process to locate the Endurance; it wasn’t. The navigator on the Endurance, Captain Worsley, had provided a location – but it was based on extremely difficult sextant readings and chronometers of unknown accuracy. If Captain Worsley’s coordinates for the sinking of the Endurance were out by a mere one and a half degrees it equated to about 20 miles; they would never find the Endurance. What’s more, Bound’s search area was dominated by massive ice flows, treacherous weather and a limited window in time. He describes the ice as ‘…gnarled, mangled, multiyear stuff that was over five metres thick and tough as teak.’ p. 172. The brutal weather included driving snow, forty knot winds and seven metre waves! They also only had weeks to complete the search before winter. It is in this context that Bound shares his own emotions; the anticipation of success and the fear of failure; emotions similar to that of Endurance’s crew.
The author includes black and white photographs taken on Shackleton’s Expedition with colour photographs taken during the search. Throughout he draws upon published books, reports and accounts, provides detailed acknowledgements and appendices, text and picture credits, a selected Shackleton bibliography as well as a comprehensive index.
There is little to criticise in Mensun Bound’s account of the search for Endurance. It is a compelling read. If I have one criticism it would be the lack of a fold out map of his search area. It would allow the reader to follow the search more clearly and appreciate the difficulties they faced in such a hostile environment.
After reading The Ship Beneath The Ice I suspect you will reconsider the contribution of marine archaeologists, like Mensun Bound, and reassess the adulation given to Shackleton and possibly other famous figures.
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Mensun Bound is a British marine archaeologist and diver. He was born in the Falkland Islands in February 1953 and during his career has discovered many of the world’s most famous wrecks. These include the WWI Imperial German Navy cruiser the SMS Scharnhorst, an Etruscan 6th-century BC shipwreck off the coast of Italy and the Hoi An Wreck, off the coast of Vietnam.
He is a trustee of the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust. The Ship Beneath The Ice is his first book.
Fire on Monroe Bravo is the latest book in the Jack Collier series by Fred Lockwood. Our story begins with our lead characters, Jack and Sandro, owners of Marine Salvage & Investigation Company, arriving on the Monroe Bravo Oil & Gas Platform in the North Sea. Having secured a contract for their vessel the MV Stavanger to act as support ship to the platform for TransGlobal Oil, our protagonists are on a celebratory visit.
However almost as soon as they arrive a series of explosions rock the platform, causing huge damage, loss of life and the very real danger of a massive human, ecological and financial disaster.
As the danger mounts for both our heroes and the surviving workers, Jack and Sandro will have to escape the inferno, all while trying to save the platform and the men still trapped unable to help themselves.
The disaster sets the scene for the unfolding story lines following the fate of the platform and our main characters, the police investigation into a suspected terrorist act and the actions of TransGlobal Oil as they attempt to navigate the pubic outcry and financial repercussions.
In his eighth book, Fire on Monroe Bravo, Fred Lockwood delivers an explosive thriller, with plenty of above and in-water drama, and our heroes fighting for survival, what more can you ask for?
We thoroughly recommend this read and look forward to the next in the series. For more information about his book series, you can check out the reviews of his previous books here on Scubaverse.
- Title: Fire On Monroe Bravo
- Author: Fred Lockwood
- ISBN: 979-8325324536
Available in a paperback version and for Kindle from Amazon and book stores.
In June we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to dive in Alonissos, a small Greek Island in the Sporades island chain located in the North Aegean Sea. While I have long been a big fan of the Greek Islands as a great holiday destination, I had not had the opportunity to do any diving on previous visits and Mike and I were extremely excited to see what Alonissos had to offer both above and below the surface!
The Sporades are easily accessible via the airport in Skiathos (the first island in the chain), which is served by Jet2 flights from all major UK airports from May through October. Numerous ferries and charter boats make island hopping from Skiathos Town a breeze. After an hour boat ride, the picturesque port of Patitiri was a wonderful introduction to Alonissos, where we were met by our gracious hosts Kostas of Albedo Travel and Dias of Alonissos Triton Dive Center. Mike and I were delighted to be staying at the Paradise Hotel, aptly named for its stunning views over the sea and great location for walking to the waterfront.
Alonissos is beautifully situated in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe. The surrounding seas offer fabulous marine life, including incredibly rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal. They boast deep walls covered in gorgonians and sponges, stunning topography with caverns, swimthroughs and pinnacles, and the first accessible ancient shipwreck from 500BC!
In locations where historical sites have been reported, the waters are largely restricted, but with collaboration between government, underwater archeologists and dive centres, incredible underwater museums are being created for a truly unique diving experience. Alonissos is home to the first of these, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera Accessible Underwater Archeological Site. The chance to dive into history (along with reports of healthy reef life and amazing underwater topography) meant Mike and I were keen to get in the water.
Our introduction to the diving around Alonissos was at the Agios Georgios Pinnacles, in the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos. This fantastic site was named “The Chimney,’ and proved to have a huge amount to see. We got to a decent depth here (over 25m), and marvelled at a colourful reef wall with a wonderful swim through whose rocky walls were absolutely covered with life. As well as brilliant topography there was no shortage of macro life here. We saw numerous nudibranchs, five different species in total. The second dive at Mourtias reef nearby was a shallower dive along a nice wall with lots of crevices. Several moray eels and grouper called this site home. We enjoyed looking in the crevices for lobster and smaller benthic life, such as cup corals and tunicates.
Our itinerary allowed us two dives a day with afternoons left to explore the island with our hire car and evenings to enjoy the famous Greek hospitality. This proved to be a lovely mix of in-water and land based diversions.
The next days diving to the Gorgonian Gardens and Triton’s Cave was to be even better! These two stunning sites are nothing short of fabulous. The Gorgonian Gardens was a deep wall near to the Agios Georgios islands. The ever-present currents in this deep channel meant that the sea life was amazing … the namesake Gorgonian sea fans dotted the wall at a depth of 30 to 50 meters, getting ever larger the deeper we went. Above 30m was by no means less beautiful, with sponges, corals, scorpionfish, moray eels and some rare and colourful nudibranchs.
The second shallower dive of the day was to Triton’s Cave or the Cavern of Skopelos, on the east side of that island. The spectacular rock formations had wild striations both above and below the water making a truly epic topography. The cavern entrance was at 14m, and big enough for a buddy pair, winding up to 6m and passing two beautiful windows out into the blue. Emerging from the cavern, the light at the shallower depths and the incredible rock formations made for a fantastic gentle swimming safety stop and we all surfaced by the boat with massive grins.
Check out our next blog :Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 2)” to hear about our amazing dive on the 2500 year old Peristera Wreck!
Thanks to:
Alonissos Triton Dive Center https://bestdivingingreece.com/
Albedo Travel https://alonissosholidays.com/activities/
Paradise Hotel https://paradise-hotel.gr/
Alonissos Municipality https://alonissos.gr/en/
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