Frank Worsley

Frank Worsley

Frank Arthur Worsley DSO and Bar, OBE, RD (22 February 1872, in Akaroa, New Zealand – 1 February 1943) was a New Zealand sailor and explorer.

After serving in the Pacific, and especially in the New Zealand Post Office's South Pacific service (where he became renowned for his ability to navigate to tiny, remote islands) he joined Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916, as captain of the Endurance. The aim was to cross the Antarctic continent, but the ship became frozen in ice, and was eventually crushed. All 28 men from the expedition floated on the ice until they put to sea. Then they sailed in three lifeboats until, thanks to Worsley's navigational skills, they reached Elephant Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula.

Worsley, Shackleton and four other men then sailed the 22-foot (6.7 m) lifeboat James Caird some 800 miles across the stormy South Atlantic Ocean, eventually arriving at their intended destination, South Georgia. This was an astounding feat of navigation by Worsley, who used a sextant in a tiny boat that encountered 50-foot (15 m) waves and storms. Shackleton, Worsley and seaman Tom Crean then walked across South Georgia in a 36-hour march to fetch help from Stromness whaling station. All men were rescued from Elephant Island. Worsley has become almost a maritime legend due to the epic feats of navigation he performed during the famous expedition, in particular, his navigation of the James Caird. He is respected by sailors and seafarers worldwide. In 1931 he published his account in the book Endurance which remains popular and in print to this day.

During the First World War, Worsley captained the secret 'Q ship' PQ-61. He was responsible for the ramming and sinking of a German submarine, SM UC-33, in a skillful ramming manoeuvre on 26 September 1917. For his role in the sinking of the UC-33, Worsley was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Later in the war he worked in transportation of supplies in Arctic Russia, and in the North Russia Intervention against the Bolsheviks, earning a bar for his DSO.

He served as sailing master of the Quest on Shackleton's last expedition in 1921-1922. He died from lung cancer in 1943 in England.

A bust of Frank Worsley stands in his home town of Akaroa, New Zealand. The sculpture was created by artist Stephen Gleeson of Christchurch, and unveiled in 2004.