Editing Ernest Shackleton (section)

=== Preparations ===
In December 1913, Shackleton published details of his new expedition, grandly titled the "Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition".{{sfn|Barczewski|2007|p=87}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://digital.nls.uk/shackleton-prospectus/ |title=Shackleton's prospectus for the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition |website=National Library of Scotland |access-date=10 February 2024 |archive-date=10 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210182630/https://digital.nls.uk/shackleton-prospectus/ |url-status=live }}</ref> There is a legend that Shackleton posted an advertisement emphasising the hardship and danger of the planned voyage, so that he could better narrow down the selection of candidates for his expedition, but no record of any such advertisement has survived and its existence is considered doubtful.{{sfn|Koehn|2017|page=30}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shackleton-probably-never-took-out-an-ad-seeking-men-for-a-hazardous-journey-5552379/ |title=Shackleton Probably Never Took Out an Ad Seeking Men for a Hazardous Journey |last=Schultz |first=Colin |date=10 September 2013 |access-date=1 February 2024 |website=SmithsonianMag.com |url-status=live |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124170142/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shackleton-probably-never-took-out-an-ad-seeking-men-for-a-hazardous-journey-5552379/}}</ref> Two ships were to be employed: ''[[Endurance (1912 ship)|Endurance]]'' would carry the main party into the Weddell Sea, aiming for [[Vahsel Bay]] from where a team of six, led by Shackleton, would begin the crossing of the continent; meanwhile, a second ship, the [[SY Aurora|''Aurora'']], would take a supporting party under Captain [[Aeneas Mackintosh]] to McMurdo Sound on the far side of the continent.{{sfn|Lansing|1999|pp=10–13}} This party would be tasked with laying supply depots across the Great Ice Barrier as far as the Beardmore Glacier, the depots holding the food and fuel required to enable Shackleton's party to complete their journey of {{convert|1800|mi|km}} across the continent.{{sfn|Shackleton, ''South'' | loc=preface, pp. xii–xv}}

Shackleton used his considerable fund-raising skills to support the expedition, which was financed largely by private donations, although the British government gave £10,000 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|10000|1914}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nls.uk/learning-zone/geography-and-exploration/shackleton-and-wordie/funding/ |title=Funding: Plan to cross the Antarctic continent |work=National Library of Scotland |access-date=10 February 2024 |url-status=live |archive-date=5 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905095714/https://www.nls.uk/learning-zone/geography-and-exploration/shackleton-and-wordie/funding/}}</ref> Scottish [[jute]] magnate [[Sir James Caird, 1st Baronet, of Belmont Castle|Sir James Caird]] donated £24,000,{{sfn|Alexander|1998|p=10}} Midlands industrialist [[Frank Dudley Docker]] gave £10,000, and tobacco heiress [[Janet Stancomb-Wills]] gave an undisclosed but reportedly "generous" sum.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|pp=375–377}} There was considerable public interest; Shackleton received more than 5,000 applications to join his expedition.{{sfn|Fisher|Fisher|1957|p=308}}

At times, his interviewing and selection methods seemed eccentric; believing that character and temperament were as important as technical ability,{{sfn|Huntford|1985|p=386}} his questions were unconventional. Physicist [[Reginald W. James|Reginald James]] was asked if he could sing;{{sfn|Fisher|Fisher|1957|p=312}} others were accepted on sight because Shackleton liked the look of them, or after the briefest of interrogations.{{sfn|Fisher|Fisher|1957|pp=311–315}} He loosened some of the traditional hierarchies to promote camaraderie, such as distributing the ship's chores equally among officers, scientists and able seamen. He made a point of socialising with his crew members every evening after dinner, leading sing-alongs, jokes and games.{{sfn|Koehn|2017|page=38}} He finally selected a [[Personnel of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition|crew of fifty-six]]; shared equally, twenty-eight men on each ship.{{sfn|Alexander|1998|p=16}}

Despite the outbreak of the [[First World War]] on 3&nbsp;August 1914, ''Endurance'' was directed by the First Lord of the Admiralty, [[Winston Churchill]], to "proceed",{{efn|name=Churchill, Proceed}} and left British waters on 8&nbsp;August. Shackleton delayed his own departure until 27&nbsp;September, meeting the ship in [[Buenos Aires]].{{sfn|Fisher|Fisher|1957|pp=324–325}} On setting sail for South Georgia at the end of October, he sent a [[cablegram]] to the ''[[Daily Chronicle]]'', conveying the patriotic message: "We hope in our small way to add victories in science and discovery to that certain victory which our nation will achieve in the cause of honor and liberty."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/iht-retrospective.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/1914-sir-ernest-shackleton-outlines-his-polar-projects/ |title=1914: Sir Ernest Shackleton Outlines His Polar Projects - The New York Herald, European Edition, Oct. 31, 1914 |newspaper=[[International Herald Tribune]] |date=15 November 2014 |access-date=9 February 2024 |via=''The New York Times'' archive |url-status=live |archive-date=9 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209114907/https://archive.nytimes.com/iht-retrospective.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/1914-sir-ernest-shackleton-outlines-his-polar-projects/}}</ref>