Frank Arthur Worsley (22 February 1872 – 1 February 1943) was a New Zealand sailor and explorer who served on Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916, as captain of Endurance. He also served in the Royal Navy Reserve during the First World War.
Born in Akaroa, New Zealand, Worsley joined the New Zealand Shipping Company in 1888. He served aboard several vessels running trade routes between New Zealand, England and the South Pacific. While on South Pacific service, he was known for his ability to navigate to tiny, remote islands. He joined the Royal Navy Reserve in 1902 and served on HMS Swiftsure for a year before returning to the Merchant navy. In 1914, he joined the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, which aimed to cross the Antarctic continent.
After the expedition's ship Endurance was trapped in pack ice and wrecked, he and the rest of the crew sailed three lifeboats to Elephant Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula. From there, Worsley, Shackleton and four others sailed the 6.9m (22.5-foot) lifeboat James Caird 1,300 km (800 miles) across the stormy South Atlantic Ocean to their intended destination, South Georgia. Worsley's navigation skills were crucial to the safe arrival of the James Caird. Shackleton, Worsley and seaman Tom Crean then trekked for 36 hours through snow, ice and mountains to fetch help from Stromness whaling station. In August, Worsley and Shackleton returned to Elephant Island aboard the Yelcho, a Chilean naval ship, to rescue the remaining members of the expedition, all of whom survived.
During the First World War, Worsley captained the Q-ship PC.61 when it rammed and sank the German U-boat , killing all but one of its crew. For this action Worsley was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). 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 to his DSO. He was later appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. From 1921 to 1922, he served on Shackleton's last expedition to the Antarctic as captain of the Quest. In between berths in the Merchant Navy, he led an expedition to the Arctic Circle and participated in a treasure hunt on Cocos Island. He wrote several books relating to his experiences in polar exploration and his sailing career.
During the Second World War, Worsley initially served with the International Red Cross in France and Norway. In 1941, he falsified his age so he could rejoin the Merchant Navy. When officials discovered his actual age, he was released from duty. He died from lung cancer in England in 1943.
Early life
Frank Arthur Worsley was born on 22 February 1872 in Akaroa, New Zealand, one of three children of a farmer, Henry Worsley, and his wife Georgiana. His father arrived in New Zealand from England as a child; his grandfather, Henry Francis Worsley (1806–1876), migrated from Rugby, England aboard the Cornwall to Lyttelton, where he arrived with his large family, in December 1851. The family lived in Grehan Valley, high above Akaroa. Worsley's mother died while he was a toddler. He was sent to school in Akaroa but when his father moved his family to take up work clearing bush from land at Peraki, he was homeschooled for a time. From age 10, he helped with clearing land for sheep pasture and growing cocksfoot. When Frank was 11, his older brother, Harry, left to join the New Zealand Shipping Company as an apprentice and at about the same time, his father moved his family, which was now just Frank and his 13-year-old sister, to Christchurch. Frank attended Fendalton School and marked his final year of schooling by being made head boy.
Like his brother, Frank was interested in a career at sea. In 1887, his application to join the New Zealand Shipping Company was declined because of his short stature, but he was successful six months later. He was signed on as a junior midshipman aboard the Wairoa, a three-masted clipper which transported wool to London.
Maritime career Worsley served on a number of sailing ships of the company, running the trade route between New Zealand and England for several years. He became a third mate by 1891, and then a fifth officer the following year. In 1895, when a third officer, he left the New Zealand Shipping Company to join the New Zealand Government Steamer Service (NZGSS). His first posting was aboard the Tutanekai, an NZGSS steamer which served the Pacific Islands, as second mate. He was considered to be a good and experienced officer, but was not averse to mischief. On one voyage in 1899, the Tutanekai was anchored in the harbour at Apia, the capital city of German Samoa. At night, Worsley went ashore and stole the ensign that was flown from the flagpole of the German consulate on the harbour front. On discovering the theft, the consul suspected the culprit was from the crew of the Tutanekai, the only merchant vessel in the harbour at the time. With a party of sailors from , also anchored in the harbour, the consul boarded the Tutanekai looking for the ensign, but they left empty-handed after the ship's captain protested. Even when the captain later found out Worsley was responsible, it did not affect his career prospects. He was posted to the Hinemoa, another NZGSS steamer, as chief officer.
In June 1900, Worsley sat the examination for a foreign master's certificate. He passed with good marks, and was one of two students commended for their efforts. He was now a qualified master and, as his first command, was given the Countess of Ranfurly. This was a three-masted schooner of the NZGSS which sailed trade routes in the South Pacific, mainly around the Cook Islands and Niue, both of which were New Zealand dependencies. Beatrice Grimshaw, a travel writer based in Papua New Guinea, said that "Any passenger he took had to work passage as well as pay" and that he encouraged her to learn practical seamanship, "to go aloft, to "hand, reef and steer", and to use the sixteen-foot oar in the whaleboat".
Royal Navy Reserve While in command of the Countess of Ranfurly, Worsley joined the Royal Navy Reserve (RNR) and on 1 January 1902 was appointed a sub-lieutenant. In 1904, Countess of Ranfurly was sold, leaving Worsley without a command. Rather than stay in the employ of the New Zealand Government Steamer Service, he decided to look abroad for work. He travelled to Sydney and found a berth as chief officer on HMS Sparrow, which was on its delivery voyage to New Zealand, having been recently purchased by the New Zealand Government. When the Sparrow arrived in Wellington in March 1905, he was selected to command the ship while it was converted to a training vessel. The conversion was still incomplete when he left for England in early 1906.
On arrival in England in March 1906, Worsley presented himself for further training in the RNR. He was posted to HMS Psyche and received specialist training in torpedoes, gunnery and navigation. He was promoted to lieutenant the following May. He served on a number of Royal Navy ships over the next two years, including 12 months on HMS Swiftsure. He then returned to the Merchant navy and found a position with Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers, which sailed regularly from England to Canada and South America. He would intermittently be called up for service in the RNR over the next several years. This included a month in 1911 spent aboard HMS New Zealand.
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
In 1914, the explorer Ernest Shackleton began preparing an expedition which had the goal of completing the first crossing of the Antarctic continent. The failure of Robert Falcon Scott to beat the Norwegian Roald Amundsen to the South Pole in 1911 was considered a blot on Britain's reputation in polar exploration. Shackleton's expedition was intended to return the country to the forefront of Antarctic endeavour. He set up his headquarters at Burlington Road in London and interviewed candidates for the expedition. One position was as captain for the expedition's vessel, the Endurance.
Worsley, in London awaiting a new berth, joined the expedition as a result of a dream in which he navigated a ship around icebergs drifting down Burlington Street. He took it as a premonition and the next day hurried down to Burlington Street, where he noticed a sign on a building advertising what Shackleton called the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. He entered the building and met Shackleton. After a few minutes of conversation, Shackleton offered him the captaincy of the Endurance, which Worsley accepted.
The Endurance left England on 8 August 1914 destined for Buenos Aires, where Shackleton, travelling separately, would later meet the expedition. The departure was troubled by the impending outbreak of the First World War. Some members, including Worsley, anticipating being called up for military service, proposed a postponement of the voyage. However, the Admiralty advised Shackleton to proceed with his plans even after Britain declared war on Imperial Germany on 4 August. Just prior to the departure of the Endurance, Worsley approached the authorities and was advised that RNR personnel were not being called up at the time. While steaming to South America, fuel ran low and wood intended for planned buildings at the expedition's base in Antarctica was used to keep the engine running. Worsley ran a relatively relaxed ship with little discipline or control of alcohol consumption. Four crew members got into a barroom brawl at a stopover in Madeira, a neutral port. While anchored in the harbour, a neighbouring German ship swung into the Endurance, damaging it. Worsley angrily boarded the German ship with some other members of the expedition and forced the crew to repair the damage.
Shackleton, briefed on Worsley's handling of the voyage to date once he had caught up with the expedition at Buenos Aires, began to have concerns about his choice of captain. Worsley was to be in command of the resupply expedition for the party that was to winter over in Antarctica, but Shackleton began to doubt whether his leadership skills were sufficient to achieve this. After resupplying at Buenos Aires, the Endurance left for the remote island of South Georgia, in the South Atlantic, on 26 October. It duly arrived at Grytviken Station, a Norwegian whaling outpost, on 5 November. The Norwegians confirmed initial reports from Buenos Aires that the Antarctic pack ice was much further north than usual. Shackleton followed the Norwegians' advice to delay departure until later in the summer, and it was not until 5 December that the Endurance steamed south for the Weddell Sea.
Icebound
The Endurance encountered the pack ice three days after leaving South Georgia, and Worsley began working the ship through the various bergs. On occasion it was necessary to ram a path through the ice. Progress was intermittent; on some days little headway was made while on other days large stretches of open water allowed swift passage southwards. Worsley would often direct the helmsman from the crow's nest, from where he could see any breaks in the ice. During this time Shackleton came to think that Worsley was less suited to giving orders than to following them, which he would do with the utmost determination.