1144 N4 NANAAVY VYVVY NEWYY NEWEWWS, S,S, MAMAAYAYY 2009 2020099
OOVVER the Easter wEER the EEaster weeekekeneend, an 8,000-mile piggy bacd, an 8,000-mile piggyy back kk ffoor ice ship r i HMS ENDURANCE ended as she was brought home
to Ptot PoPorrtsmouth ftssmoutth h fofor repair fr r repairi folloollowing a fwing a flooding incident ofloodinglooding incided nt ofofff Chile.f
You’ll never believe how close she came to foundering, as SARAH FLETCHER learned from the ship’s company.
December 16, 2008, has been shrouded in Freeland, who was in charge of the Standard we lost propulsion we weereree
I
T WAS about four in the
afternoon, mid-December,
secrecy. Sea Emergency Party. rolling around very
with the wind funnelled
aggressively,” recalled Lt Cdr Tom Sharpe,
But now it can be told. “Then one of the Chiefs came out soaked from ENDURANCE’S Executive Offi cer – and in
between the snow-capped
top to bottom – that’s when I knew there temporary command of the ship at the time.
peaks, whipping the frenzied
Not all of it, mind you – the flooding incident was something up. This chief was a very “Just holding on on the bridge was hard work,
waters of the western Magellan
is still the subject of an official Service Inquiry experienced man and I knew he would be able down below it was really hampering our damage
Strait into an Irish Sea chop.
report – but most of it. to deal with any minor incident. control efforts.”
Our story begins shortly after 4pm that fateful
“The water was fl ooding in at a tremendous rate
He continued: “The engine room fl ooded so
It should have been routine – as routine as any
day with the waters of the western Magellan
and we were fi ghting a losing battle. We did our
quickly we had to evacuate it. Then it was a case
routine job is in these seas, with this ship, with
Strait racing into the Antarctic survey ship...
best.
of trying to contain the spread.
that weather: to carry out maintenance on a
sea water system.
ENDURANCE immediately went to emergency
“The attitude of our youngsters was tremendous
“The water was forcing its way out of the engine
stations, but as it was impossible to shut the
– they put such energy into bailing out.”
room in all sorts of places we weren’t expecting
But that was until half the icy Pacific poured
valve, water continued pouring into the engine but most signifi cantly through the deckhead
in, swirling, bubbling, gurgling, killing the
room. With all her major machinery in one
For the next eight hours the ship’s company
and onto the accommodation deck so wso we ne nooww
generators, killing the engines, buckling the
compartment, it wasn’t long before the ship lost
fought to bail her out and contain the fl ood,
had two major fl oods – and the water was – andnd tthe wawater was
bulkheads, forcing its way up, out, everywhere.
power and propulsion.
drifting in a 40-50 knot north-westerly
sloshing around, making us unstable.”aroundnd, mmakaking us us unstabta le.”
No force of Man seemingly could stop the force
perilously close to rocks in the Strait of
of Nature.
“When I fi rst entered the engine control room
Magellan, and rolling 30 degrees either side.r siside.
there there was no water but a dewasw no water but a defi n nite ite atatmosphere mosphere
Apologies fApApopoologies fies foor tor the Ersatz Rr thehe Ersatz RRaymoymond Chandlerndnd ChandlChandlerer,,
of somof something being up – a gething being up – a greareat urt urgency in
“A“Although wlthoh ughh w wee w were in the stere in the strait of an inland h rait off aan inlnlalland d
but fbut fofoor fr fr our moour months what happened aboard nths what happened aboard
what ewhat evveerryone was doing,yone was doing,” s” said PO Rieder aid PO Rieder
watwatererwwaayy it was lik it was likee an Irish Sea c an Irish Sea chhhop, so when op, ssso whwhennn
HMS ENDURHMSH ENNDURANCCE on the afE on the afternoon noon of Tof Tuesday
HMS ENDURANCE lost powHMS ENDURANCE lost power think losing the ship crossed our think losing the ship crossed our hold, I just thought it was worth a try Lt Cdr Sharpe said: “We’d
to tht the CommunicaC i tionti s OffiOffi ce so minds, wminds ee were so fere so foocused on doing c sed on doing – and at 1d t 11pm the starboard anc1 th st b d hhor fl own on some extra pumn on somee trap mppps topsss tosto
sigsignnals and emails were disabled our job.” held on to this rocky pinnacle, and boost our efforts and they hadts and they hhhad
but she could make outgoing that saved us.ed us. come with a Chilean naval ofval ooffi cer,,
calls via her hand-held satellite The fi rst vessel that came to help whom I refused to let go.
telephones. was a pilot cutter – too small to do “The ship’s head started to come were ever in trouble, aser ini trt ouble, as
anything with the ship, but Lt Cdr into wind and I knew the anchor was “When the salvage tug arriviveed, evereryybody seems to bebody seems to be
Back in the UK, teams had mustered Sharpe asked the skipper to stay holding. If it hadn’t, the next option the master didn’t speak a word of worrd of grinning – and that’s the
at Fleet HQ in Northwood and Abbey around in case he was needed to almost immediately would have been English, but I could tell he and his andd his best way to combat it.”y to combat it.”
Wood to monitor the situation and corral the life-rafts. to get off.” ship were very capable and our d ourur
give what help they could to the communications were excellent, ellennt, “What this incident showed was
stricken ship 8,000 miles away. The next, larger vessel to make He continued: “The next thing was thanks to our Chilean offi cer er anand nd how inhospitable life at sea can ge at sea can geet t
its way to help was a 70,000-ton to get the port anchor down, and helped by a Spanish speaker on n and with how little warning.ning.
Lt Cdr Sharpe explained: “Everyone cruise liner with 3,000 passengers. when that held too we had fi ve or ten the staff of the British Schools ools
had descended on the Fleet Ops cell ENDURANCE had seen her earlier minutes to take stock. Thankfully the Explorations Society. “However, the training kicked in
in Northwood. It was a heartening in the day and gave her name to the violent rolling had been replaced with and everyone onboard – including
response, with very senior people Northwood team, who looked her a much less disruptive pitching. “I debated whether to wait ffoor the r thee the civilians before they could be ore they could be
offering fi rst-class advice through up on the internet, contacted the second tug, but the weather was er was evacuated – pulled their weight with
the Fleet Operations Offi cer. The captain, and asked him to reverse her “I rang Northwood and said ‘We’re getting worse and I knew the sooner he sooneer good humour, applied expertise and
engineer was also talking to the Fleet course and stand by to help. at anchor’. They had what was we went the better as we’d hahave to e to bravery. I am immensely proud and y proud and
engineers and between the two of us later described as an Apollo 13 turn across the sea before wwee could could d grateful for everyone who helped
we had good lines of communication.” As the little cutter declared that it moment – everyone cheering! It get to the sheltered section of the n of the save HMS ENDURe HMS ENDURANCE CE that da that day
was too rough for towing and the liner was heartening to hear that people Magellan. We had no hydraulics aulics under the most testing conditions.”
The naval architects in Abbey Wood, altered course to reach ENDURANCE, were backing us that much.” for our anchor so we had to cut the o cut the
studying plans of ENDURANCE, told Lt Cdr Sharpe let the starboard chains with a gas axe. ENDURANCE’S CO agCE’S CO agrees. rees. “I was not “I was not
Lt Cdr Sharpe she was close to the anchor out to its fullest extent – and The situation was not without a on board at the time, but I am vb d tth ti b tI ery
limits of her stability and advised now the ship’s luck began to change. certain grim humour. As the cruise “That was quite a moment – we cut proud of the ship’s company and
making plans to evacuate the ship. liner approached, it requested help the anchor that had been out lifeline what they did in keeping the ship eeping the sh
He said: “We were in 300-500 metres
from ENDURANCE – a critically-ill
all night. But we trusted the tug and safe,” said Capt Gavin Pritcv hard.
Lt Cdr Sharpe said: “We knew we of water, so nowhere near the seabed,
passenger on board urgently needed
within two hours it had towed us into
could get everyone off on the life- but I thought it might act as a drogue.
a doctor, and could the ship fl y hers
calm water.” “Taking ENDURANCE to Antarctica is
rafts, though that would be perilous It was worth a try, so we let it go.
across? a very thrilling experience but it does
as our emergency evacuation system THE RED PLUM was taken into carry a whole series of additional
is port-side, which was down-wind. “It didn’t slow us, but our direction
“At that moment I was looking around
Punta Arenas and then to the risks, operating at extreme distances
of drift changed by about 10 degrees
for FOST staff, thinking this was the
Falklands. Most of the sailors were in very, very remote environments
“Another option would have been to and that bought us some extra time.
sort of evolution they throw at you,”
fl own home from Chile. where the weather can change and
walk the infl ated life-rafts round to
said Lt Cdr Sharpe. deteriorate very quickly.
the back, which was nearly awash by “It also meant we were now going Lt Cdr Sharpe said: “The sailors
now, and step in. But I was working over a shallow patch. We were “We were formulating a plan for the were superb. They responded “Of all the ships in the Navy she’s
on the principle that ‘this is the best crossing the 80-metre contour – the cruise liner to tow us, but this was extraordinarily quickly, with several the one that’s regularly literally
life-raft we’ve got, so stick with it’ only shallow patch in the western a 70,000 tonne vessel with 3,000 isolated incidents of great bravery. thousands and thousands of miles
until the situation became desperate Magellan. It is a Norwegian-type passengers on board – and we would from home. These are things I have to
– and it never became desperate.” topography and beyond the 80 be asking them to come within 100 “In a situation like this it’s essential take into account when operating the
metres it drops almost immediately metres of the rocks. to keep a cool head, and instead of ship in Antarctica.”
PO Freeland added: “You don’t think down to 500 metres. panicking, I think people went the
of worrying or panicking. The only “They’re good ship handlers, but at other way. A full survey of the work needed to
time you might stop to worry is when “We had 250 plus metres of cable out. night and in that wind it would have return ENDURANCE is now under
there’s a lull in the action or a lull in It was rocky – you wouldn’t choose been a very interesting evolution.” “I was very keen to get a way before she is repaired and
people coming up to you for advice. this as an anchorage in a million In the event the ship stayed on her comprehensive photographic record refitted in Portsmouth.
years – the wind was 40 to 50 knots rocky anchorage until the following from the start as I knew it would
“You keep people busy, focused and and we were drifting at about two morning, when the Chilean salvage subsequently be important, but when Pictures: LA(Phot) Kaz Williams,
get on with the job in hand. I don’t knots. I didn’t think the anchor would tug arrived. I saw them later I wondered if we HMS ENDURANCE
014_NN_May.indd 1 23/4/09 10:05:08
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