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The Ship

Quest on the Thames, passing the Billingsgate Fish Market, London. Image © SPRI.

“Apart from her white crow’s nest and exceptionally large bridge, there is little to distinguish the vessel… but the romance of her mission and the fame of her chief, Sir Ernest Shackleton, invested the Quest with a glory of her own.”

Leeds Mercury, 17 August 1921

Adaptation of Kipling's If poem, signed by the officers of the Quest. Shackleton gave a copy of the original poem to each of the crew. Image ©Royal Museums Greenwich.

Quest was launched in 1917 in Norway and originally named Foca I. She was a small, two-masted wooden schooner of 205 tons, purchased by Shackleton for the expedition and renamed Quest at the suggestion of Lady Shackleton.

The ship was small, poorly fitted and reckoned exceedingly uncomfortable by those who sailed in her. She rolled significantly, making even cooking and eating extremely difficult. Built for Arctic waters, she had a 125-horsepower steam engine and a reinforced bow sheathed in steel but needed extensive refitting for the Antarctic pack-ice. Modifications included a new crow’s nest, an enclosed bridge and the instillation of an extra deckhouse, a much needed  addition with eighteen men on board.

The ship sailed with Kipling’s inspirational poem If on a brass plate placed on the bridge, affirming Shackleton’s motivation and motto for life.
Detailed illustration of the Avro ‘Baby’ seaplane. Image courtesy of Rowett-Chojecki Family Collection.

Equipment of the Quest

Shackleton was keen for his ship to utilise the latest technological equipment including the latest wireless equipment and an instrument for measuring a ship’s course called an odograph. Most radical was the plan to take a small Avro ‘Baby’ sea plane. As Shackleton stated in his official proposal, a plane was “a powerful help to the modern oceanographic expedition.” However, a change of Quest’s route meant that vital parts were never retrieved from storage in Cape Town and the aircraft was never deployed.

Australian aviator and Quest crew member, Hubert Wilkins, later became one of the first men to carry out aerial explorations of Antarctica in 1928.

There was much public interest in the equipment and living arrangements of the crew. Newspapers printed the expedition’s product promotions and reports commenting on their kit and food provisions, including rumours of taking edible candles.

“Her berths for the most part are fitted with spring mattresses, and electric light is installed throughout. The kitchen —the most compact little place imaginable—and the cook’s cabin back on to one another.” The Scotsman August 1921

The deck plan and equipment of Quest. Scientific American, January 1922.

"The eatables for the journey include such things as about three tons of flour, two or three tons of biscuits, and large quantities of sugar and tea."

The Scotsman August 1921
A close up of the plaque attached to the Quest crow's nest.

The Quest crow's nest

Quest was built as a sealer in Norway in 1917, bought for Shackleton’s last Antarctic expedition and taken to Southampton for refitting to prepare for the expedition. A large new deckhouse was added including several cabins; one of these was allocated as Shackleton’s. A second addition was a lookout barrel or crow’s nest. Constructed like a normal wooden barrel it was secured at the top of the main mast by two iron hoops. This was the highest point on the ship and afforded the best view to spot icebergs and hazards when in polar seas. Shackleton was keen to try new technologies and had the crow’s nest fitted with an electric heater.

After the expedition, Quest was sold to a Norwegian ship-owner, returned to Norway for a re-fit in 1924 and used once again for sealing. The Quest crow’s nest and deckhouse were removed and taken ashore. The crow’s nest became the property of Reverend Philip Clayton of All Hallows by the Tower where it remains today.