20. Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Quest Crow’s Nest, All Hallows by the Tower, 7 September 2023


 

Members of Livery Companies and the Corporation of London joined with the South Georgia Heritage Trust in the presence of HRH the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Lawrence at All Hallows by the Tower.  After a tour of the church led by city guides and music by the Square Mile Choral Scholars we were welcomed by the Vicar and Chaplain to the Water Conservators, the Revd Katherine Hedderly.

The special event was to mark the return to All Hallows of Sir Earnest Shackleton’s Quest crow’s nest.  It had travelled thousands of miles and featured in exhibitions at Athy, Ireland and Grytviken, South Georgia to celebrate the venture by the ship Quest, a converted Norwegian sealer to the Antarctic in 1921-22.




We heard from a team of speakers including Alderman Prof Michael Mainelli, honorary member of the Water Conservators and the Lady Mayoress Felicity Lyons.  They explained that the Quest was built for Arctic waters with a reinforced bow sheathed in steel. Shackleton had originally intended to go to the Arctic and explore the Beaufort Sea, but the plan was changed to the Antarctic when financial support was lost. Modifications included adding a new crow’s nest, a lookout high on the front mast to aid navigation through the ice packs of the Weddell Sea. Quest proved inadequate due to poor sailing performance and frequent engine problems. Before the expedition's work could properly begin, Shackleton died of a heart attack on board the ship, just after its arrival at the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia.

The subsequent expedition to the eastern Antarctic was under the second-in-command, Frank Wild. The Quest was unable to achieve its objectives due to the engine's low power and unsuitable bows to penetrate the pack ice. The ship retuned to South Georgia before traveling to Cape Town for a refit. Due to the withdrawal of funding in June 1922, the ship came home to England.  It was converted back to a sealer and served as a mine-sweeper in the Second World War, but was eventually sunk by ice in 1962 off the coast of Labrador whilst on a seal hunting expedition. Shackleton’s original cabin was saved, as well as the crow’s nest, before the ship sank.

The crow’s nest was brought from north-east Canada to the church crypt in London by the Reverend Tubby Clayton, founder of Toc H.  He would tour with the crow’s nest using it as an attraction to raise funds for his hospices for men, particularly servicemen with nowhere to stay.


After the presentations there was a liturgy of blessing led by the Revd Katherine Hedderly accompanied by the choir prayers and readings including Psalm 104 vv24-30 by Baroness Young of Old Scone.  It was good to catch up with her and share thoughts on the current situation in the Water Sector.

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