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Shackleton's Captain: A Biography of Frank Worsley
Frank Worsley shared with Sir Ernest Shackleton one of the greatest adventures of the Heroic Age of Antarctic explorartion. After their ship Endurance was crushed in the ice in 1915, they made what is perhaps the most famous small-boat journey in history, across 800 miles of the world's roughest seas to get help. Worsley's diaries and notes still provide the main records of that journey, yet the fame of Shackleton rather overshadowed the modest New Zealander. This first ever biography of Worsley sets out to restore the balance. It tells the full story of his extraordinary life, from childhood as a larrikin in Akaroa, New Zealand, to his apprenticeship at sea, and the devolpment of his remarkable skills as navigator and sailing master. It also backgrounds the particular friendship that fourished betweeen Worsley and Shackleton. In an age of mass communications, Frank Worsley would have been a public figure as famous as Sir Edmund Hillary. This biography gives an unhallowed yet eminent New Zealander his proper place in history.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 17, 2015
This is a new edition of this book (but the ISBN doesn't work here, so I'm using the old edition). It is just so beautiful to look at - thick pages and lots of lovely black and white photographs. It's a positive portrayal of Frank Worsley but then again, he was a pretty special guy! I wish I'd gone to the Akaroa museum when I was there in November and seen some of the memorabilia that was shown in the book but I did get to see his house!
February 21, 2018
Exhaustive coverage of Captain Frank Worsley's life. Worsley was the captain and navigator that arguably got Shackleton's butt out of a bind. Without Worsley there would be no Shackleton story (other than being lost in the ice).
I think in some ways it's a better read than "South", the book that Shackleton produced
I think in some ways it's a better read than "South", the book that Shackleton produced
October 3, 2015
I love travel-adventure books with "survival" as a goal
August 20, 2020
What an amazing man.
A visit to the museum while on a trip to Akaroa sent me looking for information on Worsley. I had a little knowledge on his adventures with Shackleton and expected the parts of the book that weren't about that to be dull. I was wrong.
The story of survival in the antarctic, epic as it was, was only one chapter in an extraordinary life. The rest of it is equally interesting but little known. Thomson's book is engaging from beginning to end and his hero is one that if he'd been created in fiction, we wouldn't believe.
A visit to the museum while on a trip to Akaroa sent me looking for information on Worsley. I had a little knowledge on his adventures with Shackleton and expected the parts of the book that weren't about that to be dull. I was wrong.
The story of survival in the antarctic, epic as it was, was only one chapter in an extraordinary life. The rest of it is equally interesting but little known. Thomson's book is engaging from beginning to end and his hero is one that if he'd been created in fiction, we wouldn't believe.
May 7, 2023
While many people are familiar with Frank Worsley's shining navigation skills, this books gives an interesting picture of the man - not just the navigator. Even though the Endurance expedition fills its justified big part of the book, we learn a lot about his life before and after that life-changing trip.
To my big surprise, I read that a few years after the Endurance expedition, he nearly wrecked with his ship on the southernmost of the Faroe Islands during a storm where his ships was about to loose the foremast. As a Faroe Islander with a long and great interest for local maritime history, this story was a gem to find!!!
To my big surprise, I read that a few years after the Endurance expedition, he nearly wrecked with his ship on the southernmost of the Faroe Islands during a storm where his ships was about to loose the foremast. As a Faroe Islander with a long and great interest for local maritime history, this story was a gem to find!!!
July 7, 2020
a new perspective on this expedition. bravery, courage and true "endurance". this man, captain Frank Worsley is the true hero of this expedition. all were brave men but without Worsley many, if not all, could had perished.
September 11, 2024
Would have enjoyed this more if not for the appendices at the end. Interesting to read about The Skipper's adventures and relationships. I like Worsley, but this biography just missed something for me
December 10, 2025
What an astonishing life. Frank Worsley was a genius, probably the most talented sailor and navigator of all time. And yet he is only known for his part in the Endurance expedition, which was such a tiny slice of his life. Indeed, that was not the only time he survived a shipwreck and saved the lives of all aboard!
If it weren’t for the extensive quoting from other sources, this book would read like fiction. Worsley’s unique personality comes through so vividly in Thomson’s writing, but there is no space wasted on purple prose. Thomson, a journalist and fellow Kiwi, lets Worsley and the people who knew him speak for themselves as often as possible. Worsley was himself a talented writer, and his books and letters are still fresh and funny. He was also an amateur artist and a good public speaker. However, Worsley was a modest person and disliked sensational journalism. I think he would approve of this biography.
Judging purely from the ITAE photos, you might think that Worsley was a stern and focused figure. In fact, his default setting was “larrikin.” He was truly a man in love with life. From birth to death, “Wuzzles” angled for new activities and projects while laughing in the face of danger. But for his smoking habit, I think he would have lived to see 100. Even the notoriously negative Thomas Orde Lees (whom Thomson covers in another book) described Worsley as “a vital spark… far more nimble than most men half his age… a sound counsellor & firm friend… I have great respect for him.” And Lees wrote that before the Endurance sank and Worsley showed what greatness he was truly capable of.
This book includes a number of rare photos that put Worsley’s devil-may-care attitude front and center, as well as some of his innumerable adventures. To name a few: receiving a whistle from the captain of the submarine he had just sunk (smiles all around), on horseback in Russia, in Montreal after navigating the St. Lawrence Seaway without a pilot, saluting the New Zealand flag in the Arctic, and sailing with his beloved wife Jean.
The wreck of the Endurance was located in 2022, about five miles from Worsley’s coordinates. That accuracy is insane. He knew what he was doing, and he had a hell of a time doing it. To quote Shackleton: “Good old Skipper.”
If it weren’t for the extensive quoting from other sources, this book would read like fiction. Worsley’s unique personality comes through so vividly in Thomson’s writing, but there is no space wasted on purple prose. Thomson, a journalist and fellow Kiwi, lets Worsley and the people who knew him speak for themselves as often as possible. Worsley was himself a talented writer, and his books and letters are still fresh and funny. He was also an amateur artist and a good public speaker. However, Worsley was a modest person and disliked sensational journalism. I think he would approve of this biography.
Judging purely from the ITAE photos, you might think that Worsley was a stern and focused figure. In fact, his default setting was “larrikin.” He was truly a man in love with life. From birth to death, “Wuzzles” angled for new activities and projects while laughing in the face of danger. But for his smoking habit, I think he would have lived to see 100. Even the notoriously negative Thomas Orde Lees (whom Thomson covers in another book) described Worsley as “a vital spark… far more nimble than most men half his age… a sound counsellor & firm friend… I have great respect for him.” And Lees wrote that before the Endurance sank and Worsley showed what greatness he was truly capable of.
This book includes a number of rare photos that put Worsley’s devil-may-care attitude front and center, as well as some of his innumerable adventures. To name a few: receiving a whistle from the captain of the submarine he had just sunk (smiles all around), on horseback in Russia, in Montreal after navigating the St. Lawrence Seaway without a pilot, saluting the New Zealand flag in the Arctic, and sailing with his beloved wife Jean.
The wreck of the Endurance was located in 2022, about five miles from Worsley’s coordinates. That accuracy is insane. He knew what he was doing, and he had a hell of a time doing it. To quote Shackleton: “Good old Skipper.”
June 11, 2016
I had to read it for school, and let's just say I wanted to burn it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews