In 1922, while on his last voyage, Shackleton passed away in South Georgia. Crew mates who were unable to attend his funeral built the Hope Cross.
Now on display next to RRS Discovery, the ship that brought Shackleton to Antarctica for the first time in 1901, is the 3 m (9.84 ft) memorial.
A new documentary on Shackleton’s failed Endurance expedition and the 2022 search for the lost ship is being released at the same time as its unveiling.
GH Wilkins’s original autochromes, Rowett-Chojecki Collection 16 men from the Quest research ship’s crew are seated and standing in front of it.
The Quest’s crew is shown holding the cross one month after Shackleton’s passing in 1922.
Before being replaced with a replica in 2018 to protect the original memorial from the weather, the wooden cross stood at King Edward Point, South Georgia, close to Grytviken, for nearly a century.
The first cross was constructed from repurposed wood from a whaling station and weighs roughly 30 kg (66 lb).
Decades of Antarctic weather have restored it to its original condition after it was painted white to preserve the wood.
“When Ernest died, the Quest crew members had to leave him behind to continue on the remainder of the expedition,” said Sophie Hinde, heritage manager for the Dundee Heritage Trust.
