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Captain Scott’s famous polar shipwreck as never seen before3 September 2025ShareSaveShareSave0:22Watch: Underwater footage shows the polar vessel colonised with sea lifeRebecca Morelle,winning roulette Alison Francis and Kevin ChurchBBC News ScienceOne of the most famous polar shipwrecks has been filmed in detail on the sea floor for the first time.The Terra Nova carried Captain Scott and his men on their doomed expedition to reach the South Pole more than a century ago.The British party lost the race to the pole, and died on their return journey in 1912.The footage shows the Terra Nova colonised with sea life, but key features of the wooden ship are still visible including its wheel, winch and mast.Getty Images/Royal Geographical SocietyThe Terra Nova is forever entwined in the tragic tale of Captain Scott and his menThe wreck lies 170m down off the coast of Greenland. After the polar expedition with Scott, the ship continued in service and eventually sank in 1943 while carrying supplies to US bases during World War Two.The Terra Nova was discovered in 2012 by the Schmidt Ocean Institute, but the new expedition has been the first opportunity to record extensive footage of the wreck."To be able to see these significant parts of the wreck, it was truly awe inspiring," said Leighton Rolley, Science Systems Manager at REV Ocean."The wheel was sat there perfectly intact amongst the debris of the aft section of the wreck."When you think of the people who have stood there, manoeuvred the Terra Nova through ice, like Captain Scott… It was like, wow, if that ship's wheel could talk, it could tell an amazing history."The Terra Nova was one of the finest polar vessels of its time and sailed for 60 years.The ship was 57m (187ft) long with a wooden hull that was a metre thick in places to help it break through the sea ice.Captain Scott's men embarked to Antarctica in 1910. A comprehensive scientific programme was planned for the Terra Nova expedition - along with the goal of being the first to reach the South Pole.Scott, along with Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans, were attempting to make history.After trekking hundreds of miles, the British party reached the pole in January 1912, but they found they had been beaten by a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen.Getty ImagesCaptain Scott and his men reached the pole but realised others had got there firstA black flag, planted by Amundsen, is now on display at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge along with other items from the Terra Nova."Their hearts must have sunk seeing this black flag against the whiteness of Antarctica," said David Waterhouse, curator of the polar museum at SPRI.The deflated British party began their arduous return journey to their base. But they encountered unusually bad weather, and Edgar Evans died after falling while descending a glacier.Several weeks later Captain Oates left the men's tent. His last words were recorded in Scott's journal: "I'm just going outside and may be some time." He was never seen again.Scott, Bowers and Wilson continued on and made a final camp, but trapped by a freezing blizzard with dwindling supplies, all three perished.A search expedition discovered their last camp just 11 miles from a resupply depot that would have provided them with food and fuel.Getty ImagesThe Terra Nova played a crucial role in breaking the news of their death."In January 1913, the Terra Nova arrived at Cape Evans in the Antarctic to pick up the shore party, and they were expecting to pick up Captain Scott and his pole party at the same time," explained Naomi Boneham, an archivist at SPRI."But when they arrived they found out the sad news."The ship's log records that the men had died from "exposure and want".The vessel sailed on to New Zealand, where the tragic end of the Terra Nova expedition was announced to the world.Getty Images/SPRIThe Terra Nova (pictured in the background) continued in service after the polar expedition finished The new footage from the deep provides another chance to retell Scott's story, says David Waterhouse."It's a story that's really got the whole package - the heroism, the tragedy," he said."And, I guess, as British people, we like an underdog, and they were so close to being the first to the pole and making it back alive."The ship that witnessed so much history now has a very different existence lying beneath the waves at the other end of the planet.It's not in good condition. While the centre of the ship is relatively intact, there is a lot of damage at the stern and the bow has split into two.But it's become a reef of life, says Leighton Rolley."It's full of fish, it's got corals growing on it - it's become one with the ocean."AntarcticScience & EnvironmentShipwrecksHistory
