Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 11, 2013

Harry McNish (1874–1930) was the carpenter on Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 to 1917. At 40, he was one of the oldest members of the crew and was regarded as somewhat odd and unrefined, but was highly respected as a carpenter. He was responsible for much of the work that ensured the crew's survival after their ship, the Endurance, was destroyed when it became trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea. He modified the small boat, James Caird, that allowed Shackleton and five men (including McNish) to make a voyage of hundreds of miles to fetch help for the rest of the crew. He briefly refused to follow orders on the crew's long trek pulling the boats across the pack ice, and, despite his efforts during the journey, was one of only four of the crew not to receive the Polar Medal. After the expedition he returned to work in the Merchant Navy and eventually emigrated to New Zealand, where he worked on the docks in Wellington until ill-health forced his retirement. He died destitute in the Ohiro Benevolent Home in Wellington. McNish Island, which lies in the approaches to King Haakon Bay, South Georgia, was named in his honour. (Full article...)

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