August 4, 1914

Tuesday

In the morning, Shackleton goes ashore and reads in the paper about the order for general mobilization. He returns to the ship and proposes—to the agreement off all hands—to send a telegram to the admiralty offering the services of Endurance and its crew in the war effort. Within an hour of sending it, the crew receives a single-word response from the Admiralty: “Proceed.”

A few hours later, Winston Churchill sends a longer telegram that the authorities alongside the Scientific and Geographical societies wished the expedition to proceed. Endurance sets sail for Plymouth.