While the shore parties struggled with the first depots, those on board the ‘Aurora’ had other things to think about. Following Mackintosh’s strict instructions about protecting the ship, Stenhouse searched for a safe mooring for the stormy Antarctic winter.

Too far south and they risked being frozen fast in the ice, like Scott’s ‘Discovery’. Further north there were few sheltered bays. Stenhouse tried two places suggested by Shackleton – Horseshoe Bay and Glacier Tongue. Both turned out to be dangerous and the ship was almost lost. After just a few months in the Antarctic, the ‘Aurora’ looked like a tattered wreck. With his options running out, Stenhouse headed back to the convenient and familiar Cape Evans, even though it didn’t offer much protection against wind and ice.

The ‘Aurora’ wasn’t due to pick up the twelve men from Hut Point until 20 March, but Stenhouse seized the opportunity of a clear passage up the Sound on the 11 March. He collected the six who were back and quickly returned to Cape Evans to escape the ice.

Stevens, Spencer-Smith, Gaze and Richards went ashore to life in more comfortable surroundings, whilst Stenhouse ordered his men to anchor the ship solidly and shut down the engines.

As ice froze around the ‘Aurora’, her massive timbers came under massive pressure, and life on board was accompanied by terrible groaning noises. Then disaster struck. Late on 6 May, a terrible storm tore the ship from her moorings. For the next ten months she drifted rudderless, locked in the ice – and out of wireless contact.