See Captain Scott’s ship like NEVER before: Scientists film the polar wreck on the sea floor for the first time – with the wheel, winch and mast all still visible

It is one of the most intrepid polar expeditions in history, costing five men their lives in 1912.

Now, the wreck of SS Terra Nova, which transported Captain Robert Scott and his men to Antarctica, has been filmed on the ocean floor for the first time.

Captured by the exploration vessel Motor Yacht Legend, the ‘eerie’ footage shows the wreck colonized by sea life after eight decades underwater. 

Key features of the ship such as the wheel, winch and mast are still visible among the communities of colourful sea anemones, limpets and barnacles. 

It marks the first time the ship – which sank during the Second World War^[1] – has been surveyed and filmed in such detail.  

Aldo Kuhn, submersible officer onboard Motor Yacht Legend, was among the first to lay eyes on the robust wooden whaling ship on the sea floor.  

‘To be the first to lay eyes on the Terra Nova since it sank 80 years ago was both humbling and exhilarating,’ he said. 

‘A beautiful marine ecosystem is now thriving on the wreck, bringing new life to this historic site.’ 

Terra Nova, pictured here in 1911, was a polar expedition ship, best known for carrying the 1910 British Antarctic Expedition, Robert Falcon Scott’s last expedition

Key features of the ship such as the wheel, winch and mast are still visible among the communities of colourful sea anemones, limpets and barnacles

Leighton Rolley, science systems manager at REV Ocean who led the discovery of the wreck in 2012, called SS Terra Nova ‘a truly historic vessel’. 

It ‘contributed fundamentally to that period of heroic exploration of Antarctica’. 

‘On the return journey back to their ship and their camp, basically the entire British team perished,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme^[2]. 

Mr Rolley described the ‘amazing’ sea life growing on parts of the wreck, including the ship’s wheel, would have been operated by Captain Scott himself.

‘That’s been touched by some of the most famous explorers of our age. It was like, wow, if that ship’s wheel could talk, it could tell an amazing history,’ he said.  

SS Terra Nova is described as ‘one of the most iconic vessels in the history of polar exploration’ due to its association with the expedition of the same name. 

Built in Dundee in 1884, SS Terra Nova was a robust wooden vessel designed to withstand harsh polar conditions. 

In 1910, Terra Nova transported Scott and his team – Edward Wilson, Lawrence Oates, Edgar Evans and Henry Bowers – to Antarctica for their attempt to reach the South Pole. 

Built in 1884, Terra Nova was a robust wooden whaling ship designed to withstand harsh polar conditions. It sank during the Second World War and was found in 2012

A ‘beautiful marine ecosystem’ is now thriving on the wreck, bringing new life to ‘this historic site’. There are no plans to raise SS Terra Nova

Pictured, Henry Robertson Bowers (seated, left), Edward Adrian Wilson (seated, right), Lawrence Oates (standing, left), Robert Falcon Scott (standing, center) and Evans (standing, right)

SS Terra Nova is described as ‘one of the most iconic vessels in the history of polar exploration’ due to its association with the expedition of the same name. Pictured, SS Terra Nova in 1911

Sonar mapping in 2012 revealed the location of the Terra Nova (pictured), which sank during the Second World War

Although the team did successfully reach the pole in January 1912, they found that Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian team had beaten them by 34 days. 

Deflated, the five men endured unusually dreadful conditions on their return journey and suffered from a lack of food and frostbite.

The first man to perish, Welshman Edgar Evans, died on February 17, 1912, having collapsed the day prior following a concussion sustained by falling into a glacier crevasse. 

Scott’s diary described Evans’s condition: ‘He was on his knees with clothing disarranged, hands uncovered and frostbitten, and a wild look in his eyes.’ 

A flagging Oates died on March 16 after walking out of the tent into a blizzard to give the remaining three a chance of survival. According to Scott’s diary, as Oates left the tent he said, ‘I am just going outside and may be some time.’ 

Scott, Wilson and Bowers died in the tent on or about March 29 and their bodies were found eight months later by a rescue party, along with journals and photographs. 

Following her polar service, Terra Nova returned to commercial duties, resuming work in the Newfoundland seal fishery.

But in 1943, during service in World War II, she sank off the coast of Greenland in 1943 after sustaining ice damage. 

Pictured, the Terra Nova expedition at the South Pole with Norwegian Roald Amundsen’s tent in the background

Her final resting place remained unknown until 2012, when the wreck was discovered at a depth of around 984ft (9,300 metres), 100 years after Captain Scott’s death. 

The aft section appears to have struck the seabed first, and the wreck’s bow is now split in two, but despite the extensive damage, many of the ship’s defining features remain visible and recognisable. 

Before gaining worldwide recognition as the expedition ship for Captain Scott’s ill-fated Antarctic journey, Terra Nova had already proven herself in polar service. 

In 1903, she was chartered as a relief vessel to resupply and assist in freeing RRS Discovery from the ice in the Antarctic during Scott’s first expedition. 

Two years later, Terra Nova played a role in Arctic rescue operations, assisting in the recovery of personnel from the failed Ziegler Polar Expedition. 

These early missions cemented her reputation as a dependable and capable vessel in extreme environments – leading to her purchase by Scott in 1909. 

Reinforced from bow to stern with seven feet of oak to protect against the Antarctic ice pack, she sailed from Cardiff on June 15, 1910. 

‘The oak-built Terra Nova was one of the best and most doughty ice ships ever crafted by the hand of man,’ said Mensun Bound, British maritime archaeologist.

‘Its very name evokes the great heroic age of polar exploration when a handful of remarkable men, by mapping the coast and exploring the interior, lifted the veil on the Great White Continent of Antarctica. 

‘When we think of the Terra Nova, we of course think of Scott, Evans, Oates, Wilson and Bowers, who, in their quest for geographic knowledge and glory, were pushed to their perishable limits and beyond.’