Editing Ernest Shackleton (section)

=== Merchant Navy officer ===
[[File:HRM EHS p56.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Shackleton in 1901, aged 27|alt=A black-and-white photo of Shackleton in three-quarters profile]]
Shackleton's restlessness at school was such that he was allowed to leave at sixteen and go to sea.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|p=11}} One option was a [[Royal Navy]] officer cadetship in the {{HMS|Britannia|1869|2}} at [[Dartmouth, Devon|Dartmouth]], but this was too expensive, and Shackleton passed the upper age limit of fourteen and a half in 1888. Alternatives were the [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|mercantile marine]] cadet ships [[Thames Nautical Training College|''Worcester'']] and {{HMS|Conway|school ship|2}}, or an apprenticeship "before the mast" on a sailing vessel. This third option was chosen.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|p=11}} His father was able to secure him a berth with the North Western Shipping Company, aboard the [[square-rigged]] sailing ship ''Hoghton Tower''.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|p=11}}

Over the next four years at sea, Shackleton learned his trade and visited many parts of the world, forming a variety of acquaintances and learning to associate with people from many different walks of life.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|pp=13–18}} In August 1894, he passed his examination for second mate and accepted a post as [[Third mate|third officer]] on a [[tramp steamer]] of the Welsh Shire Line.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|pp=13–18}} Two years later, he had obtained his first mate's ticket, and in 1898, he was certified as a [[master mariner]], qualifying him to command a British ship anywhere in the world.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|pp=13–18}}

In 1900, he joined [[Union-Castle Line]], the regular mail and passenger carrier between Britain and South Africa.{{sfn|Johnson|2003|p=19}} One of his shipmates recorded that Shackleton was "a departure from our usual type of young officer", content with his own company though not aloof, "spouting lines from [[John Keats|Keats]] or [[Robert Browning|Browning]]", a mixture of sensitivity and aggression but not unsympathetic.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|pp=20–23}} Following the outbreak of the [[Boer War]] in 1899, Shackleton transferred to the [[troopship]] ''Tintagel Castle'' where, in March 1900, he met Cedric Longstaff, an army lieutenant whose father [[Llewellyn W. Longstaff]] was the main financial backer of the [[British National Antarctic Expedition]] then being organised in London.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|pp=25–30}}

Shackleton used his acquaintance with the son to obtain an interview with Longstaff senior, with a view to obtaining a place on the expedition. Impressed by Shackleton's keenness, Longstaff recommended him to [[Sir Clements Markham]], the expedition's overlord, making it clear that he wanted Shackleton accepted.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|pp=25–30}} On 17&nbsp;February 1901, his appointment as third officer to the expedition's ship {{RRS|Discovery||2}} was confirmed; on 4&nbsp;June he was commissioned into the Royal Navy, with the rank of sub-lieutenant in the [[Royal Naval Reserve]].{{sfn|Huntford|1985|p=42}}<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27322|page=3926|date=11 June 1901}}</ref> Although officially on leave from Union-Castle, this was in fact the end of Shackleton's Merchant Navy service.{{sfn|Huntford|1985|pp=25–30}}