Shackleton as leader of the expedition gets deserved credit for bringing back his whole crew after a catastrophic shipwreck. After all, they were at the "other end" of the world without radio or other means of long-distance communictions. Shackleton kept the group focused on survival--which they did.
Frank Worsley is the "best kept secret" of the sea. His navigtion in the James Caird was a quatum leap beyond anything any one else had done to that time--or probably ever will do again. He had only one chance to make South Georgian Island in a boat not as big as the average yacht today. He put them right on the island despite horrible conditions which included his navigation tables turning to paper mache.
Three of the men from the Caird then walked across South Georgian, a feat not believed possible by men not equipped for mountain climbing. In his book, "Shackleton's Boat Journey" (W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 0-393-30376-4), Worsley described that terrible journey in detail. The men involved in the cross-island trek were Worsley, Shackleton, and Crean. Afterward, the navigator wrote:
"...Sir Ernest and I, comparing notes, found that we each had a strange feeling there had been a fourth in our party, and Crean afterwards confessed the same thing."
Of course, there had been no fourth man, at least not one of the Endurance crew. But, all three remembered a strong arm helping them down the mountains. At the time the trio was tired beyond human endurance, cold, and hungry. Halucinations are not unusual under those conditions, but for three people to have a shared halucination...???
Make of it what you will. One thing certain, if they ever build a hall of fame for navigators, Worsley's statue will be in the front lobby.
-- David G. Brown