Lewis Rickinson

{{Short description|English marine engineer (1883–1945)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2022}} '''Lewis Raphael Rickinson''' (21 April 1883 – 16 April 1945) was an English [[Engineering officer (ship)|marine engineer]]. He is best known for his service in the [[Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition]] of 1914–1916, for which he was awarded the Silver [[Polar Medal]].<ref name="Obituary">{{cite web |url=http://www.enduranceobituaries.co.uk/mccarthy.htm |title=The Endurance Obituaries: Lewis Raphael Rickinson |author=John F. Mann |year=2009 |publisher=enduranceobituaries.co.uk |accessdate=4 November 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025095046/http://www.enduranceobituaries.co.uk/mccarthy.htm |archivedate=25 October 2016 }}</ref>

==Biography== Rickinson was born on 21 April 1883 in [[Lewisham]], which was then part of the [[County of Kent]] but has since become part of [[Greater London]]. His father was Charles Napier Rickinson and his mother was Emma Isaac Rickinson. As a man trained for work with marine engines, he signed on the ''Endurance'' as the chief engineer. Although the ''[[Endurance (1912 ship)|Endurance]]'' was rigged as a [[barquentine]], it also had a coal-burning engine and spent much of its time under steam.<ref name="Obituary"/>

Under the expedition plans and the articles that Rickinson had signed as chief engineer, his job was to work the engines during the Antarctic summer of 1914–1915 to get the ''Endurance'' to the [[Filchner Ice Shelf]]. Once the vessel had reached her destination, she and her crew were supposed to unload the expedition leader, Sir [[Ernest Shackleton]], and a shore party for expedition work in the interior of [[Antarctica]]. Rickinson and the ship's company were then supposed to steam north toward warmer waters to avoid the worst of the [[Polar night|Antarctic winter]] of 1915. However, when the ''Endurance'' was beset by pack ice in the [[Weddell Sea]], these plans could not be implemented. With all of the other members of the expedition, Rickinson was first forced to spend the winter in the depths of the southern Weddell Sea, and then shared the fate of his fellow explorers as castaways when the mother ship was crushed and sunk by the ice. After camping on the [[Drift ice|melting ice]] for some months, the ship's company and shore party were forced to take to [[lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboat]]s. Rickinson was assigned to the lifeboat ''Stancomb Wills''.<ref name="Obituary"/>

Shackleton was impressed by Rickinson's ability to take on his share of the survival duties of the party. In April 1916, when the lifeboat party was making a hazardous landing on the shore of [[Elephant Island]] off the coast of the [[Antarctic Peninsula]], Rickinson was stricken while wading ashore in the surf. Once all were safely on shore, the expedition doctor diagnosed the 32-year-old engineer with a mild [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]]. He was advised to rest as much as possible in a crude lean-to hut, the ''Snuggery'', built by the men. Meanwhile, Shackleton and a picked crew of volunteers had separated from the main party to mount a forlorn open-boat attempt to escape from Antarctica and fetch help for the Elephant Island castaways, including Rickinson. After enduring more than four months of near-starvation rations Rickinson, who was still classified as an invalid, was rescued from Elephant Island with his comrades. His time in the Antarctic was over; it was 30 August 1916.<ref name="Obituary"/>

Upon returning to Britain Rickinson found [[World War I]] being fought. Despite his cardiac diagnosis he joined the colours, was passed as fit, and served in the Royal Navy. In 1918 he married Marjorie Kate Snell. Two children, son Lewis F. Rickinson (1919) and daughter Betty Rickinson (1923), were born of this union. With the coming of peace Rickinson chose life on shore. He became a consulting engineer, specializing in the shipbuilding design and installation of marine power units.<ref name="Obituary"/>

With the coming of [[World War II]], Rickinson rejoined the colours and was assigned to [[Drill Hall Library|HMS ''Pembroke'']], the pseudo-floating naval barracks and training establishment at [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]] in the [[Medway]]. He rose to the rank of engineer [[Commander (Royal Navy)|naval commander]] and served until his diagnosis with [[lung cancer]]. He was seconded to a [[Newbury, Berkshire]] nursing home for [[hospice]] care, and died there in April 1945, age 61.<ref name="Obituary"/>

==Legacy== In 1916–17, Rickinson was awarded the [[Polar Medal]] in silver.<ref name="Obituary"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rickinson, Lewis}} [[Category:1883 births]] [[Category:1945 deaths]] [[Category:Personnel of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition]] [[Category:British explorers of Antarctica]] [[Category:Recipients of the Polar Medal]] [[Category:Royal Navy officers of World War I]] [[Category:Royal Navy officers of World War II]] [[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in England]]