Tom Crean (explorer)

Infobox Person
name= Tom Crean


caption= Tom Crean with sled dog puppies, February 1915
birth_date= birth date|1877|7|20|df=y
birth_place= Gurtuchrane, County Kerry, Ireland
nationality = Irish
dead=dead
death_date= death date and age|1938|7|27|1877|7|20|df=y
death_place=Republic of Ireland
occupation= Explorer
spouse = Ellen Herlihy
children = Mary, Kate, Eileen

Tom Crean (20 July 1877 – 27 July 1938) was an Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer, from County Kerry. He left the family farm near Annascaul to enlist in the British Royal Navy at the age of fifteen. In 1901, while on serving on HMS Ringarooma in New Zealand, he volunteered to join Robert Falcon Scott's 1901–1904 British National Antarctic Expedition on "Discovery", thus beginning a distinguished career as an explorer during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Crean was on three of the four major British expeditions to Antarctica during this period. After the Discovery Expedition he joined Captain Scott on the 1911–1913 Terra Nova Expedition, in which the race to reach the South Pole was lost to Roald Amundsen, followed by the deaths of Scott and his polar party. During this expedition Crean's 35-mile (56 km) solo walk across the Ross Ice Shelf to save the life of Edward Evans led to the award of the Albert Medal. His third Antarctic venture was the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition on "Endurance" led by Ernest Shackleton, in which he served as Second Officer. After the "Endurance" became beset in the pack ice and sank, he was a participant in a dramatic series of events including months spent drifting on the ice, a journey in lifeboats to Elephant Island, and an 800-mile (1,280 km) open boat journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia. Upon reaching South Georgia, Crean was one of the party of three which undertook the first land crossing of the island without maps or proper mountaineering equipment.

His contributions to these expeditions earned him three Polar Medals, and a reputation as a tough and dependable polar traveller. After the "Endurance" expedition Crean returned to the Navy, and when his naval career ended in 1920 he moved back to County Kerry. Here, in his home town of Annascaul, he opened a public house with his wife Eileen called the "South Pole Inn". He lived there quietly and unobtrusively until his death in 1938.

Early life and career

Crean was born 20 July 1877 in the farming area of Gurtuchrane, near the town of Annascaul in County Kerry, to parents Patrick Crean and Catherine Courtney. [Smith, Michael, "An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean - Antarctic Survivor". Headline Book Publishing, 2000, p. 16] One of ten children, he attended the local Brackluin Catholic school until the age of twelve, leaving school to lend much needed help on the family farm. [Smith, "ibid", p. 16] At fifteen years old, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, probably lying about his age to get in. His rank at enlistment in July 1893, 10 days before his sixteenth birthday, is recorded in Royal Navy records as Boy 2nd Class. [Smith, "ibid", p. 19] His initial naval apprenticeship was aboard the training ship HMS "Impregnable" at Devonport. In November 1894 he was transferred to HMS "Devastation". By his 18th birthday in 1895, Crean was ranked Ordinary Seaman while serving on the HMS "Royal Arthur". Less than a year later he was serving on the HMS "Wild Swan" as an Able Seaman, and also served on the Navy's torpedo school ship, HMS "Defiance". By 1899, Crean had risen to the rank of Petty Officer, 2nd Class while serving on the HMS "Vivid". [Smith, "ibid", p. 20–21]

In February 1900, Crean was posted to the torpedo vessel HMS "Ringarooma", part of the Royal Navy's New Zealand Squadron based in the South Island. On 18 December 1901 he was demoted from Petty Officer to Able Seaman for an unknown misdemeanour. [Smith, "ibid", p. 29] Nonetheless, his assignment to the "Ringarooma" was to change the course of his life. In December 1901 the "Ringarooma" was ordered to assist Captain Scott's ship "Discovery" when it was docked at Lyttleton Harbour, New Zealand, one of its last stops before embarking on the historic British National Antarctic Expedition to Antarctica. An Able Seaman on Scott's crew deserted after striking a Petty Officer, and was replaced by Crean. [Smith, "ibid", p. 31]

Discovery Expedition, 1901–04

Crean sailed with Captain Scott and the crew of the "Discovery" out of Port Chalmers, New Zealand on 21 December 1901, bound for the Antarctic for the first time. The ship landed at Hut Point [ Hut Point was the name given to the location, alongside the ship's mooring, of the expedition's main storage hut. The hut was used in later expeditions as a shelter and storage depot] on 8 February 1902, where the men established the winter quarters from which they would launch scientific and exploratory sledging journeys. Crean soon established himself as one of the most consistent sledgers in the party, with only seven of the 48–member party logging more time in harness than Crean's 149 days. [Smith, "ibid", p. 46–7] Just as importantly for men living and working in such close quarters, Crean had a good sense of humour and was well liked by the men. Captain Scott's deputy, Albert Armitage, wrote in his book "Two Years in the Antarctic" that"Crean was an Irishman with a fund of wit and an even temper which nothing disturbed." [Smith, "ibid", p. 46] It was at this time that he formed close friendships with William Lashly and Edgar Evans, and all three would establish themselves as seasoned polar explorers over the next decade.

Crean accompanied Lieutenant Michael Barne on three sledging trips across the Ross Ice Shelf, then known as "the Barrier". These included the 12–man party led by Barne which set out on 30 October 1902 to lay depots in support of the main southern journey, undertaken by Captain Scott, Shackleton, and Edward Wilson. On 11 November the Barne party passed the previous furthest south mark, [Smith, "ibid", p. 55] set by Carsten Borchgrevink in 1900 at 78°50'S, a record which they held briefly until the southern party itself passed it on its way to 82°17'S. [Crane, pp. 214–15. Modern re-calculations based on photographs have placed this furthest south at 82°11'S (Crane map, p. 215] During the first winter the "Discovery" became locked in the ice, and consequently Crean and the rest of the men did not leave the Antarctic until the ship was freed again in February 1904. After returning to civilization, Crean was promoted to Petty Officer 1st Class, on Captain Scott's recommendation.

After the Discovery Expedition, 1905–10

After the Discovery Expedition, Crean returned to regular duty at the naval base at Chatham, Kent, serving on HMS "Pembroke" in 1904, and transferring later to the torpedo school on HMS "Vernon". Crean had caught Captain Scott's attention with his ability and work ethic on the "Discovery" Expedition, and in 1906 Scott requested that Crean join him on HMS "Victorious".Crean, Royal Navy service record, referenced in Michael Smith, "ibid", p. 72] By 1907 Scott was planning his second expedition to the Antarctic, and over the next years Crean followed Scott successively to the battleship HMS "Albemarle", HMS "Essex" and HMS "Bulwark". After Shackleton beat Scott's furthest south record in 1909, but failed to reach the Pole, Scott continued preparations for his next expedition, officially asking Crean to join in March 1910. Crean accepted in April, a few months before his thirty-third birthday.

Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13

It is clear that Captain Scott held Tom Crean in high regard [Scott, in a letter home October 1911 included in his diary, wrote of his admiration for Crean, saying he was "perfectly happy, ready to do anything and go anywhere, the harder the work the better"] [Scott recommended that Crean be promoted to Petty Officer 1st Class after the 1901-4 expedition; see Smith, p. 70] , and so Crean was among the first people he sought when planning the Terra Nova Expedition. [Smith, "ibid", p. 70] [Scott, in a letter to Crean on 23 March 1910, invited Crean to join the expedition. Reprinted in Smith, p. 76] Indeed, Crean's experience was relied upon as he was one of the few men in the party with polar experience. His first major contribution was as part of the 13-man party who laid "One Ton Depot" 130 miles (215 km) from Hut Point. [Apsley Cherry-Garrard, "The Worst Journey in the World", Carrol & Graf Publishers, 1922, p. 107] It was so named because of the large amount of food and equipment to be cached there for the parties returning from the Pole. On his way back to Cape Evans with Cherry-Garrard and Lieutenant Bowers, the trio camped on the unstable sea ice. During the night the ice broke up, leaving the men floating on an ice floe and separated from their sledges. Crean probably saved the men's lives by volunteering to leap from floe to floe until he reached the Barrier edge, and walked solo back to Safety Camp to get help. [Cherry-Garrard, "ibid", p. 147]

Crean was one of the men who made up the supporting parties on Scott's attempt at the South Pole. The journey had three stages: 400 miles (640 km) across the Barrier, 120 miles (190 km) up the heavily crevassed Beardmore Glacier to an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 m) above sea level, and then another 350 miles (560 km) to the Pole. [Smith, "ibid", p. 102] Crean and Lashly, along with Lieutenant Edward Evans, formed the last support party to leave Captain Scott on his way to the Pole, while Edgar Evans, Wilson, Bowers and Oates continued with Scott. Crean, Lashly and Evans turned back on the polar plateau after ascending the Beardmore, 146 miles (268 km) from the Pole on 4 January 1912, and faced a 750 mile (1,206 km) return journey back to Hut Point. Displaying uncharacteristic emotion, and after two months of effort, Crean broke down and wept at the prospect of having to turn back, so close to the goal. [Scott, Diary, 4 January 1912. Reprinted in Smith, p. 123]

Biographer Michael Smith suggests that Crean should have been selected for the polar party in the place of Edgar Evans, who was weakened by his recent hand injury (of which Scott was unaware). Crean, considered one of the toughest men in the expedition, had led a pony across the Barrier, and been saved the hard labour of man-hauling until the foot of the Beardmore Glacier [Smith, "ibid", p. 161] It has also been suggested that Surgeon Atkinson, who had accompanied the southern party to the top of the Beardmore, had recommended either Lashly or Crean for the polar party in preference to Edgar Evans. [Huntford ("The Last Place on Earth"), p. 455]

Soon after turning back, the returning party was in trouble. They had great difficulty navigating down the Beardmore Glacier. Lashly wrote: "I cannot describe the maze we got into and the hairbreadth escapes we have had to pass through." [Lashly diary, quoted in Preston, p. 207] In his attempts to find the way down, Evans removed his goggles and subsequently suffered agonies of snow-blindness that made him into a passenger.Preston, p. 206–08] Worse was to follow, for when the party was finally free of the glacier and on to the level surface of the Barrier, Evans began to display the first symptoms of scurvy.Crane, pp. 555–56] By early February he was in great pain, his joints swollen and discoloured and passing blood. Through the efforts of Crean and Lashly the group struggled towards One Ton Depot, which they reached on 11 February. At this point Evans collapsed; Crean thought he had died and, according to Evans's account: "his hot tears fell on my face". With well over convert|100|mi|km|sigfig=2 to travel before the safety of Hut Point, Crean and Lashly began hauling Evans on the sledge, "eking out his life with the last few drops of brandy that they still had with them". On 18 February they arrived at Corner Camp, still convert|35|mi|km|sigfig=2 from Hut Point, with food running low. Here, they decided that Crean should go on alone to fetch help. With only a little chocolate and three biscuits to sustain him, without a tent or survival equipment, [Cherry-Garrard, "ibid", p. 420] Crean reached Hut Point, after 24 hours of continuous walking, in a state of collapse. [Smith, "ibid", p. 140] He arrived only just ahead of a fierce blizzard, which probably would have killed him, and which delayed the rescue party by a day and a half. The rescue was successful, however, and Lashly and Evans were both brought to base camp alive. With characteristic modesty, Crean always downplayed the significance of his feat of endurance. In a rare written account, he wrote in a letter: "So it fell to my lot to do the 30 miles for help, and only a couple of biscuits and a stick of chocolate to do it. Well, sir, I was very weak when I reached the hut." [Crean, letter to unknown person, 26 February 1912, reprinted in Smith, p. 143]

At Cape Evans the winter of 1912 was a sombre one, with the knowledge that the polar party had perished. Frank Debenham wrote that Crean's light-hearted nature and Irish brogue kept the hut merry, and that "in the winter it was once again Crean who was the mainstay for cheerfulness in the now depleted mess deck part of the hut." [Smith, "ibid", p. 168]

In November 1912, Crean was one of the eleven-man search party which found the remains of the polar party. On 12 November a cairn of snow was spotted, which proved to be a tent against which the drift had piled up. It contained the bodies of Scott, Wilson, and Bowers. [Crane, pp. 569–70. Oates and Edgar Evans has perished earlier on the return journey.] Crean later wrote, referring to Scott, that he had "lost a good friend". [Crean letter to J. Kennedy, January 1913, SPRI, reprinted in Smith, p. 172]

On 12 February, 1913 Crean and the remaining crew of the "Terra Nova" arrived in Lyttleton, New Zealand and shortly after returned to England. At Buckingham Palace the men on the expedition were all awarded the Polar Medal by King George and Prince Louis of Battenberg. Crean and Lashly were both awarded the Albert Medal for saving Evans's life. [Smith, "ibid", p. 180] Crean was promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer, retroactive to 9 September 1910. [Smith, "ibid", p. 183]

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Endurance Expedition), 1914-17

Ernest Shackleton knew Tom Crean well from the Discovery Expedition and also knew of his feats on Scott's last expedition. Like Captain Scott, Shackleton deeply trusted Crean [Huntford, Roland, "Shackleton", Carrol & Graf, 2004, p. 477] , and in terms of his worth, Shackleton referred to him as "trumps". [Alexander, Caroline, "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition", Alfred Knopf, 1998, p. 21] Crean joined Shackleton's expedition on 25 May 1914 as second officer. [Smith, "ibid", p. 190]

The ship, the "Endurance", was beset in the pack ice on 19 January 1915, and eventually sank on 21 November. Shackleton informed the men that they would drag the food, gear, and three lifeboats across the pack ice to Snow Hill or Robertson Island, 200 miles (320 km) away. Due to uneven ice conditions, pressure ridges, and the danger of ice breakup which could separate the men, this was soon abandoned, and the men pitched camp and decided to wait. The hope was that the clockwise drift of the pack would carry them 400 miles (640 km) to Paulet Island where there was known to be a hut with emergency supplies. [Alexander, "ibid", p. 98] But the pack ice held firm as it carried the men well past Paulet Island, and did not break up until 9 April. The crew had to sail and row the three ill-equipped life boats through the Weddell Sea pack ice and then to Elephant Island, a trip which lasted five days. Crean and Hubert Hudson, the navigating officer of the "Endurance", piloted their life boat, although Crean practically took described as a "mountainous westerly swell". [Worsley, p. 142] The journey has been described as one of the most extraordinary feats of seamanship and navigation in recorded history. [Alexander, "ibid", p. 153]

Because they landed on the uninhabited south coast of South Georgia, and boat's rudder had broken off after their initial landing, three of the men, Shackleton, Crean, and Worsley, were forced to trek across the island's glaciated surface in a hazardous 36 hour journey. This trek was the first crossing of the mountainous island, and was done without tents, sleeping bags, or map—their only mountaineering equipment was a carpenter's adze, length of alpine rope, and tacks from the lifeboat to serve as crampons. [Worsley, pp. 190–91] They arrived at the whaling station at Stromness, tired and dirty, hair long and matted, faces blackened by months of cooking by blubber stoves—"the world's dirtiest men", according to Worsley. [Worsley, p. 213] A boat was sent to pick up the three on the other side of South Georgia, but it took Shackleton three months and four attempts by ship to rescue the other 22 men still on Elephant Island. [Worsley, p. 220]

Upon returning to Britain in November 1916, Crean returned to naval duty. He was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer in recognition of his service on the "Endurance" [Admiralty Certificate of Qualification for Warrant Officer, 17 August 1917, referenced in Michael Smith, "ibid", p. 300] , and was awarded his third Polar Medal.

Later life

Following his return to Britain and naval promotion, Crean married Ellen Herlihy of Annascaul on 5 September 1917. Crean saw quiet service in the First World War, at the Chatham barracks and then on the HMS "Colleen". On his last assignment, with the HMS "Hecla", Crean suffered a bad fall which caused lasting effects to his vision, and his naval career ended on 24 March 1920. [Smith, "ibid", p. 304] He and Eileen opened up a small pub in Annascaul called the South Pole Inn. He had three daughters, Mary, Kate, and Eileen, although Kate died when she was four years old.

Throughout his life, Crean remained an extremely modest man. When he returned to Kerry, he put all of his medals away and never again spoke about his experiences in the Antarctic. Indeed, there is no reliable evidence of Crean giving any interviews to the press. [Smith, "ibid", p. 312] It has been speculated that this may have been because Kerry had long been a centre for Irish nationalism, and it would have been inappropriate for an Irishman to speak of his achievements on British polar expeditions. [Smith, "ibid", p. 312] Crean became ill with a burst appendix in 1938. He was taken to the nearest hospital in Cork where his appendix was removed, but infection had set in. After a week in the hospital, Tom Crean died on 27 July 1938, shortly after his sixty-first birthday.

Crean was buried in his family tomb at the cemetery in Ballynacourty. He was commemorated in at least two place names: Mount Crean (8630 feet, 2630 m) in Victoria Land, and the Crean Glacier on South Georgia.

Notes

References

*cite book|authorlink= Caroline Alexander|last= Alexander|first= Caroline|title= "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition"|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location= New York|year= 2001|isbn= 0-375-40403-1
*cite book|authorlink= Apsley Cherry-Garrard|last= Cherry-Garrard|first= Apsley|year= 1997|title= "The Worst Journey in the World"|location= New York|publisher= Carroll & Graf|isbn= 0-7867-0437-3
*cite book|last= Crane|first= David|title =Scott of the Antarctic|publisher= Harper Collins|location= London|date= 2005 |isbn= 0 00 715068 7
*cite book|authorlink= Roland Huntford|last=Huntford|first= Roland|year= 2004|title= "Shackleton"|publisher= Carroll & Graf|location= New York|isbn= 0-689-11429-X
*cite book|last= Huntford|first= Roland|title= "The Last Place on Earth|publisher= Pan Books|year= 1985|location=|London|isbn= 0-330-28816-4
*cite book|last= Preston|first= Diana|title=A First Rate Tragedy|publisher = Constable & Co.|location = London|date= 1999|isbn= 0 09 4795304
*cite book|authorlink= Ernest Shackleton|last= Shackleton|first= Ernest|year= 1998|title= "South: The Last Antarctic Expedition of Shackleton and the Endurance"|location= New York|publisher= Lyons Press|isbn= 1-558-21783-5
*cite book|last= Smith|first= Michael|title= "An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean - Antarctic Survivor"|year= 2000|location= London:| publisher= Headline Book Publishing|isbn= 0-7472-5357-9
*cite book|authorlink= Frank Worsley|last=Worsley|first= Frank|title= "Shackleton's Boat Journey"|year= 1999|publisher= Pimlico Books|location= London|isbn= 0-7126-6574-9

Further reading

* Huntford, Roland: "The Last Place on Earth". ISBN 0-689-70701-0
* Smith, Michael, "Tom Crean: Unsung Hero of the Scott and Shackleton Antarctic Expeditions". Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-870-X

External links

* [http://www.tomcrean.com/ "Tom Crean Society's Website"] Accessed 9 October 2008.
* [http://www.70south.com/resources/antarctic-history/explorers/tomcrean/ "Tom Crean Biography from 70south.com"] Accessed 9 October 2008.
* [http://www.visitandlearn.co.uk/enduranceobituaries/Crean.asp "Tom Crean Obituary from "Visit and Learn", the HMS Endurance web page"] Accessed 9 October 2008.
* [http://www.coinnews.net/2008/09/05/antarctic-explorers-coins-issued-in-ireland-shackleton-and-crean-celebrated-with-silver-and-gold-4381/ "Crean and Shackleton Antarctic Commemorative Coins Issued by Ireland"] Accessed 9 October 2008.