Diogenes
Nemo me impune lacessit
NOT A PINK PUSSY HAT
Tom Crean was born on February 16, 1877 in County Kerry, Ireland.
He enlisted in the Royal Navy at the age of 16 and proved to be an able seaman.
While serving on the Ringarooma in 1901, he was selected to assist Robert Scott’s ship as it awaited departure to Antarctica.
Crean soon joined Scott’s expedition and became a well-liked member of the crew.One officer wrote, “Crean was an Irishman with a fund of wit and an even temper which nothing disturbed.”He spent two years in the Antarctic before returning to naval duty in 1904.
Scott asked Crean to join his next expedition in 1910.In January 1912, the crew was 168 miles from the South Pole. Scott chose four men for the rest of the journey, with Crean and others returning to base.
Scott wrote in his diary that Crean was racked with disappointment.
After receiving Scott’s order, Crean and two others began the 700 mile journey.
The men escaped death many times, enduring snow blindness and hidden crevasses. Two of them became too weak and cold to move, so Crean left them to get help and traveled the remaining 35 miles alone, reaching the camp in just 18 hours.
Thanks to Crean, the other men were rescued.
Sadly, those in Scott’s group never returned.
In November 1912, Crean and the others found the bodies of the missing men.
They had reached the South Pole, but died returning.
After returning home in February 1913, Crean and the survivors were received at Buckingham Palace.
King George V awarded the men with Polar Medals.
Crean also received the Albert Medal for saving the lives of his comrades. Crean was promoted and returned to his naval duties.
On August 1914, Ernest Shackleton invited Crean to join his next Antarctic expedition aboard the Endurance.
Crean was put in charge of the dog-handling teams.
In January 1915, the Endurance became packed in ice and drifted for months, eventually sinking in November.
After the sinking, the men dragged their gear and food over the packed ice in lifeboats.
Due to the incredibly harsh conditions, Shackleton abandoned his quest and the men set up camp on the ice.
The ice pack carried Crean and the others hundreds of miles.
In April, the crew used the lifeboats to travel to Elephant Island. Shackleton chose five men, including Crean, to set sail on one of the lifeboats, leaving the others who were too weak and sick behind.
The crew navigated 800 miles to South Georgia island to get help from the whaling station there, an astounding example of seamanship.
Once they were in sight of South Georgia island, their boat’s rudder broke off, forcing the men to land on the opposite side of the island from the whaling station.
The men trekked 30 miles over freezing, mountainous terrain with no gear.
After reaching the whaling station, they returned and rescued their comrades who had been left behind.
After returning home in 1916, Crean resumed his naval duties and was awarded his third Polar Medal.
Shackleton invited Crean to participate in another expedition, but instead, he got married and opened a pub called the South Pole Inn in his hometown of Annascaul.
Crean remained humble throughout his life, rarely discussing his time in the Antarctic.
He died from a burst appendix on July 27, 1938.
Several geological features are named in his honor and a statue honors him in his hometown.
Tom Crean (explorer) - Wikipedia
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