Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer
A brief overview of the life of Ireland's greatest Antarctic explorer.
Category: 1915
The Iconic Tom Crean Portrait
The Iconic Tom Crean Portrait
The Endurance Expedition 1914 – 1917
It is 104 years to the day, since Frank Hurley took this iconic photograph of the Irish explorer Tom Crean, during the Endurance Expedition. The setting for the powerful image was on the drifting ice floes of the Weddell Sea, where Crean, Hurley and the crew of Shackleton’s Endurance, had found themselves ensnared. It is, above all other photographs of Tom Crean, the one image that has become synonymous with his immense strength, unwavering courage and indomitable character.
Despite the unfavourable prospects of their situation, Crean fixes the camera with a stare of steely determination, yet somehow manages to exude the altruistic side of his aspect, that made him such a popular character with all who endeavoured with him. Continue Reading →
On This Day – January 18th 1915 – The Endurance Is Trapped.
The Endurance Trapped
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
On the 5th of December 1914 the Endurance slipped from the rugged shores of South Georgia. Its destination was Antarctica, and the goal was a trans-continental march, via the South Pole, from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. With the south pole conquered by both Amundsen and Scott, the last great objective was to traverse the entire continent.
Before departure from South Georgia, Shackleton had been warned by the Norwegians that manned the whaling stations on the island, that the ice in the Weddell Sea was more abundant, and further north than they had ever before seen.
On This Day – February 7th 1915
The Iconic Tom Crean Portrait
The Endurance Expedition 1914 – 1917
On February 7th 1915, Frank Hurley took his iconic photograph of Tom Crean, on the Endurance Expedition. It is, above all other photographs of Crean, the one image that has become synonymous with his immense strength, courage and character.
Frank Hurley, the expeditions photographer, captured hundreds of images that would provide the world with a visual account, of the remarkable ordeal that unfolded when the Endurance became trapped, and eventually crushed, by the ice of the Weddell Sea.
The photo of Tom Crean was taken in the early stages of the Edurance entrapment, on February 7th 1915, and unbeknown to the men at this time, they faced more than two years of extreme survival, on ice, sea and land, and Crean would play a central role in the safe rescue of all the crew.