Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer
A brief overview of the life of Ireland's greatest Antarctic explorer.
Category: Picture Of The Day
Anchor From The Aurora – The Ross Sea Party
Anchor From The Aurora.
Picture Of The Day.
The Ross Sea Party had been tasked with laying the supply depots, that Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic team would avail of, having come through the Pole from the Weddell Sea. Of course this would never happen as the Endurance was held fast in the ice of the Weddell, and never even made landfall on Antarctica.
As the expeditions second ship, the Aurora sailed to the other side of the continent, through the Ross Sea, and made landfall at McMurdo Sound. They followed in the footsteps of Scott, and laid supply depots across the Ross Ice Shelf all the way to the foot of the Beardmore Glacier.
Anchor from the Aurora (Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party) and Erebus
Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Hut, Cape Evans Antarctica, September 2013
On This Day – November 19th 1911.
Terra Nova Expedition – Southern Journey.
Outward March – Camp 15, November 19th 1911.
It was day 19 of Robert Falcon Scott’s Southern Journey, and progress was slower than Scott had expected. The ponies were struggling in the harsh conditions and were constantly sinking in the deep snow. Scott’s team had developed pony shoes for the animals, and when trialed on the soft surfaces, they proved to be a significant success. However, Lawrence Oates who was in charge of the ponies, objected to their use, and most were left behind, despite their effectiveness.
This was a decision that Scott should have over-ruled. Of the 19 ponies brought along on the expedition, 9 had died prior to the departure of the South Pole journey, which greatly weakened their prospects of hauling the supplies to the Beardmore Glacier. The remaining 10 animals that set out with the team on November 1st, should have been afforded every possible advantage, for the gruelling task ahead.
Tom Crean – Colourised Image.
Tom Crean – Antarctic Explorer.
Image Colourisation by Vass Design.
Thanks to Pete Vass of Vass Design , who kindly forwarded this image to me, for use on the website. I can only imagine the long hours of painstakingly meticulous work, that has gone into it’s production, but the end result is a stunning full colour image of the ‘Irish Giant’ Tom Crean.
This image is just one of a series of pictures from the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, that have been colourised by Pete, and you can view them all by following the link below.
Tom Crean
Tom Crean Antarctic Explorer
View More Colourised Polar Pictures
On This Day – November 16th 1911 – Photographs of One Ton Depot.
Scott’s Southern Party at One Ton Depot.
November 16th, 1911
The Terra Nova Expedition.
Extracts from Robert Falcon Scott’s Diary.
Wednesday, November 15. – Camp 12.
“Found our One Ton Camp without any difficulty [130 geographical miles from Cape Evans].”
Robert Falcon Scott, on reaching One Ton Depot.
“After a discussion we had decided to give the animals a day’s rest here, and then to push forward at the rate of 13 geographical miles a day.”
“A note from Evans dated the 9th, stating his party has gone on to 80° 30′, carrying four boxes of biscuit. He has done something over 30 miles (geo.) in 2½ days – exceedingly good going. I only hope he has built lots of good cairns.
“Most of us are using goggles with glass of light green tint. We find this colour very grateful to the eyes, and as a rule it is possible to see everything through them even more clearly than with naked vision.”
Thursday. November 16. – Camp 12.
“Resting. A stiff little southerly breeze all day, dropping towards evening. The temperature -15°. Ponies pretty comfortable in rugs and behind good walls. Continue Reading →
On This Day – 8 Oct. 1911 – Terra Nova Expedition
Photographs from The Terra Nova Expedition.
October 8th 1911.
Four photographs from Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s, Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica, captured on the 8th of October 1911, as preparations were under way for the Southern Journey, which would commence less than a month later.
The first of the images was taken by Herbert Ponting and shows Scott observing a crack in the snow field at the Ross Dependency.
The next two images featuring the expedition photographer Ponting, were taken by Scott himself. Scott was being tutored in the art and techniques of photography, by Ponting, to enable him to capture a visual account of the journey to the South Pole, as Ponting would not travel with the southern party, because he was considered too old, for the arduous journey.
The final image was again taken by Scott and shows the same fissure in the snow field he is seen observing in the first picture. What the image clearly illustrates is that Ponting still had a bit of tutoring to do with his protege.
On This Day – October 7th 1911 – Robert Falcon Scott
Robert Falcon Scott.
October 7th 1911.
With pictures of his wife and son behind him, Captain Robert Falcon Scott (1868 – 1912) writes his journal in the Winterquarters Hut, in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during the Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic. This photograph was taken on 7th October 1911, less than a month before the tragic Southern Journey.
Photograph by Herbert Ponting.
On October 7th 1911, Herbert Ponting, the official photographer on the Terra Nova Expedition, captured this famous image of Robert Falcon Scott updating his journal, in the comfort of the Winterquarters Hut, at Cape Evans Antarctica. The hut which was constructed shortly after the expedition arrived in the Ross Dependency in 1911, is more commonly known as Scotts Hut. Continue Reading →
Pictures Of The Day – Scott’s Medicine
Burroughs Wellcome Co medicine chests
British Antarctic Expedition – Terra Nova
Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome and Silas Burroughs formed the Burroughs Wellcome & Company, pharmaceutical company in 1880. They specialised in producing Tabloid medicines, and their medicine chests were quite practical, for those, like Robert Falcon Scott and his team, who intended reaching the South Pole. The medicine chests were durable, lightweight and compact, which was of crucial importance considering that all the mens supplies were hauled on sledges.
Pictures Of The Day – Terra Nova Expedition
Depot-Laying Teams
Terra Nova Expedition
Tom Crean was one of the members of Scott’s depot-laying team that were tasked with establishing a supply route along the Barrier, that would be used by Scott and his Polar party, when they embarked upon their South Pole journey.
The aim was to lay supplies at strategic points along the ice shelf, from Safety Camp, at its edge, all the way to 80º S, where the largest cache – One Ton Depot would be located.
I am just going outside.
Lawrence Oates
A Very Gallant Gentleman by John Charles Dollman
On the return journey from the South Pole, Lawrence Oates was suffering badly from gangrene and frostbite, and felt that his poor condition was slowing down the progress of Scott, Bowers and Wilson, and thus hindered their chances of survival.
According to Scott’s journal, as the men camped, Oates left the tent and walked into a blizzard, uttering the words “I am just going outside and may be some time.”
Scott also said of the incident “We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman.”
Ultimately the gallant sacrifice Oates made, had no impact on the fate of the other men, as they would only cover another 20 miles before they too died.
