Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer
A brief overview of the life of Ireland's greatest Antarctic explorer.
Category: Robert Falcon Scott
On This Day – March 9th 1912
Scott arrives at Mount Hooper Depot
Terra Nova Expedition
Scott’s Journal – March 8th, 1912.
“The great question is, What shall we find at the depôt? If the dogs have visited it we may get along a good distance, but if there is another short allowance of fuel, God help us indeed. We are in a very bad way, I fear, in any case.”
― from “Journals: Captain Scott’s Last Expedition (Oxford World’s Classics)”
On the 9th of March 1912, Scott, Oates, Bowers and Wilson arrived at the Mount Hooper Depot, on their homeward march from the South Pole. At this point in their journey, Edgar Evans had died near the foot of the Beardmore Glacier on February 17th, and as the four remaining men had continued their struggle across the Barrier, they were subject to some of coldest and most severe weather conditions ever recorded in the area.
Scott had outlined in his journal, the difficulties they had encountered trying to haul the sledge across the ice shelf, and compared it to dragging over desert sands. The normally icy surface had become covered in crystallised snow, which caused friction beneath the sledges runners, and this had seriously slowed their progression.
Returning From The Pole
To add to the mens woes, the Mount Hooper depot had not been restocked, and they discovered that there was a serious shortage of oil, as had been the case when they had reached the Mid-Barrier Depot on March 1st, as most of the supply had evaporated. It was a crushing blow to the men. With unseasonably low temperatures plummeting to as low as -40º C, the shortfall in oil was critical. It would deny the men the ability to prepare the necessary hot meals that their situation demanded, and left them with no means to melt ice for drinking water.
The party had also held out hope that they would encounter the dog teams, which would have been their salvation, but due to a prior order from Scott, not to risk the dogs unnecessarily, no relief team had ventured past One Ton Depot. Scott had initially hoped to spare the dogs for further sledging expeditions the following season, but had changed his mind when sending back Crean, Evans and Lashly as the last supporting team, 150 miles from Pole.
He had then issued Edward Evans with the instruction that Meares and the dog teams were to meet the returning Polar Party between latitude 82º S and 83º S, which was farther south than previously arranged.
On This Day, February 19, 1912 – Tom Crean Reaches Hut Point
Tom Crean Arrives At Hut Point
Terra Nova Expedition
It was 3.30 AM, on Monday the 19th of February, when Tom Crean stumbled through the door of the Discovery Hut, at Hut Point, and fell to his knees, gasping for breath. No doubt the two occupants of the hut, Edward Atkinson and Dimitri Gerov, were extremely startled by his entrance, as visitors seldom drop by remote huts on Ross Island, Antarctia.
Initially the exhausted and starving Crean was almost delirious, but Atkinson managed to get some brandy into him, and once lucid, he conveyed to them the plight of Edward Evans, who lay dying in a tent, 35 miles southwards, on the Ross Ice Shelf.
Tom Crean had left Evans with Bill Lashly around 10 AM, the previous day and decided to strike out alone to seek help, as any effort for the entire party to complete the journey would have taken days, with fatal consequences for Evans.
Scott’s Last Expedition
From The Terra Nova Expedition
An excellent collection of 14 videos from the Natural History Museum, giving a great insight into Scott’s tragic Terra Nova expedition. Originally made to coincide with the museums exhibition in 2012, the videos are none the less, a must watch collection. The Terra Nova expedition sailed to Antarctica with the objectives of both scientific research, and of being the first to stand at the South Pole.
Much has been written about the Polar Party reaching the Pole to find they had been beaten to the accolade by Roald Amundsen, and subsequently dying on their return march. But the men of the Terra Nova also completed an extraordinary amount of scientific work, and undertook several perilous expeditions across the ice to do so.
On This Day – January 29th 1908
Tom Crean.
Joins HMS Essex under Captain Scott.
On January 29th 1908, Tom Crean joined the HMS Essex, which was under the command of Captain Robert Falcon Scott.
Having returned with Scott from the Discovery’s Antarctic expedition in 1904, Crean had reverted back to normal Navy duties, and served at Portsmouth’s torpedo school.
In September of 1906 Scott invited Crean to join him on HMS Victorious, and the Irishman duly accepted the offer. Victorious would be the first of four different ships, after the Discovery Expedition, that the Polar veterans would serve on together, before departing for Antarctica again in 1910, aboard the Terra Nova.
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Terra Nova Expedition – Photo Gallery
The Terra Nova Expedition 1910 – 1913
The Terra Nova expedition was both Captain Scott’s and Tom Crean’s second journey to Antarctica, as both men had been part of the Discovery Expedition 1901 – 1904.
The aims of the British Antarctic Expedition ( official name of the Terra Nova expedition ) was chiefly to reach the South Pole, but also there was the important objectives of scientific research – meteorological, geological, geographical and zoological.
While many of the scientific aspects of the excursion were successful, and indeed Scott and his team did reach the Pole on January 17th 1912, the expedition ultimately ended in tragedy with the deaths of all five men of the Polar Party, on their return journey.
Despite the fact that this expedition took place over 100 years ago, the photographs of Herbert Ponting affords us an excellent visual backdrop to the fascinating stories of endeavour, bravery and tragedy, that unfolded on the harsh frozen continent of Antarctica.
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Race For The Poles
Video
The Race For The North & South Poles
Excellent documentary about the race for both the North and South Poles.
See playlist in top left of viewer for part 2 of this documentary, and Shackleton’s Voyage Of Endurance, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
Secrets Of The Dead – Scott’s Polar Party
Video
Tragedy At The Pole
Secrets of the Dead is an ongoing PBS television series produced by Thirteen/WNET New York, which began in 2000. The show generally follows an investigator or team of investigators exploring what modern science can tell us about some of the great mysteries of history. Most programs incorporate primary source material, first hand accounts, dramatic reenactments, and computer-generated imagery (CGI) to tell the story.*
This episode entitled Tragedy At The Pole was first aired in the USA on 15th January 2003. It was Episode 5 in Season 3 (2002-2003) of the series.
On This Day, January 3rd 1912 – With Scott On The Polar Plateau.
Tom Crean – On The Polar Plateau
Scott decides his Polar Party
Ten years to the day, after first crossing the Antarctic Circle, aboard the Discovery with Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Tom Crean was deep in Antarctic territory, on the Polar Plateau, around 150 miles from the South Pole. He was again in the company of Scott, this time on the Terra Nova Expedition. Two of the supporting teams, for the assault on the Pole, had returned to base at various stages along the trek, and now two, four-man teams remained.
Scott had always intended that his Polar Party that would make the trek on final stage of the journey, would consist of 4 men, himself among this number. None of the men knew whether or not they would be selected for the honour of standing with their Captain at the Pole, for it was a decision Scott had not announced prior to their departure.
Then on January 3rd 1912 Scott made his announcement, deciding that he would in fact be taking four men with him to the Pole, which now lay 150 miles away, and sending the last supporting party home. Continue Reading →
On This Day 30th December 1902 – Farthest South.
New Farthest South Record Set.
Discovery Expedition – 30th December 1902.
On this day in 1902, Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson established a new ‘Farthest South’ record, on the Discovery expedition. They had trekked hundreds of miles across Antarctica, reaching latitude 82º 17’S. It had been a tentative, yet truly pioneering effort, and there was little hope of the quest ever achieving its goal, of actually reaching the South Pole. It is safe to assume that in all probability, it was not deemed possible, even by the participants themselves. Wilson had noted in his diary, that their aim was “to get as far south in a straight line on the Barrier ice as we can, reach the Pole if possible, or find some new land.” The three men were relaying their supplies, dragging half their load forward, one mile at a time, then plodding back that mile, before hauling the remainder forward again. In short, for every geographical mile they had covered, the weary men had walked a distance of three miles. The physical demands of this system were simply not sustainable.
As it transpired, the only reward their efforts yielded was in achieving the new record, without ever leaving the Barrier, on December 30th, 1902. It was the second time within the space of a couple of months that the ‘farthest south’ measurement had been surpassed. On November 11 1902, Tom Crean and a number of the depot laying team, under the command of Michael Barne, had achieved the honour of establishing a new farthest south record, when they passed the 78°50’S spot reached by Carsten Borchgrevink, on 16th February 1900. They had been a support party, for Scott’s southern journey, and had been tasked with laying a supply route for the three men.
On December 25th 1902, Scott, Shackleton and Wilson had taken time out from their gruelling man hauling efforts to celebrate Christmas Day. It was far from elaborate, but their double rations were supplemented with a Christmas pudding, which Shackleton had secretly brought with him, for the occasion.
Dr Wilson (left) and Captain Scott at the furthest point South – they planted the British flag in latitude 82.17 on December 30th, 1902, 270 miles from the ship and 420 from the pole. The third member of the party was Lieutenant Shackleton. They were absent from the ship for three months from November 1902 to February 1903. Original Publication: Illustrated London News – pub. 1903
On December 30th, the group, having reached 82º 17’S, correctly opted to turn back. All three, but Shackleton in particular, would suffer greatly on the return journey, from frostbite and scurvy. As their journey progressed, Shackleton was unable to haul the sledge and stumbled alongside, and on occasions, he had to be placed upon the sled, such was his condition. The last of the dogs which had accompanied the men, also died on the return trip. Scott and Wilson worked tirelessly to ensure that Shackleton would survive the ordeal, and deserve great credit for their efforts. They eventually returned to the ice-bound Discovery on 3rd February 1903 after a round trip of almost 1,000 miles.
Somewhat against his will, Shackleton was sent home on the relief ship Morning, on Scott’s orders. Scott wrote, that at this point he felt Shackleton “ought not to risk further hardships in his present state of health”.
It is often speculated that this was to cause a rift between Scott and Shackleton. What is certain though, is that Shackleton was spurred on to launch his own assault on the South Pole, which he duly did aboard the Nimrod in 1907. He would not achieve the Pole on this expedition, but he did set, yet another Farthest South record of 88º 23’S, along with Wild, Marshall and Adams, when they stood less than 100 miles from the South Pole, before they were compelled to abandon their effort.
It is also worth noting that Scott abandoned the notion of using dog teams to haul provision sledges, after their poor performance on this venture. Both he and Shackleton opted to use ponies instead, on their subsequent expeditions – The Nimrod (Shackleton), and the Terra Nova (Scott). Whilst the dogs hadn’t performed well on the Discovery’s southern journey, not enough emphasis was given to the facts that none of the men were trained to use the animals on ice, and mistakes had been made when calculating food rations for the animals.
Amundsen would later demonstrate just how efficiently dog teams could perform, with trained handlers and proper food.
Wild, Shackleton, Marshall & Adams aboard Nimrod, after their return from 88º 23’S.