2. • On his return from the Terra Nova expedition, Crean
resumed his Naval duties at Chatham, Kent until
Shackleton began to recruit for his ‘Endurance
Expedition’ to cross the continent of Antarctica
• Crean was selected to be one of the party of 6 to
make the crossing
• This expedition, like Scott’s was bound for the South
Pole and set out from London on the 1st Aug 1914
• However, unknown to Crean he would not step foot
on Antarctica again
3. • Endurance became trapped in the ice of
Weddell Sea in Jan 1915
• It was abandoned in Oct and it sunk in Nov
4. • The men made the safety of elephant island in
April 1916, with Crean being in charge of the
Stancomb Willis lifeboat which took them
there
5. • In order to get rescue Crean, Shackleton and four companions
began an 800 mile voyage from Elephant Island to South
Georgia in the largest of the open lifeboats, the James Caird.
• They landed in South Georgia in May of that year
• A Norwegian whaling station was located on one side of the
Island but they landed on the uninhabited southern side and
with a broken rudder had no way of sailing around.
• They took on the daunting task of crossing South Georgia's
frozen mountains to reach the whaling station and safety.
• They succeeded and over four months after they had set out,
Crean and Shackleton finally returned to Elephant Island and all
22 castaways from Endurance were rescued.
6. • In Sept 1917 Crean married
his childhood sweetheart
Eileen Herlihy at home in
Anascaul
• They had 3 children together
however 1 died at the age of
four
• In 1920, after 27 years of
service Crean retired from the
Royal Navy
• In 1927 he opened a pub in
his home town called the
South Pole Inn.
• He lived a quiet life until his
death from a burst appendix
in 1938
7. • In Sept 1917 Crean married his
childhood sweetheart Eileen
Herlihy at home in Anascaul
• They had 3 children together
however 1 died at the age of
four
• In 1920, after 27 years of
service Crean retired from the
Royal Navy
• In 1927 he opened a pub in his
home town called the South
Pole Inn.
• He lived a quiet life until his
death from a burst appendix
in 1938
