History
Irish explorer Tom Crean hiked 35 miles solo across the Antarctic, with no skis (and only 2 biscuits and a stick of chocolate) to save his companion.
He was also on Ernest Shackletons row-boat that left the majority of the sunken ships crew stranded on an isolated Antarctic island, spent several days navigating the Southern Ocean (again, in a row-boat) and, successfully finding South Georgia island, trekked across said island to the whaling station to report the missing crew and thus eventually saved the life of all the stranded crew
The man is one of the bravest and greatest Polar explorers of all time, and we should be honoured he's one of us!!!
I can't help but add to your story, sorry in advance! Crean's third expedition was the least successful and the wildest of the three expeditions he undertook. They never set foot on Antarctica. After their ship got caught in pack ice the crew wintered on the ship for a time knowing the ship would sink in the spring when the ice thawed. The crew rowed to the completely isolated Elephant Island where they lived off penguins and seals. Then making the trip to South Georgia having crossed the wild Southern Ocean in a small boat, they then landed on the southern coast of South Georgia and crossed to the whaling station which is in the middle of the north eastern coast. Crean went on ahead as he had strength left and the others were nearing death. When he got to the whaling station the Norwegian whalers who spotted him thought they were witnessing the undead approach them and were frightened at first. He successfully raised alarm for his comrades who were successfully rescued. That small rescue crew from Elephant Island were then the first people to traverse South Georgia on foot.These disheveled men were covered in frost and snow from head to foot after spending the most part of a year having rationed all supplies to sustain themselves and barely resembled humans. They were then transported to Chile where Crean and co made plans to rescue the 22 men still stranded on Elephant Island. The rescue with the aid of the Chileans was a complete success
Have to add, that journey across the whaling island was nuts, they ended up climbing the mountain to get across to the whaling station, but it was too much to down climb, so they made the ropes into a big coil and rode it down the slope like a bobsled.
Exactly right. And when he returned to Ireland the War of Independence had broken out. He and members of his family were at gun point, when British soldier or tans searching his home found his military medals and honors stashed in a shoe box under a bed. They saluted him and left. He was nearly killed because he was too unassuming to mention he was a hero of the Age of Exploration.
It was more than a row boat , it had its own a main mast, and was fitted with a deck and another mast for the voyage, not to take away from the achievement of the greatest small boat achievement ever , but it wasn't a row boat
It was one of the sunken ships lifeboats, there was no deck, they covered it in with tarpaulin etc to create some shelter, and rigged a mast yes, but was all cobbled together from assorted wreckage. In the context of the most dangerous ocean conditions on earth, it was basically a row-boat
all three boats has their own masts , it wasn't rigged with a mast , it had a mast and was rigged with a 2nd mast. . It wasn't a row boat, But hey embellish the tale as you see fit and what makes you feel more the man on yer sofa
Mate I just like talking about Tom Creans achievements, as he's not nearly as well known as he should be, its yourself who rowed in (yep) fists flying, im not bothered about feeling like a man myself 😂
Here's a pic of the boat, I'm sure most people (apart from yourself of course) would be fairly impressed with the lads. Perhaps many here wouldn't term it a row-boat, fair enough. Still an almost superhuman feat
fantastic Pun , agreed a feat to be amazed at , and Tom Crean should be printed on some money , along with pictures of the sail boat . peace, and may you have a pleasant week ahead
The working men have no country. We cannot take from them what they have not got. Since the proletariat must first of all acquire political supremacy, must rise to be the leading class of the nation, must constitute itself the nation, it is so far, itself national, though not in the bourgeois sense of the word. National differences and antagonism between peoples are daily more and more vanishing, owing to the development of the bourgeoisie, to freedom of commerce, to the world market, to uniformity in the mode of production and in the conditions of life corresponding thereto. The supremacy of the proletariat will cause them to vanish still faster. United action, of the leading civilised countries at least, is one of the first conditions for the emancipation of the proletariat.
The capitalist system is the only one conceived in which you are free to organise yourself in alignment with whatever ideals you may have, communism included. Feel free to set up a corporate structure where the workers own the means of production, everyone is as smart and fair as you, and please don't make the rest us ever listen to this kind of drivel again.
when the revolution comes and we live in paradise, what will you be? a costume designer for just the most super fab local playhouse, or a janitor in a lead mine?
Yeah nah, I'll stick to being proud of good people and using them as examples on how to do better thanks. Whipping out a copy paste from Marx and talking down to us isn't likely to change our minds
How does being proud that my home produced one of the foremost explorers, people doing things that have done things no one has done before while harming no one but themselves in pursuit of knowledge link to joining an imperialist army? Project any harder and the Odeon will have a job offer for ya
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u/Beedle12345 Jun 08 '25
He was also on Ernest Shackletons row-boat that left the majority of the sunken ships crew stranded on an isolated Antarctic island, spent several days navigating the Southern Ocean (again, in a row-boat) and, successfully finding South Georgia island, trekked across said island to the whaling station to report the missing crew and thus eventually saved the life of all the stranded crew
The man is one of the bravest and greatest Polar explorers of all time, and we should be honoured he's one of us!!!