Talk: Tom Crean, Unsung Hero of Antarctic Exploration

Name: Talk: Tom Crean, Unsung Hero of Antarctic Exploration
Start: 2026-02-08T11:30:00+00:00
Location: Discovery Quay, Riverside Dr, DD1 4XA Dundee, United Kingdom

Schedule

Sun, 08 Feb, 2026 at 11:30 am

UTC+00:00

Location

Discovery Quay, Riverside Dr, DD1 4XA Dundee, United Kingdom | Dundee, SC

Author and Polar historian Michael Smith joins us at Discovery Point & RRS Discovery to discuss Tom Crean, and explain why the ‘Irish Giant’ could never speak about his exploits and took his remarkable stories to his grave.
Tom Crean was the unsung hero of Antarctic exploration whose incredible exploits exploring with Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton began on Discovery. Crean served on three historic expeditions to the Antarctic, spent longer in the ice than either Scott or Shackleton and outlived both the more famous men.
Crean was among the last to see Scott alive near the South Pole in 1912 and returned to the ice to bury his frozen body. Crean was also a major figure on Shackleton’s Endurance expedition, sailed the Southern Ocean in an open boat and trekked across South Georgia’s mountains to rescue colleagues marooned on Elephant Island.
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Michael Smith is an author and Polar historian whose books have sold over 300,000 copies worldwide and assisted with the development of films and documentaries. He has appeared on TV and radio and lectured at many prestigious venues, including: The Queen’s Gallery Buckingham Palace, Royal Geographical Society, National Maritime Museum, Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scott Polar Research Institute Cambridge, National Museum of Ireland and Princess Grace Memorial Library Monaco. Michael is a former award-winning journalist with The Guardian and The Observer.