On the 8th November 1916, after playing a primary role in the greatest survival and rescue tale in maritime history, Tom Crean returned home aboard the Nelson Line vessel, Highland Laddie.

Pictured here, (right), with Frank Wild as the ship reached Tilbury Docks, Tom Crean would later return to Ireland for Christmas. On 27th December 1916, Crean was back in the service of the Navy at the shore-based barracks HMS Pembroke at Chatham.

There he would remain until the middle of January 2017 when his next assignment would take him on a mission that isn’t revealed on his service record but we are aware that it was a journey that took him to Africa.