Frozen Together: The Crewe Father and Son

In March 1914, Newfoundland witnessed one of the worst tragedies in the history of the sealing industry.

Among the hundreds of men who would never return home were a father and son from Elliston, 49-year-old Reuben Crewe and his 16-year-old son, Albert John.

Albert John had secured a place aboard the sealing steamer SS Newfoundland, a dangerous journey for any young man. His father, Reuben, was so worried about his son's safety that he joined the crew himself, determined to keep watch over him.

But the voyage quickly turned into a nightmare.

The SS Newfoundland became trapped in heavy ice. Captain Westbury Kean ordered more than 100 men onto the pack ice to make their way toward another vessel, the SS Stephano, after a signal indicated that seals had been spotted nearby.

The men headed out across the ice.

Then the weather changed.

On March 31, 1914, a sudden and violent blizzard descended upon them. The men were miles from safety, exposed on the shifting ice with inadequate protection against the freezing temperatures and driving snow.

For more than two days, they struggled to survive.

Some became separated. Others collapsed from exhaustion and cold.

Reuben and Albert John Crewe stayed together.

SS Southern Cross

And when rescuers finally reached the survivors, they discovered something heartbreaking.

The father and son were both dead on an ice pan.

Albert John had tucked his head against his father's chest, and Reuben's arms were frozen around his son.

They had died together, in each other's embrace.

The SS Newfoundland

The 1914 sealing disaster ultimately claimed 254 lives, including the men lost from the SS Newfoundland and the sinking of the SS Southern Cross. Eight of those men came from the small community of Elliston.

Today, their story is remembered in a powerful bronze monument in Elliston called Home from the Sea, created by sculptor Morgan MacDonald.

It captures something statistics never can.

These weren't simply numbers in a disaster.

They were fathers, sons, brothers and husbands who left Newfoundland expecting to return home.

Reuben went onto the ice because he was worried about his boy.

And in the end, when the terrible storm came, a father and son faced death exactly as they had faced the journey, with each other.

Sometimes the most heartbreaking stories in history are also the most human.