Ernst Teodorovich Krenkel (Russian: Эрнст Теодо́рович Кре́нкель) (December 24 (O.S. December 11), 1903, Tartu – December 8, 1971, Moscow) was a Soviet Arctic explorer, doctor of geographical sciences (1938), and Hero of the Soviet Union (1938).

In 1924–25 and 1927–38, Ernst Krenkel was a radioman on polar stations Matochkin Shar (1924–25, 1927–28), Tikhaya Bay (1929–1930), Cape Olovyanniy (1935–36), and Domashniy Island (1936). He took part in Arctic expeditions on the Graf Zeppelin airship (1931), icebreaker Sibiryakov, steamship SS Chelyuskin (1933–1934). He was also a radioman on the first drifting ice station North Pole-1 (1937-1938). He is known to have set a world record by establishing a long-distance radio communication between Franz Josef Land and Antarctica.

In 1938, Krenkel went on to work for Glavsevmorput. Later in his life he was employed in the radio industry. In 1951, he was hired by the scientific research institute of hydrometeorological instrument-making, becoming its director in 1969.