![]() ![]() The message revealed that Franklin and 23 crew members died on Jin unspecified circumstances. The fate of the Franklin Expedition didn't become clear until 1859, when a vessel chartered by Franklin's widow Lady Jane came across a somber message on King William Island.Īfter the ships had become trapped in ice, the sailors eventually ran out of supplies a year and a half later. The ship was discovered in a bay off King William Island, where an Inuit member of the Arctic Research Foundation spotted a mast piercing the water's surface several years ago. Scans of the wreck also showed the configuration of Terror's bowsprit, the placement of the ship's helm, the boarding port and deck scuppers-holes on the side of the ship to allow drainage. They included three masts, iron bow sheathings and a double-wheeled helm. Silt and marine life cover the wreck's upper deck, the underwater archeology team said.īut it was able to match a number of features typical or unique to 19th-century British polar exploration ships to historical records as well as design specifications common to the Erebus and Terror. The Erebus was located in 2014, while the Terror's whereabouts remained unknown until now. The ill-fated HMS Erebus and HMS Terror left Britain on under the command of Sir John Franklin on a mission to discover the Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. "Parks Canada's underwater archaeology team is proud to confirm that the wreck located in Terror Bay on the south-west side of King William Island, Nunavut is that of HMS Terror," the government agency said. They established an ice camp above the shipwreck, physically inspected the vessel, and collected new survey and imagery data using a remotely operated vehicle called Deep Trekker.The statement comes two weeks after scientists from the Arctic Research Foundation announced they had found the ship-part of a two-vessel expedition during which both disappeared-submerged but well-preserved beneath 24 meters of water in the Northwest Passage. HMS Erebus shipwreck (photo by Canada Forte)Īfter missing two archaeological seasons because of the pandemic, crews returned to the site of the Erebus in April and May 2022. The Terror is situated deeper in the water and appears to be more secure, per the CBC. Since finding the long-lost vessels, archaeologists have focused much of their attention on the Erebus, which they’ve deemed to be the more vulnerable of the two ships. Parks Canada is working closely with the Inuit Guardians of the Nattilik Heritage Society, which aims to preserve the culture and history of the Inuit. Researchers are now studying and preserving the artifacts, which are jointly owned by the Inuit Heritage Trust and the Canadian government, at Parks Canada’s lab in Ottawa. ![]() HMS Erebus shipwreckĭuring 56 dives over 11 days, Parks Canada archaeologists hauled up an embossed leather folio, an eyeglass lens, a lieutenant’s epaulets, plates, serving dishes, platters, drafting tools and dozens of other items, reports Bob Weber of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). They brought 275 artifacts from the Erebus to the surface in 2022, Parks Canada announced last month. While the Covid-19 pandemic initially delayed their exploration of the vessels, archaeologists are now back in action in the Canadian Arctic. They located the wreck of the other ship, the H.M.S. Erebus, in the icy waters near King Williams Island in Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost territory. Then, in 2014, Canadian archaeologists discovered the remains of one of the vessels, the H.M.S. ![]() At some point during their treacherous quest, Franklin and his crew of 128 men mysteriously disappeared, never to be heard from again. In May 1845, two ships under the command of Sir John Franklin set sail from England in search of the elusive Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. ![]()
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