The Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, announced the news: "I am delighted to announce that this year’s Victoria Strait Expedition has solved one of Canada’s greatest mysteries, with the discovery of one of the two ships belonging to the Franklin Expedition lost in 1846.” Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth sent a congratulatory message to Canada.
The wreckage was found on Sept. 7 using a remotely operated underwater vehicle and its video recordings are available at the CBC website .
At this time it still has to be determined which one of the two expedition ships has been found, the Erebus, named after a Greek mythological god or the Terror, formerly a gun boat used in the War of 1812 and refitted as an exploration vessel in 1836.
Franklin’s Expedition
Captain Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) departed England in 1845 with two ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror in search of the westward extension of a northern shortcut by sea from Europe to Asia, then already known in part under the name Northwest Passage. However, it was to no avail. The expedition came to a screeching halt in the Arctic’s pack ice and overwintered. The following year (1846) was no better; the ships got trapped in ice near King William Island in the Canadian Arctic archipelago. None of the expedition members were ever seen alive again and, until now, the whereabouts of either vessel were unknown.
At the time, both ships were outfitted with the then available most advanced technologies, like steam engines of less than 10 hp. That’s what some people still use to propel 12 ft. lightweight aluminum “car-toppers” around small inland lakes these days, but not 330-plus ton ships each with a crew of 65 men and supplies for a year or two.
Searching for the Expedition
Searching for the expedition’s ships and members began in 1848. An official British Admiralty search party as well as unofficial searches were launched in the hope of finding any survivors. By 1850, a total of 13 ships were engaged in looking for any trace of the lost expedition. In 1854 and again in 1855 some artifacts were located that belonged to some of the ships’ officers. However, it was clear by then that none would ever be seen alive again and all expedition members were officially declared dead by the Admiralty in 1854.
In the years that followed several other search parties discovered additional objects thought to be of relevance to the Franklin Expedition but all finds were of limited interest. For the next 150 years or so not much happened further. That changed abruptly with a private film company’s "Franklin 150" expedition in 1997 and the associated media interest. Although that expedition was unsuccessful too, it re-ignited public interest in the original expedition and its fate.
By then, technology had advanced far enough to allow the surveying of the ocean bottom with remotely controlled underwater vehicles equipped with cameras, various kinds of sonar and other methodologies. Still, the discovery of one of the Franklin expedition ships at the bottom of the Arctic took another decade-plus search until a few days ago when Parks Canada hit the mother lode.
Parks Canada
Parks Canada ought to be congratulated on this historic find. Established in 1911, this agency of the government of Canada oversees more than 200 national parks, conservation areas and other historic sites. Nearly all visitors to Canada have seen one or more of these unique land (or sea-)marks.
Which one will welcome you next?
