Artifacts recovered during 93 dives by Parks Canada on the wreck of HMS Erebus over three weeks this fall provide a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the officers and sailors on the doomed Franklin Expedition of 1845. More than 350 artifacts have been recovered, including epaulets from a lieutenant’s uniform, ceramic dishes, wine bottles, a hairbrush with strands of human hair, and a pencil case. Sealing wax with the imprint of a fingerprint believed to belong to Edmund Hoar, the captain’s steward was also found.
“We have had the most successful season since the discovery of the wreck,” Marc-André Bernier, manager of Parks Canada’s underwater archeology team, told reporters in a press conference. “The preservation of the objects is quite phenomenal.”
Franklin’s lost expedition was a British voyage in search of the Northwest passage led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed from England in 1845 aboard two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. The two ships became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in the Canadian Arctic, in what is today the territory of Nunavut. The entire expedition of 129 men, including Franklin, was lost. The expedition is considered one of the worst disasters in the history of polar exploration. The wreck of HMS Erebus was discovered in 2014. HMS Terror was located in 2016.
Parks Canada explores the wreck of HMS Erebus and collects new artifacts
Thanks to Roberta Weisbrod for contributing to this post.
There is a wonderful book by Michael Palin about the history of the Erebus and Terror expeditions to the Antarctic and then to the N.W. Passage. Very well worth a read. It’s a really fascinating story. Here are the names and histories of the very people who wore those epaulettes and ate off those plates.
Wow, those ships were huge! The barge that was anchored above seems miniscule to the wreck below.