HMS Terror & HMS Erebus

[Pelican]

On the WNSF site we had a thread covering HMS Erebus and HMS Terror.

To other avoid confusion with other ships/shore bases of the same name please see the Wiki entry - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin% ... expedition

Up to date information:
REMARKABLE IMAGES OF ‘LOST SHIP’ REVEALED
29 August 2019
The haunting images of one of the world’s most famous ‘lost ships’ are finally beginning to give up its secrets after 170 years on the seabed.

Experts in Canada have explored most of the wreck of HMS Terror, lost in the Arctic in 1848 as her crew tried to find the Northwest Passage – a route through northern Canada linking the Atlantic and Pacific.

Led by explorer Sir John Franklin, Terror plus HMS Erebus became trapped in pack ice, forcing the crew to abandon them and strike out for safety – but all of the 129 crew perished.

The disappearance of the ships and their men was the start of a 15-year-long search effort which found some relics, human remains and accounts of the partial fate of the expedition.

But the wrecks of Erebus and Terror were only discovered in 2014 and 2016 – the latter was found off King William Island in the suitably-named Terror Bay.

Experts from Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team spent one week exploring the remains of Franklin’s flagship, sending a robot submarine down seven times into the wreck to map it in 3D and explore cabins and compartments not seen by human eyes in 171 years.

The team obtained clear images of over 90 per cent of the lower deck of the ship – which includes the living quarters of the crew.

In the officers’ cabins, beds and desks are still in place, in addition to shelves with some items on them. Other findings include: shelves with plates and glass bottles in what is believed to have been the pantry and rows of shelves with plates, bowls, and glasses – all intact – forward where ratings would have lived.

Best preserved is the captain’s cabin: his desk, map cabinets, boxes of scientific instruments, tripod and thermometers are all intact. Only the captain’s sleeping quarters remain out of bounds – behind the only closed door on the deck.

Continues with photos at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... p-revealed

Videos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im2DtfgmMTc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ccMTOzfvR0

[Pelican]

THE R.N.'s TAKE ON IT:

REMARKABLE IMAGES OF ‘LOST SHIP’ REVEALED
29 August 2019
The haunting images of one of the world’s most famous ‘lost ships’ are finally beginning to give up its secrets after 170 years on the seabed.

Experts in Canada have explored most of the wreck of HMS Terror, lost in the Arctic in 1848 as her crew tried to find the Northwest Passage – a route through northern Canada linking the Atlantic and Pacific.

Led by explorer Sir John Franklin, Terror plus HMS Erebus became trapped in pack ice, forcing the crew to abandon them and strike out for safety – but all of the 129 crew perished.

The disappearance of the ships and their men was the start of a 15-year-long search effort which found some relics, human remains and accounts of the partial fate of the expedition.

But the wrecks of Erebus and Terror were only discovered in 2014 and 2016 – the latter was found off King William Island in the suitably-named Terror Bay.

Experts from Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team spent one week exploring the remains of Franklin’s flagship, sending a robot submarine down seven times into the wreck to map it in 3D and explore cabins and compartments not seen by human eyes in 171 years.

The team obtained clear images of over 90 per cent of the lower deck of the ship – which includes the living quarters of the crew.

In the officers’ cabins, beds and desks are still in place, in addition to shelves with some items on them. Other findings include: shelves with plates and glass bottles in what is believed to have been the pantry and rows of shelves with plates, bowls, and glasses – all intact – forward where ratings would have lived.

Best preserved is the captain’s cabin: his desk, map cabinets, boxes of scientific instruments, tripod and thermometers are all intact. Only the captain’s sleeping quarters remain out of bounds – behind the only closed door on the deck.

“Not only are the furniture and cabinets in place, drawers are closed and many are buried in silt, encapsulating objects and documents in the best possible conditions for their survival. Each drawer and other enclosed space will be a treasure trove of unprecedented information on the fate of the Franklin expedition.” Said Marc-André Bernier.

Ryan Harris, who piloted the remote-controlled submarine through the shipwreck, was stunned by the Marie Celestenature of the vessel.

“The impression we witnessed when exploring the Terror is of a ship only recently deserted by its crew, seemingly forgotten by the passage of time – regardless of the fact that it was approximately 170 years ago that she sank unceremoniously to the bottom of the bay where she now rests,” he said.

The archaeologists believe there’s a good chance of finding documents on board – preserved thanks to the unique environmental conditions.

With a water temperature of 0 Celsius – or lower – no natural light and sediment burying artefacts, Terror has effectively been frozen in time.

The archaeologists will now examine stills and video footage for a better understanding of the ship, her fate and life on board for her ship’s company with a view to bringing many of the sailors and their stories to life.

From, which includes 10 photos, - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... sBOKhCA2eM

[Pelican]

This video is being shown this evening on UK TV CH4:
Hunt For The Arctic Ghost Ship Documentary HD 12 Nov 2018
See - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyEYa-u5BRI

[Pelican]

EREBUS & FRANKLIN

The latest that I have seen about Erebus is as follows:
Divers Recover More Than 350 Artifacts From the HMS ‘Erebus’ Shipwreck
The treasure trove could help answer questions about what happened during the disastrous Franklin Expedition
By Megan Gannon
SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Braving water temperatures that dipped below freezing, divers spent nearly four weeks off the coast of Nunavut in northern Canada last summer exploring the HMS Erebus. The ship sank during the doomed Franklin Expedition of the 1840s, when British naval captain Sir John Franklin and his crew searched for the Northwest Passage.
This week, the team unveiled more than 350 artifacts they recovered from just a small area of the wreck. Among the objects brought to the surface were kitchen wares, wine bottles, a wax seal with a fingerprint, and a hairbrush with hair strands that could contain clues about the fate of Arctic explorer John Franklin and his crew.
"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 Friday. "The preservation of the objects is quite phenomenal."
Continues with images at:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science- ... 180974251/
Also see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H33xOPl ... e=youtu.be

For those who have not looked at the Wiki entry it is worth it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin% ... expedition

[Pelican]

HMS TERROR - ARTIC EXPEDITION MEDALS

https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/ne ... y-auction/
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collectio ... 40188.html
https://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/dept/c ... age41.html
https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot ... tails.aspx

There are other images of various Artic Expedition medals and pdfs containing detailed information on the internet.

[Pelican]

SEE ~ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0954ks6

[Pelican]

Bexley Archives

SNOW, ARCTIC TERROR, AND VICTORIA ROAD, BEXLEYHEATH.
Look out for a big new BBC TV series starting tomorrow, The Terror https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0954ks6
It’s about Sir John Franklin, and his doomed arctic voyage.
And if you want to hear more, frost free, then Bexley Libraries have the audio-book of `Erebus – the story of a ship’ https://bexley.overdrive.com/search?query=erebus
And the local link? Well, read on:
WILLIAM PARKER SNOW (1817 - 1895)
Victoria Road, just off the Broadway in Bexleyheath is a pleasant, though unremarkable, suburban road, but it was here that one of Bexley’s most remarkable men lived, and wrote his extraordinary life story. He’s almost unknown now, but he lived life to the full, witnessed history in the making, travelled the world, had obsessional delusions , quarrelled with almost everyone he met, and then settled down (“in genteel poverty”) to write his memoirs in Bexleyheath. He was quite something!
Where to begin? His father, a naval officer, died early and left the family bankrupt. The family were distant relatives of Oliver Cromwell (young William seemed to have inherited some puritanical and headstrong characteristics) and was lucky enough to be enrolled at the Royal Hospital School in Greenwich.
Aged thirteen, he was set to work on a merchant ship plying its trade to Calcutta and the Far East, but he hated the strict and regimented naval life, and - aged just sixteen - he took himself off alone to Australia. In Sydney, he found work as a shop clerk, but argued with his boss, fled into the outback with a gang of brigands where “he led a wild and harsh life” and was lucky not to have been arrested. Australia became, in terms of the law, too hot for him; in 1836 Snow signed on a passenger ship, and returned to England.
Back home in London, though, he knew no-one – he wasn’t yet 20, his family were all dead, departed, or despairing of seeing their wastrel relative. He had few friends, and lost those he did have by his alleged argumentative nature.
Once more, he fell in with a disreputable crowd, lost any money he’d managed to earn, and was forced to return to sea; he was a hardy tough sailor, but wasn’t one to keep his mouth shut…and his robust nature always brought him to conflict with his officers - he tried to desert, was captured, and put in the brig, where he kept a diary, much to the disgust of his captors. You can’t trust people who write, obviously! He was teetotal, too, which no doubt put him even more at odds with his rum-soaked comrades…
He spent a miserable year sailing the Atlantic between the Caribbean and West Africa, where he obtained his discharge from the service - it is said - by rescuing a seaman from a shark attack!
Back home in England again, Snow turned to writing and journalism and began to enjoy some success - but his was a life journey that never ran smoothly; he was robbed, attacked, and temporarily blinded. While recuperating, he began courting Sarah Williams, a pretty but poor London housemaid; they married in 1839, and were promptly disowned by both sets of families. With just enough money saved for the fare, the young couple sailed back to Australia in 1840, where they found work managing a hotel - once again, William’s fortunes looked promising; once again, though, they failed - he was taken ill, lost his job, and they sailed back to England, penniless.
In 1842, Snow was convicted of swindling a colleague (a charge he denied), and jailed for a year - a punishment he only survived by devoting himself to writing. He must have been a remarkably resilient character, for on his release Snow (with Sarah in tow) set off and travelled around Europe; he found work – good man! - as a Librarian in Lucca in Tuscany (he published a surprisingly successful history of the town’s baths, as you do), and became noted as a journalist and publisher.
Returning once again to England he became an editorial assistant for the great historian Lord Macaulay, before falling out with him. He also befriended (for a while) Samuel Plimsoll, the campaigner for improved safety at sea, but he fell out with him soon, too.
But (if you’ll pardon the expression) Snow wasn’t one to settle - either he wanted to move on, or others wanted him to go. In 1850 he travelled to America and Northern Canada, and there experienced a dream or paranormal vision which was to dominate the rest of his life - the fate of Sir John Franklin, the doomed polar explorer and national hero.
Franklin was a naval commander, who had disappeared along with his crew in the desolate wilds of the Arctic - his fate was the talk of Victorian Britain, a national obsession; Snow claimed to have been granted a vision of his whereabouts in a dream. Flimsy grounds for funding a rescue mission, you might imagine, but Snow was not a man to be deterred.
With the support of Lady Franklin, Snow was appointed as an Officer on the Prince Albert, which sailed the Arctic seas in its vain quest to discover the remains of Franklin’s mission. The mission failed (Franklin and his crew were long dead, frozen and poisoned by contaminated food), Snow - unsurprisingly - quarrelled with the ship’s captain, and returned home bitter and frustrated. Worse still, the fate of the Franklin expedition and the barren Polar regions haunted him in a gnawing, desperate obsession for the rest of his days. It turned is mind, I fear…
William and Sarah moved again to Australia, but failed to find work - once more he returned home, and was appointed by the South American Missionary Society to lead an expedition to Patagonia and the Falkland Islands, where he wrote a stirring account of his discoveries. Once again, though, he fell out with his colleagues - he claimed that he’d not been paid sufficiently, and entered a long, fruitless legal campaign against his employers.
He then moved to the USA, and became a naval advisor during the Civil War. Again he quarrelled with his bosses, and moved to New York; once more, Snow found work as a journalist, publisher and writer - he produced a bestselling volume on the military leaders of the war.
He was also all the while gathering a vast store of documents and pamphlets concerning Franklin and the frozen north; it had become his life’s work. Snow returned to England for the final time in 1867, settled here in Bexleyheath, and spent the best part of twenty years angrily writing, campaigning, and quarrelling; he became fixated with many issues: travel writing, telegraphy, nautical safety, the fate of native peoples, the plight of London’s poor. But it was the fate of Franklin and his frozen crew which gnawed away at his senses - it drove him, apparently, to the brink of insanity.
He collected every available scrap of documentation he could find, and himself obsessionally published a mountain of research – a huge archive.
He died at his home, in Victoria Road, snowed under by books, manuscripts and newspapers. The Royal Geographical Society obtained all his papers (they’re now held by the Scott Polar Research Institute Archives, University of Cambridge); his house was emptied: his tragic, adventurous, quarrelsome, obsessive life story was forgotten. But what a life it was…
As one historian has put it 'Snow was not a success. But he was a trier after a poor start and many disappointments. Many men would have given up but he kept trying to the end'.
So thank you for reading this article, right to the end!
See:
https://www.falklandsbiographies.org/bi ... rzkvGgot04

And:
https://bexley.overdrive.com/search?que ... z2v30bjbTg

[Pelican]

SEE ~ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0954ks6

See:
https://www.facebook.com/NatMuseumRN/ph ... 3466266312

See also and scroll thru - https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/theterror

[Pelican]

'Hallowed space': Divers pull 275 artifacts from 2022 excavation of Franklin ship

'We came across a folio — a leather book cover, beautifully embossed — with pages inside'

See - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/fr ... HLXa8r0Z8Q

[emason]

On the WNSF site we had a thread covering HMS Erebus and HMS Terror.

I remember it well, as it was I who wrote the original article(s) over 10 years ago.
If there is sufficient interest expressed, I could possibly recreate the articles here, given time.