Prologue
The search for a northern, East to West sea route to the East Indies had occupied the trading nations since the late fifteenth century. This route became known as the Northwest Passage and, if found would shorten the sea journey by some 4,500 – 5,000 miles, or about two months for a round trip from Europe. Britain in the nineteenth century was built on industry and trade and the discovery of such a route had obvious commercial and naval advantages.
The waters of northern Canada are an archipelago of hundreds of islands; some small, some big. Looking at a map of the area it would seem that the most obvious route would be from Baffin Bay through Lancaster Sound, Barrow Strait, Viscount Melville Sound, McClure Strait (collectively known as the Parry Channel) and into the Beaufort Sea. But the western end is blocked by permanent polar ice. Consequently, there is no one route that defines the Northwest Passage. There are at least five navigable routes and seven for smaller vessels, or would be if the ice melted in the few weeks of the short summer months.
Earlier Expeditions
Prior to 1800 there had been many expeditions to northern Canada. Most notable were those of:-
1497 John Cabot
1576 Martin Frobisher
1583 Humphrey Gilbert
1585 John Davis
1612 Thomas Button
1615 Robert Bylot, William Baffin
1631 Luke Foxe
1631 Thomas James
1719 James Knight
1770 Samuel Hearne (Hudson Bay Company)
1776 James Cook
1791 George Vancouver
Exploration by land and sea after 1800 was undertaken mainly by the Admiralty, under the direction of Sir John Barrow, and some in cooperation with the Hudson Bay Company.
1818 John Ross
1819 William Edward Parry
1819 John Franklin (overland)
1821 William Edward Parry
1825 Frederick William Beechy
1825 John Franklin (overland)
1829 John Ross
1833 George Back
1837 Peter Warren Dease, Thomas Simpson (Hudson Bay Company)
Many of these names still survive as names of islands, sounds, straits, bays, capes, gulfs channels and rivers. By 1845 only about 300 miles of the Arctic coastline remained unexplored.
Franklin's Orders and Expedition Objectives.
The following are extracts from the Admiralty’s detailed 1845 instructions to Sir John Franklin.
“Her Majesty's Government having deemed it expedient that further attempt should be made for the accomplishment of a north-west passage by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, of which passage a small portion only remains to be completed, . . .”
"On putting to sea, you are to proceed, in the first place, by such a route as from the wind and weather, you may deem to be the most suitable for despatch, to Davis' Strait, . . . You will then proceed in the execution of your orders into Baffin's Bay, and get as soon as possible to the western side of the Strait, . . . ."
"Lancaster Sound, and its continuation through Barrow's Strait, having been four times navigated without any impediment by Sir Edward Parry, and since frequently by whaling ships, will probably be found without any obstacles from ice or islands ; and Sir Edward Parry having also proceeded from the latter in a straight course to Melville Island, and returned without experiencing any, or very little, difficulty, it is hoped that the remaining portion of the passage, about 900 miles, to the Bhering's Strait may also be found equally free from obstruction; and in proceeding to the westward, therefore, you will not stop to examine any openings either to the northward or southward in that Strait, but continue to push to the westward without loss of time, in the latitude of about 74 ¼ degrees, till you have reached the longitude of that portion of the land on which Cape Walker is situated, or about 98 degrees west. From that point we desire that every effort be used to endeavour to penetrate to the southward and the westward in a course as direct towards Bhering's Strait as the position and extent of the ice, or the existence of land, at present unknown, may admit. . . ."
"We direct you to this particular part of the Polar Sea as affording the best prospect of accomplishing the passage to the Pacific, . . . but should your progress in the direction before ordered be arrested by ice of a permanent appearance, and that when passing the mouth of the Strait, between Devon and Cornwallis Islands, you had observed that it was open and clear of ice ; we desire that you will duly consider, . . . whether that channel might not offer a more practicable outlet from the Archipelago; . . . . and if you should have determined to winter in that neighbourhood, it will be a matter of your mature deliberation whether in the ensuing season you would proceed by the above-mentioned Strait, or whether you would persevere to the south-westward, according to the former directions. . . . . "
"For the purpose, not only of ascertaining the set of the currents in the Arctic Seas, but also of affording more frequent chances of hearing your progress, we desire that you frequently, after you have passed the latitude of 65 degrees north, and once every day when you shall be in an ascertained current, throw overboard a bottle or copper cylinder closely sealed, and containing a paper stating the date and position at which it is launched, and you will give similar orders to the commander of the "Terror," to be executed in case of separation ; and for this purpose, we have caused each ship to be supplied with papers, on which is printed, in several languages, a request that whoever may find it should take measures for transmitting it to this office. . . . "
“In the event of England becoming involved in hostilities with any other power during your absence, you are nevertheless clearly to understand that you are not on any account to commit any hostile act whatsoever, the expedition under your orders being only intended for the purpose of discovery and science.”
The Expedition Ships
The ships chosen for the expedition were HMS EREBUS and HMS TERROR. Both were designed as "bomb ships" for the naval bombardment of shore targets. The main armaments of three ton mortars had such a powerful recoil that the ships were considerably reinforced to withstand it. Thus they were suited for polar exploratory work by virtue of being stronger than other similar ships available at the time. They also had capacious holds for all of the stores that were needed and shallow drafts to get close in to shore.
H.M.S. EREBUS
Erebus was a three masted Hecla-class bomb ship of 372 tons, built in Pembroke dockyard, Wales in 1826.
Dimensions: length 105ft, width 28.5ft, draught 13.8 ft.
Armaments: 1 x 13" mortar, 1 x 10" mortar, 2 x 6pdr, 8 x 24pdr.
Complement: 67
H.M.S. TERROR
Terror was a three masted Vesuvius-class bomb ship of 325 tons, built in Topsham, England in 1813.
Dimensions: Length 102ft, width 27ft, draught 12.5ft.
Armaments: 1 x 13" mortar, 1 x 10" mortar, 2 x 6pdr, 8 x 24pdr.
Complement: 67
The two ships were no strangers to the polar regions, having recently sailed to the Antarctic with Sir James Clark Ross. In preparation for that voyage the admiralty dockyards had doubled the thickness of the ships decks with a layer of waterproof cloth being sandwiched in between the old and new layers. The interiors of the two ships were braced fore and aft with oak beams to resist and absorb shock from ice. The hulls were scraped clean and double planked and finally the keels were sheathed in extra thick copper plate. Triple strength canvas was fitted for the sails.
Nevertheless, for their Arctic expedition they were further modified with bows reinforced with iron plates and a retractable iron rudder and propeller to protect them from damage. They were also fitted with steam engines that enabled the ships to make 4 knots on their own power, a unique combined steam-based heating and distillation system for the comfort of the crew and to provide fresh water. They had libraries of more than 1,000 books, and three years' worth of conventionally preserved or tinned preserved food supplies.
The Ship’s Crews
Captain Sir John Franklin. Franklin, despite his previous Arctic experience, was not the first choice as expedition commander, being initially considered too old at the age of 59, but was the most experienced senior officer available.
Commander James Fitzjames, was given command of HMS Erebus.
Captain Francis Crozier, who had commanded HMS Terror during the Ross 1841–44 Antarctic expedition, was appointed executive officer and commander of HMS Terror.
Most of the crew were Englishmen, many of them from the North Country, with a small number of Irishmen and Scotsmen. Many of them had been on previous Polar expeditions. Apart from Franklin and Crozier, the only other officers who were Arctic veterans were an assistant surgeon and the two ice-masters.
In all there were 24 officers and 110 men.
The Expedition Sets Sail
The Franklin Expedition, consisting of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, set sail from Greenhithe, England, on the morning of 19 May 1845. They were accompanied by the transport ship Barretto Junior, HMS Monkey and HMS Rattler. The ships stopped briefly in the Orkney Islands, and from there they sailed to Greenland; HMS Monkey returning to England.
At the Whalefish Islands in Disko Bay, on the west coast of Greenland, 10 oxen carried by the transport ship were slaughtered for fresh meat; supplies were transferred to Erebus and Terror, and crew members wrote their last letters home. Provisions for three years were transferred which included 8000 tins, varying in capacity from 1 to 8 lb, of pemmican, cooked beef, cooked pork, preserved meat and soup, and 930 gallons of lemon juice.
Before the expedition's final departure, on 12th July 1845, five men were discharged and sent home on the transport ship and HMS Rattler, reducing the ships' final crew size to 129.
The expedition was last seen by Europeans on 26 July 1845, moored to an iceberg in Baffin Bay with the observatory set up upon it, by Captain Dannett of the whaler Prince of Wales and Captain Robert Martin of the whaler Enterprise. Franklin was awaiting good conditions to cross into Lancaster Sound.
Nothing was ever heard again from Franklin or his men.
The Basic Facts of What happened next
From their last sighting the expedition sailed into Lancaster Sound, passing Devon Island.
Where they went next in 1845 is a matter of conjecture. What is known is that they overwintered in Erebus Bay on Beechey Island off the southwest coast of Devon Island 1845-46.
At some point (either 1845 or 1846) they turned north into Wellington Channel (between Devon and Cornwallis islands). From there they sailed north until, at latitude 77N they could progress no further. They turned south and sailed down the west coast of Cornwallis Island, thus completing the first circumnavigation of Cornwallis Island.
From here they sailed south, presumably via Peel Sound and Franklin Strait, until 12 September 1846 when they became trapped in the ice off the northwest coast of King William Island.
In May 1847 Lieutenant Graham Gore left a brief note in a stone cairn near Victoria Point on King William Island. This gave their 1845 route and overwintering place as Beechey Island, and stated that all was well and that a party was setting out on a foot expedition.
That year, 1847, the ice did not melt and the ships remained firmly beset for a third arctic winter.
On 25 April 1848 an addition to the note was left by Fitzjames mentioning the death of nine officers and fifteen men, including that of Sir John Franklin aged 61 years on 11 July 1847. They were abandoning the ships and setting out on foot for Back’s Great Fish River (now called Back River) with 105 souls.
This decision was probably related to damage to the ships and/or the poor health of his men. Crozier planned to continue overland to the south of King William Island and then cross over the Simpson Strait to the Adelaide Peninsular and on to the Back River; a distance of about 300 miles.
Dragging life-boats on sledges with them, Crozier and his men progressed down the western and southern coasts of King William Island, travelling over the ice. Some died on the way and some reached the mainland, the remains of some thirty men being subsequently found at Starvation Cove, over 100 miles short of the Back River.
Not a single man survived. It appears that a combination of years of bad weather, exposure, hyperthermia and disease including probably pneumonia, tuberculosis, scurvy, and ultimately starvation had killed everyone in the Franklin party.
These are the known facts, or bare bones, of what is known about the expedition after its last sighting. How we know this will be told in part 2 - the organized searches for the Franklin expedition.
----"-----
(continued . . . )