The Franklin Expedition

One of the most disastrous Arctic voyages of all time

The Franklin expedition was one of the many attempts to find a route across what has come to be known as the Northwest Passage. During the 1800s, the power of nations depended on wealth, and trade was the number one income for a nation’s rulers, but nothing was more profitable than the exotic foreign goods that came from the other side of the world.

(Captain Sir John Franklin)

The only problem was that when the Franklin expedition set out in 1845 there was no Panama Canal, which meant a very long voyage around the southern tip of South America, Or it meant finding a new and shorter route from Europe to the west side of America, of which there was only one option.

Captain John Franklin was one of the men who thought he would be able to find a route across the northwest passage, and on 19 May 1845, he departed England with a crew of 129 sailors spread across two ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, the latter of which inspired the TV series called “The Terror” which is loosely based on the attempt to find the passage.

(A map showing the routes through the northwest passage. For most of the year it’s covered in a layer of ice several meters thick)

The first part of the voyage went well, but while trying to pass through Victoria straight, a narrow channel between the mainland and a series of islands to the north, the ship became firmly lodged in a giant ice sheet. In the days before icebreaker ships, the only option a vessel had when caught in ice was to go with the flow and hope the hull pressure didn’t build up enough to cause a crack.

Due to the technology of the day not being very advanced, they had no way to send a signal to anyone, so the only thing they could do would be to wait and hope the ice released them at some point. Unfortunately for the crew, this didn’t happen and after being stuck in the ice sheet for well over two years, the decision was made to abandon ship.

(Commander James Fitzjames, Captain of the HMS Erebus)

What exactly happened after this point is unknown, as the records kept on the ship only indicate how many men died, but little other information. The last entry shows that 9 officers, including Captain Franklin, had died along with 15 crew, a copy of what was included in the entry is below:

[25th April 1]848 H.M. ships ‘Terror’ and ‘Erebus’ were deserted on the 22nd April, 5 leagues N.N.W. of this, [hav]ing been beset since 12th September, 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the command [of Cap]tain F.R.M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 69˚ 37′ 42″ N., long. 98˚ 41′ W. [This p]aper was found by Lt. Irving under the cairn supposed to have been built by Sir James Ross in 1831–4 miles to the Northward – where it had been deposited by the late Commander Gore in May June 1847. Sir James Ross’ pillar has not however been found and the paper has been transferred to this position which is that in which Sir J. Ross’ pillar was erected – Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June, 1847; and the total loss by deaths in the expedition has been to this date 9 officers and 15 men. (Signed) JAMES FITZJAMES, Captain H.M.S. Erebus.
(Signed) F.R.M. CROZIER, Captain & Senior Offr.
and start on tomorrow, 26th, for Back’s Fish River.

One thing that is known about the ships is that they were each equipped with three years’ worth of food, including a huge amount of tinned soups and vegetables, various cured meats including pemmican, and even several live cattle. With this amount of food, it would seem difficult to resort to cannibalism within three years, but recent studies of some of the bodies found indicate knife marks along some of the bones, suggesting some of the crew were butchered for food.

Other studies have found there to be extreme deficiencies in the bones, especially zinc and vitamin C, which could easily cause a number of life-threatening conditions, especially during an age when there is no such thing as antibiotics. The most likely problem with the food would be the lack of variety, which would cause deficiencies that led to illness, and also the heightened calorie need in cold climates making the food run out faster than expected.

(An engraving of the HMS Terror and the HMS Erebus as they leave England in 1845)

Both ships were abandoned in April 1848, when Franklin’s second in command and the Captain of the Erebus decided to try and lead the survivors to the mainland to find help. They set out with their remaining supplies and started walking south, and were never heard from again.

It’s extremely unlikely that they made it across the frozen sea to the mainland, as no remains have been found close to the coast. In 2014 the wreckage of the Erebus was discovered somewhere in the area of Wilmot and Crampton Bay, though the local authorities won’t give the exact location. The wreckage of the Terror was found in 2016 just off the southern coast of King William Island and was identified by its surprisingly good condition, though it isn’t known how long the ice carried the ships for, and in which direction before they eventually sunk.

After the expedition didn’t return on its expected date, various relatives of the crew pressured the admiralty into sending out search parties, which they did, but none of them returned with a single sign of any crew members. Over the next few decades, a number of ships found artifacts from the Franklin expedition, including the bodies of two crew members, but there is still no sign of the group that set out for the mainland.

The most likely explanation is that they tried to walk over the frozen sea, but succumbed to starvation or the cold, and when the ice melted they sank to the bottom of the sea. When a body is in saltwater, it takes about 10 to 15 years for the bones to completely dissolve, so by now, there won’t be any evidence available to find.

On a somewhat grim but positive note, the expedition actually became the first ships to navigate as far as they did before getting stuck, it’s just a shame it cost the lives of everyone on board in the process. The northwest passage wasn’t successfully crossed until 1906 when Roald Amundsen managed to make it through in a boat called the Gjøa, which was a small single-mast sailboat that only had a crew of six. The journey took 3 years to complete, but to this day the Northwest Passage is avoided by even the most advanced ships as a cargo route and remains one of the most dangerous voyages in the world.