MICHAEL WALSH EX-BRITISH MARINER: Underwater archaeologists from Parks Canada have explored one of the two wrecks of the Royal Navy, the Erebus. He was part of the unfortunate 1845 British expedition across the Arctic. The vessel, one of two got stuck in the ice near King William Island along with the second ship, the Terror. The researchers found 275 relics that can shed light on the stories of those mariners who died a lonely death in terrible circumstances.

The British expedition under the command of Sir John Franklin was one of the most sensational and unsolved sea cases of more than a century. The ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror set off from the pier of the English Greenhithe Village in Kentin May 1845 in search of the Northwest Passage – the shortest route from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Canadian archipelago. This was the last time the 129 sailors were seen alive.

WE WELCOME READERS COMMENTS ON OUR STORIES

The search began three years later. More than ten years later, they found a note from which they learned that the expedition was trapped in ice captivity. The search for the remains of sailors and ships didn’t bring results. The HMS Erebus wreck was discovered in the waters off the Canadian island of King William only in 2014, and the HMS Terror in 2016.

Arctic conditions make exploration difficult, as they only allow dives for a short period once a year, and have been rescheduled several times. This season was the second time when artefacts were recovered from the ship. The first items, including a cannon, dishes, wine bottles and a hairbrush, were found in 2019. Since, the team has completed 56 dives over 11 days and for the first time has been able to open the officers’ quarters. According to archaeologists, they were abandoned, but ‘with obvious dignity.’ In the room of the cartographer Lieutenant Henry Thomas Dundas le Vescont, they found a green box with drawing tools inside.

DONATIONS TO KEEP US PUBLISHING ARE GRATEFULLY RECEIVED

In the other cabin was left a folio bound in finely embossed leather, with a goose-fountain pen still in it, as if in a diary. More dishes were found in the steward’s pantry, as well as lieutenant’s epaulettes and a lens from someone’s glasses. The relics are being studied and prepared for storage at the agency’s laboratory in Ottawa. Scientists explore only a small part of Erebus, so there are more dives to it, and then to Terror, when it becomes safe.

Experts note: although these ships are some of the best-preserved wooden wrecks in the world, you should hurry. Melting ice and increased storms due to climate change are rapidly deteriorating their condition. YOU CAN SHARE THIS STORY ON MARITIME-RELATED SOCIAL MEDIA