Sir John Franklin had been involved in artic exploration for over 25 years when he took command of the latest scientific expedition to the region in 1845, at the age of 60. His mission was a celebrated one: previous expeditions, starting from both the east and west of Canada, had successfully mapped all but 400 miles of the Northern coast. Once this last section was completed, Britain could finally claim, after over 200 years of effort, to have finally found the elusive "Northwest Passage." The voyage was fitted with the very best ships available, with all the latest enhancements, and the all necessary plans were made. But instead the anticipated glory, the expedition ended in disaster. Both ships became entrapped in the ice and the crew of over 129 sailors perished to a man.
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The expedition was last spotted in July of 1845, but no word was expected for at least two and possibly three years. The Terror and Erebus were well provisioned for every possible contingency, so the Admiralty did not send a search party in until 1848 and even then, no trace was found. Franklin's wife offered an large reward for anyone who could bring word of the crew's fate, and the disappearance of the expedition became locked in the popular imagination. It was almost ten years before the terrible truth was known. The ships had become hopelessly trapped, and most of the crew had abandoned them and tried to return home overland, but to no avail. The entire crew perished leaving only a few pathetic notes and relics for their loved ones.
Birth of John Franklin to a Lincoln shopkeeper. | |
Joined the Royal Navy at age 14. | |
Fought in several naval battles during the Napoleonic Wars. | |
First Artic overland expedition along the Coppermine River ends in disaster. | |
Second Artic expedition from the Mackenzie river to the Beaufort sea is successful. | |
Appointed governor of Tasmania. | |
Returned to Britain. | |
Selected to lead the "Northwest Passage" expedition. | |
Died of exposure in the far North. |
White North in | Stories from English History, Part Third by Alfred J. Church |
Monuments of Westminster in | Back Matter by books/lord/westminster/_back.html |
Victoria—The Land of Snow in | Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall |
Arctic Hero in | Brave Men and Brave Deeds by M. B. Synge |
Franklin's Land Voyage to the North in | A Book of Discovery by M. B. Synge |
Franklin Discovers the North-West Passage in | A Book of Discovery by M. B. Synge |
Image Links | ||
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![]() Vessel Towed Through the Ice in Stories from English History, Part Third |
![]() The ships were called the Terror and the Erebus in Our Island Story |
![]() The Relief Party in Brave Men and Brave Deeds |
![]() Sir John Franklin in The Reign of Queen Victoria |
![]() The Erebus and Terror nipped in the iced pack in The Reign of Queen Victoria |
Alfred Tennyson | Best known poet of he Victorian Age. Write Idylls of the King and many others. |
Great Naval hero of his age; victor at the Battle of the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar. | |