09 September 2014

Wrecked Ship From Franklin Expedition, Discovered

In 1845, a pair of ships set sail to map out the North-West Passage from Europe to Asia.



From the Victorian Web comes this narrative:
The Franklin Expedition had five years of food supplies, including 8,000 tins (in one-, two-, four-, six-, and eight lb. capacities) of meat, vegetables, and soup. In Frozen in Time (1987), basing their conclusions on forensic examinations of two of the expedition members' bodies, Owen Beattie and John Geiger contend that the tins were sealed improperly, with lead solder running down the inside of each tin; since lead if ingested is poisonous, the metal probably seeped into the crews’ food. In addition to the technical innovation of tinned goods, Franklin's vessels the "Erebus" and "Terror" had cabins which were heated by hot water piped through the floor. The ships' bows were reinforced with iron planks to help them break through ice. Moreover, each ship was equipped with a specially designed screw propeller driven by a wheel-less steam locomotive from the London and Greenwich Railway. Thus, better equipped than any previous polar expedition, Sir John Franklin set out on his fourth search of the North-West passage on 19 May 1845, with 134 sailors and officers. They were last seen by the crew of two whaling ships, the "Prince of Wales" and the "Enterprise," in Baffin Bay at the end of July. 

But now the Alaska Dispatch News reports:
A recent expedition has found wreckage of a ship believed to belong to the lost expedition of Sir John Franklin, a British explorer who disappeared in the Arctic with two ships during an 1845 attempt to sail the Northwest Passage. The famous lost expedition has been the subject of numerous searches, almost since its disappearance, but the new discoveries mark the first artifacts to surface in modern times, according to a CBC report. The wreckage was first discovered Sunday by an underwater drone operated by Parks Canada, the CBC reported. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the finds in Ottawa, a day after Nunavut officials announced the discovery of a pair of artifacts from the Franklin expedition. The search involved high-tech equipment and techniques, from the underwater drone to ice forensics, but it also validated Inuit traditional knowledge: "The beauty of where they found it is it's proof positive of Inuit oral history," Peter Mansbridge, a correspondent who for years covered efforts to find the Franklin expedition, told the CBC. "The Inuit have said for generations that one of their hunters saw a ship in that part of the passage, abandoned and ended up wrecking …. It's exactly where this guy said it was."

11 comments:

Old NFO said...

Interesting, and proves once again those 'indian legends' are TRUE!!!

Rev. Paul said...

Agreed, NFO. Those cultures with an "oral tradition" tend to be very, very accurate in their observations - because it's all they've got.

Teresa said...

Wow - quite amazing!

ProudHillbilly said...

I'm torn between "COOL!" and a sort of feeling of regret that mysteries are getting solved, removing imaginative speculation. On the hand, I guess I'd get excited if they found Jimmy Hoffa...

Bob said...

Whoa. Historians will love this one.

Rev. Paul said...

I agree, Teresa - it's cool!

PH, I understand. It will be increasingly difficult to have mysteries as technology improves, as well.

Bob, that's true. The really cool thing is that the crew's frozen bodies were discovered and exhumed decades ago, but they're only now finding the ship. :)

Chickenmom said...

I guess some drones do have a purpose! But they should have listened to the Native tales.

PioneerPreppy said...

Been a few years since I read about that expedition. I didn't realize they hadn't found one of the larger ships yet. I thought they had mapped out what happened to the crews pretty solidly and found all the land based camp sites and such. I just assumed both ships were together I guess.

Rev. Paul said...

Chickenmom, I don't have the objections to an underwater drone that the airborne type bring to mind. But yes, the Natives do have a LOT of accumulated wisdom to share, if only we ask.

Preppy, I had the same thought. You never know!

joated said...

Those oral histories have a lot of truth to them.

Now about the mountain men "going to see the elephant" (Mammoths?) and the native Americans' reports of blonde, blue-eyed sailors coming up the Mississippi way back when.

Rev. Paul said...

joated - yep, it does make you wonder exactly how we missed making THOSE connections. Hmmm.