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Terror Bay Treasure
Whatever happened to the Franklin
Expedition? The fate of the doomed
Arctic mission is one of the biggest
unsolved mysteries in Canadian
history.
A team of Canadian archaeologists
and scientists has been combing
the Arctic for answers since 2008.
Two years ago, the searchers found
Franklin’s flagship, the HMS Erebus.
On September 3, they located her sister
ship, the HMS Terror. They hope the
ships will finally reveal what happened
to Sir John Franklin and his men 170
years ago.
The Franklin expedition
The famous naval hero left Britain
in 1845, determined to find, chart
and claim the Northwest Passage for
Britain. This shortcut through the
Arctic Ocean would have provided a
much faster trading route from Europe
to Asia.
The seasoned polar explorer and his
crew of 129 set out in two of the British
Navy’s finest ships. The Erebus and the
Terror were equipped with iron-clad
hulls and steam-powered propellers,
state-of-the-art technology at the
The Northwest Passage today
Sir John Franklin was on an impossible quest. In 1845, the Northwest Passage was
impenetrable, blocked with ice. Today, however, that ice is melting. Global warming
is opening up the Northwest Passage for a short time each summer.
Just as in Franklin’s day, countries are eyeing its value as a shortcut to Asia. The
route could trim thousands of kilometres and several days off a sea voyage. One
ship that made the trip in 2013 saved four days and $200,000 in fuel costs. However,
environmentalists say the route is too shallow and difficult to navigate. They fear that
some day, an oil spill will devastate the fragile Arctic ecosystem.
Nine ships navigated the Northwest Passage in 2007. In 2012, the number rose to 30.
Most have been small ships, coast guard vessels and supply tugs. The week the Terror
was discovered, however, an enormous 13-story cruise ship carrying 1700 people
from Alaska to New York made the transit. This opens the door to mass tourism, says
international affairs professor Michael Byers, something that could end in disaster.
“This is an incredibly remote area. If a ship carrying 3000 passengers hit an iceberg,
it could take two days to get search-and-rescue helicopters up there. Yet an accident
like that is almost inevitable.”
time. The ships had heated cabins and
carried provisions for a three-year
trip.
“Beset by ice”
Sadly, neither the explorers’ experience
nor their equipment was equal to the
ruthless Canadian Arctic. The men
failed to return home.
Dozens of search parties were sent
to rescue them. However, searchers
didn’t find the crew or the ships –
just a note, dated April 1848, in a
stone cairn on King William Island.
Franklin was dead, it read. The ships
had been trapped in the ice for 19 long,
unbearable months. The 105 surviving
crewmen were striking out on foot,
Definitions
cairn: a mound of stones erected as a memorial or marker
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Provisions: necessary supplies, such as food and clothing, as
for a journey
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hoping to find a Hudson Bay trading
post on the mainland.
Not a single man made it, and no one
knows why the crew left the safety of
their ships. The Terror may hold some
answers.
Sammy’s story
The team of scientists and researchers
discovered the abandoned Terror,
ironically, in Terror Bay, 100
kilometres north of the Erebus wreck,
and well outside the search grid. (It
sounds like the obvious place to look,
but there’s no connection.) Searchers
wouldn’t have found the ship at all
without a lucky tip from an Inuk man
with an interesting story.
Sammy Kogvik from Gjoa Haven
joined the crew of the Martin
Bergmann on September 2. The next
morning, the research vessel was
heading to Cambridge Bay to meet up
with the rest of the expedition.
“I start thinking maybe I should
tell my boss about this mast I found
six, seven, eight years ago,” said Mr.
Kogvik. “I figured it might be one of
the boats that they’ve been looking for
for so many years.”
The CEO of Arctic Research
Foundation listened carefully to
the crewman’s story about finding
a wooden post about the height of a
man sticking straight out of the ice in
Terror Bay.
“I knew from the look in his eyes, the
sound of his voice… It was like an
arrow pointing. We quickly changed
our course for Terror Bay,” said Adrian
Schimnowski.
time capsule
It took just 2½ hours for sonar
to pick up the Terror’s signature.
The nine-man crew of the Martin
Bergmann crowded together and
watched a clear image of the wreck
scroll up the screen.
They found the ship sitting upright
in 24 metres of water, right in the
middle of the bay. They launched a
remotely operated underwater vehicle
(ROV) to investigate. The images from
its camera showed three masts, still
upright. Then a double wheel and a
cannon came into view. Everything
was still in perfect condition.
Next, the ROV ducked through a
hatch and cruised around the interior
of the ship. It passed tables standing in
the mess. It filmed a food locker and
wine bottles. There were china plates
with the same patterns as those on the
Erebus, all neatly stowed in wooden
racks. It was as if Franklin and his
men had just stepped away from the
ship, planning to return.
Confirmation
disputed ownership
The United Kingdom launched the
Franklin Expedition, but the ships were
discovered in Canadian territory. So
who owns them?
The shipwrecks belong to the UK.
However, the United Kingdom and
Canada signed a Memorandum of
Understanding in 1997. It gives the UK
the right to claim any relics related to
the Royal Navy—and an equal share of
any gold—before releasing the wrecks
to Canada.
Since then, a new claim has emerged
from a group that protects Inuit
treaty rights. The Inuit Heritage
Trust is entitled to an equal share of
any archaeological artifacts found in
Nunavut. However, when Canada and
Britain began discussing the 55 relics
recovered from the Erebus, the Trust
was not consulted.
These negotiations directly impact
Inuit treaty rights, says spokesperson
Cathy Towtongie. “We want a seat at
the table.”
When the crew compared the wreck
to the original builder’s plans, every
detail corresponded. The hatches
and the exhaust pipe from the steam
engine were in the correct locations,
and the ship’s bell was a match to the
one on the Erebus.
After two years of silence, the federal
government has finally responded
to the Inuit group’s appeals. It
acknowledged the Inuit claim and
promised to include the Inuit Heritage
Trust going forward.
There was no doubt about it. This
glorious time capsule was the Terror.
Just two weeks after finding the Terror,
ice began to seal the bay. The searchers
will return again next summer to
take a closer look and hope to find
documents inside the ship. Then,
perhaps, the Franklin crew will spill
its secrets at last. J
“The vessel looks like it was battened
down tight for winter and it sank,”
said Mr. Schimnowski. “Everything
was shut. Even the windows are still
intact. If you could lift this boat out of
the water, and pump the water out, it
would probably float.”
Definitions
memorandum of understanding: a formal agreement
between two or more parties
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treaty: a formal written agreement between nations
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ON THE LINES
Answer the following in complete sentences:
1. Name the Royal Navy ships that were part of the Franklin Expedition. How many crew were on board these vessels?
2. Where and when did the expedition sail from and what was the purpose of this journey?
3. What was technologically special about Franklin’s ships?
4. What happened to these two vessels?
5. What did Canadian archaeologists and scientists find in 2014?
6. What did Canadian searchers recently find in Terror Bay?
7. Describe how this summer’s search found the long-lost ship.
8. Who owns this vessel?
9. Which organization is also claiming artifacts from the two lost ships?
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