The nine newly recovered artifacts, as well as any artifacts found in the future, will be jointly owned and managed by Parks Canada and the Inuit Heritage Trust. Those 65 objects are owned by the United Kingdom. The objects will then undergo conservation.ĭivers had previously recovered 65 artifacts from the HMS Erebus, including buttons, dinner plates, a boot, medicine bottles, the ship's bronze bell and part of the vessel's wheel. The nine artifacts are now at a laboratory in Ottawa, Canada, where they will undergo chemical analysis and sampling the archaeologists said they hope residues inside the pitcher, for instance, will reveal what the officer was drinking. The team also found a piece of tarred felt used for waterproofing the vessel, and the material still had the impressions of wooden planks. In addition to the pitcher and the artificial horizon, the divers found metal parts of rigging instruments. In May 1845, Franklin and his 128 crew members set sail on HMS Erebus and HMS Terror from England on a quest to find the sea route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific through the Arctic Ocean. The length of the hull likely played a factor in identifying the ship as the Erebus.Ĭonstructed in a dockyard in southwest Wales, Erebus was first launched June 7, 1826, nearly two decades before embarking on the historic polar expedition that ended in disaster.This is part of an artificial horizon that would have been used with a sextant to determine latitude when the horizon was obscured by obstacles like sea ice. From my standpoint, I think it’s really, really important that we continue the search and we don’t rest until we find the second ship.”ĭespite similar outfitting for the Arctic journey, Erebus and Terror had distinct differences in their structure, Geiger said. “This find and the incredible condition of this vessel is only going to whet the global appetite for more. “Really, we have half the story, we have half the picture,” Geiger said. The Terror is still out there, somewhere. That window has closed on this year’s efforts.īut Geiger anticipates the interest in the shipwrecks will only increase now that one has been found. This year’s search was the largest since the 19th century, and for the first time included private partners supplementing the government’s efforts.Įach year, the search for the two ships has had a narrow window due to ice and weather conditions in the area. Harper, reportedly a Franklin buff, has said the two ships are important to Canada’s early history and its current claim to sovereignty in the North. Parks Canada has been leading major searches for the two ships, which are considered national historic sites, since 2008. it is in fact the HMS Erebus,” Harper said during question period. Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the Commons Wednesday that the ship had been identified. What ultimately happened to the ill-fated expedition is one of the most enduring mysteries of Canadian history. The expedition ultimately ended in tragedy, with Erebus and HMS Terror stuck in Arctic ice, Franklin dead, and all 129 crew members lost. The ship appeared on the sonar screen, plain as day. is hugely significant,” said John Geiger, the head of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, who was part of the team that found the ErebusĮrebus was one of two Royal Navy ships that set out on an expedition to chart an Arctic route to Asia in 1845. HMS Erebus was found on September 2, 2014. “From a historical standpoint, to know that this is Franklin’s ship, this is where he was, likely where he died. The shipwreck located by researchers last month was HMS Erebus, which Sir John Franklin sailed on during his doomed 1845 quest to find the Northwest Passage to Asia. OTTAWA-Settle your bets - the Franklin wreck found in Arctic waters early last month was HMS Erebus.
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