In 1845, two British ships entered the Arctic with 129 men searching for the Northwest Passage; both vessels and every member of the expedition disappeared

For decades, the fate of Sir John Franklin and the 128 men who sailed with him remained one of the Arctic’s most haunting mysteries. The expedition had left Britain with two specially equipped ships, experienced officers and supplies intended to last for years. Then the ships vanished.

What followed was one of the longest and most determined searches in polar exploration. More than 30 Arctic expeditions joined the official search effort between 1848 and 1854, while explorers continued looking for answers long afterward.

But some of the most important clues did not come from the European search parties. Inuit hunters and guides had witnessed events, heard stories and preserved knowledge about what had happened. Their accounts were often dismissed at the time, yet centuries-old knowledge of the Arctic landscape eventually became central to solving the mystery.


Nearly 170 years after the expedition disappeared, modern researchers combined Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, Inuit knowledge and history, with Western science and underwater technology. That effort finally located HMS Erebus in 2014 and HMS Terror in 2016.

Why did the Franklin expedition disappear?

The expedition sailed from Britain on May 19, 1845, with Sir John Franklin in command of HMS Erebus and Captain Francis Crozier commanding HMS Terror. James Fitzjames was third in command and commander of Erebus.

The ships were prepared specifically for the Arctic. Their bows had additional wood and iron reinforcement to withstand ice, while steam engines could supplement their sails. They also had steam heating systems and equipment for producing fresh water.

The expedition carried cattle, pigs and hens, along with three years of canned soups and vegetables.

After stopping in western Greenland for supplies, the ships crossed toward the Canadian Arctic. In late July 1845, two whaling ships saw Erebus and Terror in Baffin Bay. The expedition then continued toward Lancaster Sound.

No Europeans ever saw the ships again.

For two years, there was no word from Franklin or his crew. Lady Jane Franklin eventually helped persuade the Admiralty and government to begin a major search in 1848.

What did the search parties discover?

Search expeditions recovered artifacts, human remains and other evidence, gradually piecing together what had happened.

A crucial document was the Victory Point Note, written by Crozier and Fitzjames on April 25, 1848. It was found in a stone cairn on King William Island in May 1859.

The note recorded that the expedition had wintered on Beechey Island in 1845–46 before traveling down Peel Sound. Erebus and Terror then became trapped in ice near King William Island, where the men spent the winters of 1846–47 and 1847–48.

Franklin died on June 11, 1847.

The note said Crozier, Fitzjames and the surviving crew had abandoned the ships and planned to travel toward what is now Back River. The journey required 105 survivors to cross King William Island and sea ice before reaching the Canadian mainland.

Evidence later indicated that the men suffered from starvation, scurvy and lead poisoning, while some human bones showed cut marks suggestive of cannibalism. Yet the full story remained incomplete.

Why were Inuit accounts so important?

Long before the ships were found, Inuit had provided searchers with information about the missing expedition. In 1854, Hudson’s Bay Company surgeon and surveyor John Rae heard from local Inuit about white men who were sick, starving or dead to the west. William Uligpak, also known as Mar-ko, served as Rae’s translator and guide. His conversations with people in the Pelly Bay region gave Rae some of the first information about the expedition’s fate.

Rae’s report was later challenged in London, but he defended his translator and the Inuit informants.

Other Inuit also played major roles in the search. Taqulittuq and Ipiivik, known by their English names Hannah and Joe, worked with American explorer Charles Hall. Hannah served as a translator, while Joe worked primarily as a hunter and guide.

Hall spent more than a decade interviewing Inuit, recording their histories with the help of translators and guides. One Inuk, Inukpujijuq, provided a firsthand account involving a ship and helped identify the general location of a wreck.

Frederick Schwatka later undertook a 5,232-kilometre dog-sled journey between 1879 and 1880 and also recorded Inuit histories. His guide and translator Ipiivik had previously worked with Hall.

For many years, however, Inuit accounts were not given the weight they deserved. Reports of the crew’s suffering and cannibalism caused outrage in England and were rejected by many people.

How were the lost ships finally found?

The mystery was finally solved in the 2010s through a combination of Inuit knowledge, historical research, modern exploration and advanced underwater technology.

Parks Canada led the search, working with Inuit and the Government of Nunavut among many other partners. HMS Erebus was discovered in Queen Maud Gulf in 2014. Two years later, HMS Terror was found in Terror Bay.

Both wrecks were located off King William Island, and subsequent dives recovered numerous artifacts.

The discoveries also changed the way the Franklin Expedition is understood. Inuit knowledge, preserved through oral traditions and knowledge of the Arctic landscape, had contributed important clues long before the ships were located.

The wrecks are now protected as the Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site, the first national historic site in Nunavut cooperatively managed with Inuit.

The story of the Franklin Expedition therefore extends far beyond two lost ships. It includes the men who sailed into the Arctic in 1845, the generations of searchers who followed, and the Inuit whose knowledge helped reveal what had happened in a landscape they understood deeply.

The disappearance remained a mystery for generations, but the eventual discoveries showed how Inuit knowledge and Western science could work together to uncover a story that had remained hidden beneath Arctic waters.

Source attribution: Parks Canada and the Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site material; information also provided from Library and Archives Canada, the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK, and Britannica.

FAQs

What happened to the Franklin Expedition?
All 129 members died after the ships became trapped in Arctic ice.

When were the Franklin ships found?
HMS Erebus was found in 2014 and HMS Terror in 2016.