Trapped in the ice with no hope of rescue

The Northwest Passage, north of the Arctic Circle and less than 1,200 miles from the North Pole, was a sought-after prize as it could have opened new trade routes.

In Franklin’s time, finding it was one of the greatest maritime challenges.

Over time, a passage was pieced together before Captain Franklin set off on his doomed attempt in 1845.

Harry Goodsir from Anstruther was one of several Scots on the expedition including Dundonians William Bell and William Shanks; David Leys from Montrose, John Kenley from St Monans and Robert Ferrier from Perth.

Since the expedition was equipped with three years of provisions, the Admiralty in London did not send out rescue missions until 1848.

In 1850, three graves, two dated January and one April 1846, were discovered by American and British searchers on Beechey Island.

No further traces were found until 1854 after Orkney explorer John Rae ended up leading two missions in an attempt to locate the missing sailors.

He found the vital last link for the Northwest Passage and discovered the fate of the Franklin expedition, using accounts from local Inuits who said that some of Franklin’s crew had resorted to cannibalism in a last desperate effort to stay alive.

A later expedition discovered written proof of the death of Franklin and later, the rest of his team.

The crews abandoned their icebound ships and struck south across the ice, dying en route.

In 2014 a Canadian mission, equipped with the latest archaeological equipment, located Erebus. Terror was discovered two years later.