RARE TREASURES OF A LOST EXPEDITION
ITEMS RETRIEVED FROM HMS EREBUS
New theories are emerging as to exactly what happened in the last weeks of the doomed Franklin expedition thanks to discoveries made on one of Canada’s “most successful underwater archaeological missions” yet.
“The results from the 2019 Franklin research missions were truly remarkable. It was the most productive and successful one to date,” said Parks Canada underwater archeologist Marc-andré Bernier during a press conference Thursday. “It is the largest, most complex underwater archeological undertakings in Canadian history.”
He and his team were proudly displaying some of over 350 artifacts recovered mainly from three officers’ rooms in HMS Erebus, thanks to 93 dives and a total of 110 hours underwater during the fall.
And some of those discoveries are making them rethink the last weeks of the crews of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, lost during an expedition launched in 1845 by British explorer John Franklin.
Leaving from England, the crew of nearly 130 sailors sought to find a Northwest Passage, but the voyage came to a fatal halt in 1846 when the ships became trapped in the ice in what is now Nunavut.
The apparent disappearance of the two vessels remained a complete mystery until 2014, when a Canadian expedition discovered the underwater wreck of HMS Erebus south of King William Island.
Two years later, the remains of HMS Terror were discovered about 100 kilometres north of there.
At the time of the discovery, the leading theory surrounding the last days of the crew was that, when both ships became trapped, the members of the expedition ventured off on foot in the hopes of finding safety. They were never to return.
But now, increasing amounts of physical evidence and oral history from surrounding Inuit communities suggests that some members of both crews returned to HMS Erebus and were able to get a bit further in the ship before getting trapped again.
That would also help explain why both ships were found nearly 100 kilometres apart.
“The location of the ships when we discovered them brought up so many questions. So we were forced to reinterpret how they got there. The story was more linear before: the crew abandoned the ships, they started walking and died one after other,” said Bernier.
“But now, we’re thinking maybe they did reintegrate a ship, sailed down further, and then abandoned it again. According to Inuit accounts from people who saw the ships in the 1800s, they say they saw footprints in the snow and smoke coming from the ship where the Erebus currently is,” added the archeologist.
The fact that items belonging to crewmembers from the Terror were found in the wreckage of the Erebus also reinforces that hypothesis.
For example, divers found a personal item engraved with the name “Fred Hornby,” the Terror’s second mate, in one of the Erebus’ cabins.
“The theory that some people returned to the ships makes a lot of sense. One of the possibilities is that the crew returned to the vessels, but there weren’t enough men to operate both of them. So they left the HMS Terror behind and continued exploring south on the HMS Erebus,” said Charles Dagneau, another underwater archeologist for Parks Canada.
Another theory that might explain why items from officers on the Terror were discovered on the Erebus: crewmembers had kept them in the hopes of commemorating their fallen officers if ever they got home.
“It’s possible that objects that belonged to officers were transported by their sailors in the hopes of bringing them back to their families in London. They obviously couldn’t bring back the bodies, but one person seemed to have a sextant that didn’t belong to him for that reason,” theorized Dagneau.
Among other recovered items of note, researchers highlighted a pair of epaulettes from a lieutenant’s uniform that may have belonged to 3rd Lieutenant James Walter Fairholme, as well as what are believed to be personal belongings of Edmund Hoar, the captain’s steward.
DNA from three types of hair retrieved from a single hairbrush may also unlock more secrets as to who was on the ship, as well as the contents of various bottles of wine, beer and ink.
And then, there’s a Chinese coin that has archaeologists somewhat baffled. What was a coin from Asia doing on a British expedition going through northern Canada? The researchers have ideas, but nothing more.
“Sometimes, it feels like what we’re discovering on these ships is leaving us with more questions that answers,” Dagneau said with a laugh.