 |
||||||
| In July 1845, Sir John Franklin and his crew of 129 men entered the waters of Lancaster Sound in search of the Northwest Passage. Although they were never again seen by Europeans, Franklin's party was the largest and best equipped sent by the British Admiralty to the Arctic Archipelago in quest of a navigable northern route to the Far East. The Admiralty's search for the missing expedition began two years later and continued until 1880. After exploring Wellington Channel to 77 degrees North Latitude, and circumnavigating Cornwallis Island, the expeditioners passed the first winter at Beechey Island. Eventually they all perished. Neither records of the expedition nor the ships have ever been found. |
||||||
 |
||||||
| Early artists depiction of ships the Erebus and the Terror that first winter on Beechey Island. | ||||||
Back to Our Heritage Home Page