(Coincidentally, it was found in Terror Bay.) The ship and its sister vessel, the HMS Erebus, went down in 1848 when an expedition led by British explorer John Franklin to find the Northwest Passage got stuck in ice.
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Sir William Franklin led HMS Terror and HMS Erebus on a British Navy quest for the Northwest Passage. “Terror Bay is uncharted, but we found a pass in and after just 2.5 hours of searching, we found the ship”, Schimnowski notes. The ice-damaged Terror managed to limp back to Europe some ten years before being re-fitted for Franklin’s ill-fated mission when both his ships, Terror and Erebus and the entire 129 man crews were lost. After multiple expeditions, the ship was assigned to the Franklin expedition to the Northwest passage before it disappeared. Except for a brief sighting by a whaler, once leaving England both ships, the flagship HMS Erebus, found two years ago, and the Terror, and all hands, were never seen by Europeans again.
According to the Guardian, the crew of the Arctic Research Foundation’s Martin Bergmann research vessel found the shipwreck, with all three masts standing and nearly all hatches closed, on September 3. Canadian Rear-Admiral John Newton said the Franklin ships were found about 50 kilometers apart from each other. It also shows all hatches closed and equipment stowed, and a long line leading away from the ship indicating it may have been anchored.
But they opened up parts of the Canadian Arctic to discovery and ultimately found a Northwest Passage, though it proved hard to shipping because of ice and treacherous weather.
Following the disappearance of Sir John Franklin and his crew, there have been dozens of attempts to search for the two ships. The shortcut eluded other famous explorers, including Henry Hudson and Francis Drake.
“A lot of that possibly comes down to the fact that he was at the very beginning of the heroic age of polar exploration”. The US and others say it is worldwide territory.
Parks Canada’s underwater archeology team prepares to enter the water on a dive to the wreckage of HMS Erebus in 2015, while being supported by the Arctic Research Foundation’s vessel the Martin Bergmann.
“Everything points to HMS Terror”, he said.
Much of the ship’s glass is still intact, metal hull-reinforcement sheeting is still visible, the three masts are still standing (but broken), the helm looks in good shape (see topshot), and the bowsprit still thrusts forward with goal. Mr Kogvik said he stopped to take photos of himself hugging the wooden object, but his camera fell out of his pocket on the way home. “I’d also heard similar stories in the past four years, so we quickly made a decision to change our course, to go in to Terror Bay”.
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Newton called it an historic site for Canada and said there are no current plans to raise the two ships.
