HMS EREBUS found in Canadian Arctic

[RCN]

Thought I might mention that it has been confirmed that Sir John Franklin's ship HMS EREBUS has been found in the Canadian northern waters.
Quite a bit about the discovery has been in the papers & on the internet of late, a google search will bring up sites & information on the discovery.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/frankli...ebus-1.2033878

I have posted below a shot of Sir John Franklin's Naval General Service medal which is in the possession of the Canadian war Museum(Ottawa)for interest:


RCN Bryan

[Guzzman]

Hi Bryan

Really interested in hearing about this. I've been fascinated by the Franklin expedition since I was a boy. The finding of HMS Erebus won't really throw any light on what happened to the men as we already know that they had to abandon the ships, but it will still be fascinating to see her. Ships can be incredibly well preserved in those cold Arctic waters! Thanks again.

Pete

[RCN]

Pete from what I have read online the Erebus appears to be in an excellent state of preservation, those far northern waters are very cold all year round. No doubt it will be explored in detail in the coming months & years. I don't know what kind of diving season is available to the explorers up in that far north tho, & I expect it will be kept pretty much guarded to avoid "treasure hunters" diving the wreck.

Hopefully the exploration results will be made public in time.

I don't think there would be any human remains on her as did the crew not all leave the ship prior to her (supposed) destruction in the ice?

In any event be interesting to see what is found on her,

Bryan

[QSAMIKE]

Good Morning Everyone......

It is a fantastic find, especially in the condition that it is.......

After having lived and worked for 3 1/2 years in the High Arctic islands I can appreciate what the crews that were lost and the rescue crews went through......

A number of times we went for walks, during summer of course, and found food and equipment caches that had been left by the men looking for Franklin and other later explorers..... I remember seeing a keg of nails the wood rotted away and the nails all rusted together in the shape of the keg, what was left of food tins, the soldered lead seams, as the tin had also rusted away and the brass lid for the tin reading St. Edwards Preserved Potatoes..... All finds did have to be reported to the Government of Canada and it was against the law to take any souvenirs.......

Now lets find Terror.......

Mike

[Lancer 17]

Sorry duplicated. Phil.

[Lancer 17]

G'day Bryan

I found this thread by accident. This is of great interest to me.

My Great Grandfather writes in a letter that I have dated in the late 1840's /early 1850's that he had wanted to get on this expedition and had asked his father, who apparently knew Sir John Franlklin, I dont know how, to give him a place, however he did not go Otherwise I would not be writing this now.

I have now had a look at the link and printed it out and will pass a copy to my brother who is a navy buff.

Thank you for posting this bit of info. Its amazing how the world goes around.

Regards

Phil.

[RCN]

That's great Phil - amazing!
Might you consider posting some of the contents of your Great Grandfather's letter?

Bryan

[rockape560]

hi guys,

thought you might be interested to see this statue of FRANCIS CROZIER in banbridge co down,just 7 miles up the road from me,who was on the FRANKLIN EXPEDITION looking for the north-west passage

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3319/3...a6af9e5a_z.jpg


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Crozier

philip

[QSAMIKE]

Good Morning Everyone......

Found these thought you might like......

A Grave on King William Island

Monuments and Graves Beachy Island

Our main work camp

Mike

[Hussar100]

I'm supremely pleased about this discovery. I always suspected both ships to be reasonably intact because of the cold water and not withstanding crush damage from the ice. I still harbour (no pun intended) hopes they might raise one or both of them for restoration. Sweden has done so with older ships lifted from the Baltic.

The entire expedition fascinates me. I watched one documentary some years ago where they found the graves of some of the crew and were able to identify the cause of death etc etc from the almost perfectly preserved bodies buried in the permafrost.

Science marches on - here's hoping they find HMS Terror too.

[RCN]

[QUOTE=Hussar100;280100]

The entire expedition fascinates me. I watched one documentary some years ago where they found the graves of some of the crew and were able to identify the cause of death etc etc from the almost perfectly preserved bodies buried in the permafrost.

QUOTE]

A good book printed a few yrs ago on the discovery of some of the crew's graves. The book was titled: "Frozen In Time"

I had a copy & found it very interesting reading. It showed good photos of the two crewmembers bodies frozen in their containers in the ice & speculated that the high lead levels in the tinned food likely contributed to their deaths.

Link to photos of the bodies found here:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=frank...w&ved=0CDAQsAQ

Bryan

[Hussar100]

Originally Posted by RCN

A good book printed a few yrs ago on the discovery of some of the crew's graves. The book was titled: "Frozen In Time"

I had a copy & found it very interesting reading. It showed good photos of the two crewmembers bodies frozen in their containers in the ice & speculated that the high lead levels in the tinned food likely contributed to their deaths.

Link to photos of the bodies found here:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=frank...w&ved=0CDAQsAQ

Bryan

I think the documentary I saw must have been connected to the book in some way because those images are exactly what I saw on it. Apart from a rictus evident in their visage those poor souls look almost as they would have when alive.

When you think of it though - what a horrible death.

[David Tremain]

I think it's highly unlikely that the wreck will ever be raised, simply because it's extremely expensive to do, then to maintain for years afterwards to stabilize it. It would also be difficult to raise. Remember the problems with the Mary Rose, when they dropped it in the water? Not impossible, but only the Dutch seem adept at salvaging wrecks. Then, where to put it? We have no National Maritime Museum, only local ones, i.e. Halifax, Vancouver, Kingston, etc. Parks Canada has so few conservators now, with all the government cutbacks and retirements that it would be difficult to preserve it. Add to that, if there are still bodies aboard (well, skeletons, more like) they will probably rest in situ like other warships, like a war grave.

There was also talk of finding the ship's logs. It's quite possible that they could have been partly preserved by the cold water. In the Seventies I once restored some documents brought up from one of the mini submarines sent to attack the Tirpitz, and they were in pretty good shape. Divers would have to freeze them the moment they are brought to the surface (not difficult up there in the Arctic!), then vacuum freeze-dry them back at the lab in Ottawa, which Parks has plenty of experience with. The only problem is, the ink may have faded or run. However, with a device called a video spectral comparitor (VSC) documents can be examined under various wavelengths of ultraviolet and infrared light and inscriptions revealed. It's what forensic document examiners use all the time.

While at the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) I also had the chance to restore some paper documents from the Franklin expedition left in one of the cairns giving their position etc. We also had some on parchment. Both materials were pretty fragile, but the ink was legible enough that I was able to transcribe what was written on the paper documents. I think the ink on the parchment was quite faded.

All that to say, the current Canadian government spends very little on arts and culture compared with other countries, such as Sweden and the UK who have salvaged wrecks, so I'm not holding my breath about HMS Erebus being raised any time soon, if ever.

[Hussar100]

I see your point David but we do have the Royal Navy Museum which is being expanded all the time. Just a thought.

You're probably right though, it's only wistful thinking on my part. Mind you that's what I said about HMS Caroline and I got my wish there.

[RCN]

I would hope that Parks Canada does not get involved with HMS Erebus,
Last time I was on HMCS Haida, 2 yrs ago, the deterioration to her hull & interior was very bad, very poorly maintained. They have just let her run down & she is not in near the same condition she was yrs ago when at Ontario Place.

It will be interesting to see what happens with HMS Erebus tho.
Could she be classed in the same (or similar) category as a War grave?

& would she even have any human remains on board as did the crew not all abandon her to the ice in that last winter they were alive?

Bryan