This year marks the 175th anniversary of the departure from England in May 1845 of the vessels HMS Erebus and HMS Terror.įormer warships newly fitted out with heating systems, reinforced hulls, and steam engines for use when the winds failed, the vessels sailed from Greenhithe (thirty-five kilometres south of London) with enough food to last three years. Almost certainly, they will reveal answers to the greatest mystery of Arctic exploration: What happened to that expedition? Judging from past experience, only when they have delivered this cache to their colleagues will they give themselves over to the extraordinary rush of having entered history.Īlmost certainly, the canisters will contain written records from the 1845 Franklin expedition, whose leadership Crozier inherited. Working carefully in freezing-cold water roughly twenty-three metres below the surface, these underwater archaeologists will search drawers and shelves, systematically gathering artifacts until - eureka! - they come upon an array of rusty metal cylinders or canisters.Ĭontrolling their excitement, they will place these items in a specially designed lifting bag and bring them topside. One summer day in the not-too-distant future, off King William Island in the High Arctic, scuba divers from Parks Canada will swim into the cabin on HMS Terror that Captain Francis Crozier once occupied.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |