Unlocking secrets of Franklin’s expedition A team of navy divers and marine archaeologists are to investigate the wreck of HMS Erebus, one of two British ships that vanished in the Canadian Arctic 170 years ago. Erebus, found in September 2014, and HMS Terror disappeared during a quest for the fabled Northwest Passage by Sir John Franklin in 1845 PACIFIC OCEAN ATLANTIC OCEAN 1 BEAUFORT SEA GREENLAND Baffin Bay Baffin Island Arctic Circle CANADA 500km 310 miles 1 May 19, 1845: Expedition led by Sir John Franklin sets sail from England with 128 officers and men 2 Jul 26: British whalers are last Europeans to sight expedition 3 1845-46: Ships winter at Beechey Island. Three crew members perish 4 Sep 1846: Ships trapped in ice in Victoria Strait, remaining stranded as ice fails to melt during summer of 1847. By April 1848, Franklin and 23 others are dead Apr 1848: Ships deserted – survivors head south, apparently resorting to cannibalism in vain attempt to stay alive. Men died from hunger, scurvy or lead poisoning, caused by eating badly tinned food 5 Sep 2014: Erebus found in area long identified by Inuit elders as final resting place of one of Franklin’s ships Victoria Strait King William Island Queen Maud Gulf Artifacts and human remains found during subsequent explorations Erebus settled upright on sea bed at depth of 11 metres in Queen Maud Gulf – exact location not disclosed Steering wheel Captain’s cabin Propeller: Could be removed if ice threatened damage Captain’s bedroom Sail room First Lieutenant’s cabin Mess deck Galley stove: Included desalination plant Iron water tanks Engine: Railway locomotive capable of 25 horsepower built into hold Boiler: Heated ship by sending hot water through network of pipes Bow: Reinforced with iron plates to break through ice Ships carried three years’ supply of food for 128 men, including 35 tonnes of flour, 24 tonnes of meat, 7,560 litres of liquor Also carried camera to take daguerreotype pictures and scientific instruments to study magnetic field, geology, botany and zoology of Arctic region HMS EREBUS Crew:67 Displacement: 726.8 tonnes Length: 32 metres Beam: 8.5 metres Sources: Canadian Geographic, National Maritime Museum, The Northwest Passage by Brendan Lehane Pictures: AP, Getty Images words 366