In the 19th century, the British tried to find a northern route to Asia. For this, in 1845, two ships were sent on an expedition, but they failed and got lost in the ice. A few weeks ago, one of these ships, the Terror, was discovered near Nunavut Bay, Canada, 171 years after the disappearance.
The ships "Erebus" and "Terror"
Photo: eska.livejournal.com
For the expedition of Sir John Franklin in 1845, two ships were allocated, the Erebus and the Terror. Before setting off, the ships were improved for specific climatic conditions: steam engines were installed on them, the hulls were reinforced with metal plates, a heating system was added, and special niches were made for the propellers and rudders, into which, if necessary, they could be removed.
Crew members of the missing ship "Terror"
Photo: eska.livejournal.com
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A 3-year smell of food was collected for 129 crew members: 62 tons of flour, 13.6 tons of corned beef and canned food, and 16.5 tons of biscuits. For the prevention of scurvy, they took 4.2 tons of lemon juice. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of canned food urgently fulfilled the order and did not carefully adhere to the manufacturing technology - because of poor-quality cans, sailors were poisoned with lead.
Body of a sailor from the missing expedition of John Franklin (1845)
Photo: diletant.media
On May 19, 1845, the ships departed from the English port of Greenhight. The crew members had to spend their first winter on Beachy Island. It was there that the graves of three men were discovered in 1984. During the exhumation of the bodies, it is clear that they have been preserved in excellent condition (due to the permafrost).
John Franklin Route: 1 - July 1845, expedition stop in Disko Strait; 2 - wintering on the island. Beachy, 1845-1846; 3 - wintering on the island. King William after ships were blocked by ice, 1846-1847; 4 - the place of detection of "Erebus" in 2014
Photo: diletant.media
The next winter (1846-1847) found the unfortunate on King William Island. People continued to die of tuberculosis, poisoning, hypothermia, scurvy (lemon juice did not help). An expedition of modern researchers of the 1980s discovered the remains of dismembered bodies, which were most likely eaten by their own comrades. By the way, back in the 19th century, the assumption was made about cannibalism in the Franklin expedition, but society did not believe that valiant sailors could eat their own kind.
"Man proposes, but God disposes." A painting dedicated to the tragic expedition of Franklin. Hood. Erwin Henry Landseer, 1864
Photo: ru.wikipedia.org
Despite the fact that all the signs of the failure of the expedition were on the face, the British newspapers of the 19th century still portrayed John Franklin as a hero. Songs were composed about him, geographical objects were named after him, and even posthumously awarded the rank of Rear Admiral.