"Like winning the Stanley Cup": The Discovery of Sir John Franklin's HMS Erebus in the Canadian Arctic

Summary

In September of 2014, the Prime Minister of Canada announced with great fanfare the discovery of one of the two lost ships of Sir John Franklin’s expedition that left England in 1845. The discovery in the Canadian Arctic of the ship eventually identified as HMS Erebus was the result of the most ambitious survey effort to locate Franklin’s vessels. Started in 2008, the search program, spearheaded by Parks Canada and the Government of Nunavut for underwater and terrestrial archaeology components respectively, eventually comprised more than a dozen partners from the public, private and academic sectors, and delivered other products in addition to the wreck search. This paper will describe the history of the modern searches, in particular the program that led to the 2014 discovery, and will highlight archaeological projects to date on HMS Erebus.  

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Wreck of HMS Erebus from Sir John Franklin’s 1845 Arctic Expedition   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 841