Franklin Expedition

Historical Overview

The Franklin expedition was a British polar expedition that departed in 1845 under the command of Sir John Franklin to discover the Northwest Passage through the Arctic. The two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, disappeared along with their entire crew of 129 men in the Canadian Arctic. Numerous search missions attempted to uncover the fate of the expedition over the following years. Evidence later suggested that the ships became trapped in ice and that the crew died from starvation, disease, extreme cold, and exhaustion. The Franklin expedition became one of the greatest mysteries in polar exploration history. Modern research and the discovery of the shipwrecks have provided additional insight into the expedition’s final days.