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Divers discover guns and coins in wrecks of ships that vanished nearly 2 centuries ago off Canada

January 25, 2024 Benjamin Hughes

What technology could change the way we learn about shipwrecks

In 1845, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror set sail from England on a mission to chart a passage around the top of North America. Led by Captain Sir John Franklin, the voyage ended in tragedy three years later when both ships were lost in the frigid waters off Canada’s coast.

None of the 129 men on board the ships survived. The so-called Franklin Expedition marked the worst disaster in the history of British polar exploration, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich in London.

Nearly two centuries after the ships sank, divers exploring the HMS Erebus wreck have discovered an array of “fascinating artifacts,” including pistols, coins and even an intact thermometer, officials announced this week.

Underwater archaeologists conducted 68 dives over 12 days in September to continue investigating and documenting the wreck of HMS Erebus, Parks Canada said in a news release. The team excavated a seamen’s chest in the forward part of the ship, below deck, where most of the crew lived, finding “numerous artifacts including pistols, military items, footwear, medicinal bottles, and coins.” 

released video of the expedition showing divers retrieving artifacts from the shipwreck and scientists examining the items in a lab.

2023 field season at the Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror NHS

Uncovering mysteries is all in a day’s work for Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team! After completing 68 dives during the 2023 field season, the team concluded its research at the Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site in Nunavut which is co-managed by Parks Canada and the Nattilik Heritage Society. ⚓ Here are the details you’ve been waiting for!

Over a twelve-day diving period, many fascinating artifacts were recovered from various rooms of #HMSErebus, including cabins believed to be that of Second Lieutenant Henry Dundas Le Vesconte and Third Lieutenant James Fairholme. 😮 Artifacts recovered from the Franklin Expedition are co-owned by Parks Canada and the Inuit Heritage Trust.

Archaeologists also captured thousands of high-resolution digital photos that were used to produce highly accurate three-dimensional models to better understand how the site is changing over time.

We know you want to learn more, so water 💦 you waiting for 👉 https://ow.ly/hEGV50Qtc79

Posted by Parks Canada on Monday, January 22, 2024

The archaeologists also captured thousands of high-resolution photos of HMS Erebus. Parks Canada said the images would be used to produce 3-D models to better assess how the site of the wreck — which is in relatively shallow water and vulnerable to storm waves — is changing over time.

After exploring HMS Erebus, the team returned two days later to the wreck of HMS Terror to conduct remote sensing of the ship.

“This included surveying of the wreck to capture a snapshot of its condition and widening the mapping of a vessel access corridor into this mostly uncharted bay,” the researchers wrote.

Exactly what doomed the ships, which likely got stuck in ice, remains unknown, and officials have relied thus far on Inuit oral histories to piece together what happened.

“A total of 39 missions were sent to the Arctic but it wasn’t until the 1850s that evidence of what befell the men began to emerge,” according to the Royal Museums Greenwich. “The exact circumstances of their deaths remain a mystery to this day.”

Parks Canada has been working with the Nattilik Heritage Society and Inuit Heritage Trust for seveal years to explore the wrecks.

Officials said the artifacts that were recently retrieved would undergo conservation treatment before being displayed at the Nattilik Heritage Centre in Gjoa Haven, an Inuit hamlet in Nunavut, above the Arctic Circle.

“The Franklin expedition remains one of the most popular mysteries from the 19th century,” Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault said in a statement. “However, thanks to the important work of Parks Canada and Inuit partners, pieces of this mysterious puzzle are being retrieved allowing us to better understand the fascinating events of this incredible expedition.”

Stephen Smith