Marine archeologists have taken the plunge into the icy amnionic fluid of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to search one of the most famous ships of the nineteenth century , HMS Erebus .
The ship was part of the daring – and sentence – 1845 Franklin Expedition that essay to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic . Together with another ship , HMS Terror , HMS Erebuseventually became trapped in ice near King William Island in the dominion of Nunavut , ultimately result in the deaths of all129 crew members .
TheErebuslay unexplored until 2014 when investigators discover the woodenshipwreckin remarkably good circumstance . This class , Parks Canada has been bring with the Nattilik Heritage Society ’s Inuit Guardians from Gjoa Haven to bear out further employment on the site with the hope of get together fresh insights into the tale of the 1845 Franklin Expedition .
Deep Trekker ROV in the diving hole at the HMS Erebus site, April 2022. Image credit: Aimie Néron, Parks Canada
“ turn up in one of the satellite ’s most unique and sensitive marine surround , the wrecks ofHMS ErebusandHMS Terrorare some of the advantageously - preserved wooden crash in the world . The important archaeologic research onsite continues to boost our savvy of how change mood consideration are impacting the area and helps us keep up and protect unreplaceable natural and ethnic inheritance , ” Steven Guilbeault , Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for for Parks Canada , said in astatement .
Their workplace start in April and May 2022 when the team inspected the wreck for the first time in over 2.5 long time using a remotely mesh fomite ( ROV ) , which managed to gather new imagery and survey data on the site . In September 2022 , the squad then completed 56 individual dive over the course of 11 days , recovering up to 275 artifacts from the wreck .
During their work , the team started excavation of what could be the Second Lieutenant ’s cabin , continued the excavation of what is believe to be the Third Lieutenant ’s cabin , and fill out the mining of part of the Captain ’s Steward ’s buttery .
As fabled as the story of the 1845 Franklin Expedition has become , there is still much we do n’t know about thefinal months of the poorly - plump mission . However , some of this late work may be able to spill some lightness on it .
Ryan Harris , one of the archaeologist divers from Parks Canada , toldCBC Newsthat one of the most exciting finding was an embossed leather Christian Bible that still had a feather quill pen tucked at bottom of its pages . It is not yet clear what ’s been scrawled inside the Holy Writ , but the researchers are keen to get it back to the research laboratory to regain out .
" We ’re quite aroused at the tantalizing possibility that this artifact might have compose material inside , " Harris say . " It ’s being analyse in the lab now . "
