The Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site is a National Historic Site of Canada near King William Island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut. It protects the wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, the two ships of the last expedition of Sir John Franklin, lost in the 1840s during their search for the Northwest Passage and then re-discovered in 2014 and 2016. The site is jointly managed by Parks Canada and the local Inuit. Public access to the site is not permitted. [1]
On 7 September 2014, the wreck of HMS Erebus was discovered by the Canadian Victoria Strait expedition in Wilmot and Crampton Bay, to the west of the Adelaide Peninsula just to the south of King William Island, in 11 m (36 ft) of water. [2] On 12 September 2016, the wreck of HMS Terror was discovered by the Arctic Research Foundation in Terror Bay, off the southwest coast of King William Island at a depth of 21–24 m (69–79 ft). [3] [4]
The site consists of two separate areas, one enclosing each wreck, with perimeter coordinates: [5]
As of 2019, the wrecks are the subject of archeological research undertaken by Parks Canada. Researchers are using the RV David Thompson, a scientific and research vessel, as living accommodation; and a barge "Qiniqtiryuaq" to support the diving down to the wrecks. Parks Canada is also handling the documentation and conservation of artefacts removed from the wrecks. [6]
Under international maritime law, as Royal Navy ships, the Erebus and Terror are the property of the United Kingdom. However, in 1997 before either wreck was discovered but in the belief that the wrecks must be within Canadian waters, the United Kingdom had entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Canada, that Canada could own the wrecks. In 1999, Canada created the new territory of Nunavut as part of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Part of that agreement gave Inuit the ownership of archaeological sites and artifacts within Nunavut's boundaries. [7]
After the wrecks were discovered, there was greater need to clarify all parties' rights in relation to the wrecks. In April 2019, the United Kingdom and Canada formally agreed that the original 65 artefacts removed from the wrecks would belong to the United Kingdom, but that the wrecks themselves and further artefacts removed would belong to Canada and the Inuit Heritage Trust with the exception of gold which would belong to the United Kingdom and any human remains would be repatriated to the United Kingdom. [8] In return, Canada would not seek payment from the United Kingdom for their costs incurred in discovering the wrecks and in removing and conserving the artefacts. [9] In relation to the Inuit rights, the Government of Canada (represented by Parks Canada) and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association negotiated an agreement that will establish a visitor centre at Gjoa Haven as an extension of the existing Nattilik Heritage Centre. [10] [11] A ten-year agreement was signed in March 2023, which "sets out a new model for a cooperative relationship established between Parks Canada and Inuit", with the intention of having the wrecks progressively become a fully Inuit-led National Historic Site. [12]
Public access to the site is not allowed with the exception of Inuit, who are permitted to hunt and fish within the protected area. [5] [13] To protect the site from the public, Inuit from Gjoa Haven work as guardians, camping near the wreck sites to monitor access to the sites. [14]
However, on 5 September 2019, passengers of Adventure Canada on MS Ocean Endeavour were permitted to visit the site of the wreck of HMS Erebus as part of a trial by Parks Canada in creating a visitor experience for the wreck site. [15]
Sir John Franklin was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through the islands of the Arctic Archipelago, in 1819 and 1825, and served as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1839 to 1843. During his third and final expedition, an attempt to traverse the Northwest Passage in 1845, Franklin's ships became icebound off King William Island in what is now Nunavut, where he died in June 1847. The icebound ships were abandoned ten months later and the entire crew died from causes such as starvation, hypothermia, and scurvy.
HMS Erebus was a Hecla-class bomb vessel constructed by the Royal Navy in Pembroke dockyard, Wales, in 1826. The vessel was the second in the Royal Navy named after Erebus, the personification of darkness in Greek mythology.
Kitikmeot Region is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of Victoria Island with the adjacent part of the mainland as far as the Boothia Peninsula, together with King William Island and the southern portion of Prince of Wales Island. The regional centre is Cambridge Bay.
King William Island is an island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, which is part of the Arctic Archipelago. In area it is between 12,516 km2 (4,832 sq mi) and 13,111 km2 (5,062 sq mi) making it the 61st-largest island in the world and Canada's 15th-largest island. Its population, as of the 2021 census, was 1,349, all of whom live in the island's only community, Gjoa Haven.
Cambridge Bay is a hamlet located on Victoria Island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest settlement on Victoria Island. Cambridge Bay is named for Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, while the traditional Inuinnaqtun name for the area is Ikaluktutiak or Iqaluktuuttiaq meaning "good fishing place".
Gjoa Haven is an Inuit hamlet in Nunavut, above the Arctic Circle, located in the Kitikmeot Region, 1,056 km (656 mi) northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It is the only settlement on King William Island.
HMS Terror was a specialised warship and a newly developed bomb vessel constructed for the Royal Navy in 1813. She participated in several battles of the War of 1812, including the Battle of Baltimore with the bombardment of Fort McHenry. She was converted into a polar exploration ship two decades later, and participated in George Back's Arctic expedition of 1836–1837, the successful Ross expedition to the Antarctic of 1839 to 1843, and Sir John Franklin's ill-fated attempt to force the Northwest Passage in 1845, during which she was lost with all hands along with HMS Erebus.
Beechey Island is an island located in the Arctic Archipelago of Nunavut, Canada, in Wellington Channel. It is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait. Other features include Wellington Channel, Erebus Harbour, and Terror Bay.
Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier was an Irish officer of the Royal Navy and polar explorer who participated in six expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. In 1843, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society for his scientific work during his multiple expeditions. Later, he was second-in-command to Sir John Franklin and captain of HMS Terror during the Franklin expedition to discover the Northwest Passage, which ended with the loss of all 129 crewmen in mysterious circumstances.
The Northwest Passage Territorial Park is located at Gjoa Haven, on King William Island, Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada. The park consists of six areas that show in part the history of the exploration of the Northwest Passage and the first successful passage by Roald Amundsen in the Gjøa.
Franklin's lost expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic and to record magnetic data to help determine whether a better understanding could aid navigation. The expedition met with disaster after both ships and their crews, a total of 129 officers and men, became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in what is today the Canadian territory of Nunavut. After being icebound for more than a year Erebus and Terror were abandoned in April 1848, by which point two dozen men, including Franklin, had died. The survivors, now led by Franklin's second-in-command, Francis Crozier, and Erebus's captain, James Fitzjames, set out for the Canadian mainland and disappeared, presumably having perished.
The Roscoe River is a waterway located above the Arctic Circle on the mainland of Northern Canada.
Canada welcomed its most recent territory, Nunavut, on April 1, 1999, after it separated from the Northwest Territories. With Nunavut's separation from the Northwest Territories came a need for new regulations regarding cultural history. Nunavut has the unique experience of having a large Aboriginal community that creates strong cultural ties within the legislation.
O'Reilly Island is an uninhabited island in Nunavut Territory, Canada. It lies to the south of King William Island and to the west of the Klutschak and Adelaide Peninsulas, in the easternmost part of the Queen Maud Gulf.
Arctic Research Foundation (ARF) is a private, non-profit organization based in Canada. Federally incorporated in 2011, ARF works with Indigenous and Northern communities, NGOs, government, private corporations and academia to facilitate science research and community initiatives.
Terror Bay is an Arctic waterway in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located on the southwestern side of King William Island. The entrance to the bay is marked by Fitzjames Island on the west and Irving Island to the east. The bay opens to Queen Maud Gulf.
Nattilik Heritage Centre is a museum in Gjoa Haven, King William Island, Nunavut, Canada. It presents the history and culture of the local Inuit.
Wilmot and Crampton Bay is an Arctic waterway in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada . It is located on the eastern edge of Queen Maud Gulf, running along the western coast of the Adelaide Peninsula, south of King William Island.
David Charles Woodman is a Canadian mariner, author, and arctic researcher. He is known for his research on Franklin's Lost Expedition, having led or participated in nine expeditions to King William Island between 1992 and 2004, searching for relics, records, and the wrecks of the ships HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, and establishing the important role of Inuit oral testimony in the search.
A big clue in the mystery is the wreck of HMS Erebus, found last year in a location indicated by Inuit oral histories.
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