Franklin Expedition Ship Found

[Emir of Askaristan]

Not sure where this story fits - Big battalions, Old West, Pulp, etc

Anyway it appears that one of the ships from the ill fated Franklin Expedition has been found in the Canadian Arctic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-29131757 &
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/09/09/ship_from_lost_franklin_expedition_found.html

Fascinating stuff.

[Momotaro]

As the good Sir John graces my avatar (I lived for a few years in the village in Lincolnshire where he was born), I feel I should comment... 

Anyway - truly astonishing news and a fascinating seach

[FramFramson]

Being a massive fan of polar exploration (both poles) this was terribly interesting news, though in a way it's not as big as it seems. The rough area the ships went down has been known for well over a century, and John Rae probably found out as much as any man ever did in the 1850's (sadly he was dis-served by virtue of being a dirty overland Hudson's Bay company man and not one of John Barrow's coterie of favoured navy men).

But pinpointing the exact wreck is still a very notable find. It will be interesting to see what is intact, as the hull appears very well preserved! We can thank arctic waters for that. I can't wait to see if it's the Erebus or Terror they've found.

[Momotaro]

Weirdly, while I was living in that Lincolnshire village (Spilsby), I visited John Rae's tomb in Kirkwall Cathedral, Orkney.  Got to agree with you - a man unjustly forgotten.

If you want a good fiction/supernatural horror novel about the Franklin Expedition, I can't recommend Dan Simmons' "The Terror" highly enough  It all goes a bit mythical at the end - you'll know when you get to that bit and can stop reading if it's not your cup of tea.

[FramFramson]

Well, a lot of John Rae being short served goes back to Barrow's peculiar prejudices. It's amazing how many expeditions he was able to convince the navy to undertake in the pure name of science (not just to polar regions, but to Africa and other locales), but also amazing how ineffective and sometimes disastrous they were, while meanwhile folks with local knowledge who were willing to adapt to local ways fared much better. In the end, those expeditions did lead to a massive expansion in geographical knowledge, but it certainly wasn't thanks to the expeditions in and of themselves.

Well alright, that's not entirely fair; Parry's first voyage, Ross's Antarctic voyage, and a few others were sound and mostly successful. But those were minority situations.

[Emir of Askaristan]

Rae's report didn't find favour with the widow Franklin or the establishment which certainly led to the diminishment of his reputation. Daring to suggest cannibalism on the hearsay of an Inuit, from white men, British Sailors and Officers?....the very idea!

[Timbor]

I, too, find it fascinating.  I did find it somewhat amusing how all of the comments on our 'beloved' CBC related to how it was a waste of money and was only done as a photo-op for our PM.  I guess some folks just don't like history.

Now we just need to get someone to produce some miniatures and make a game about the ill-fated expedition. 

[FramFramson]

Rae's report didn't find favour with the widow Franklin or the establishment which certainly led to the diminishment of his reputation. Daring to suggest cannibalism on the hearsay of an Inuit, from white men, British Sailors and Officers?....the very idea!

Conduct unbecoming an officer! The very thought! Harrrumph!

The Admiralty boys treated William Scoresby pretty damn shabbily too and I daresay he knew more about the arctic than any number of contemporary Royal Navy Old Arctics put together. The man had the Northwest Passage well figured out before even Parry's first voyage. Scoresby did get some small kudos in the end and some of the arctics were smart enough to seek out his advice - too bad so few actually followed it! But on the whole his treatment was disgraceful and hundreds of men died who didn't have to at all.

You see see the same strain of stupidity over and over again, with Clements Markham mirroring Barrow; Scott lionized over Shackleton and so forth. "What do those merchantmen know."

[Gibby]

Weirdly, while I was living in that Lincolnshire village (Spilsby), I visited John Rae's tomb in Kirkwall Cathedral, Orkney.  Got to agree with you - a man unjustly forgotten.

If you want a good fiction/supernatural horror novel about the Franklin Expedition, I can't recommend Dan Simmons' "The Terror" highly enough  It all goes a bit mythical at the end - you'll know when you get to that bit and can stop reading if it's not your cup of tea.

If that is the same Dan Simmons who wrote the Hyperion books then I can quite believe it is a great book.

[Vanvlak]

Any sign whether they identified which of the two ships it is? I haven't seen any further news.

[FramFramson]

Parks Canada divers are trying to do a dive before winter sets in, but crappy weather has prevented any attempts in the week since the wreck was found.

[former user]

this narrative would nurture a whole campaign in the realm of VSF or colonial adventures.

Let us not forget the excavation of the three burial sites in the 80ies an 90ies.
The whole story is covered here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition
and also very well referenced to the scholarly publications, whoever is interested in the cut-marks that evidence cannibalism....

[FramFramson]

So, a small update.

Apparently they did manage to make two dives before cutting out, but are keeping the details under wraps for a splashy press conference later (no date given yet). Guess we'll hear more eventually, hopefully soon.

[Emir of Askaristan]

Will keep my eyes peeled.

Thanks.

[Blue in vt]

A really neat project that I'm glad is getting good results...I have a number of friends on the Parks Canada Crew....I hope they are keeping warm!  that water must be freezing even in summer.

Cheers,

Blue