Trapped in Ice: The Lost Fate of the Franklin Expedition

John Franklin; Maritim Greenwich Souvenir Guide, London 1993

     There is a place far north of where most people chose to live, beyond most cities and way past our highways. A place where the land is mostly white for most of the year and the sun occasionally refuses to set. This place I am referring to is called the Arctic where the sea tends to freeze into giant moving blocks of ice. About two hundred years ago it turned into a stage for one of the biggest real life mysteries still being talked about to this day. The story of the Franklin’s Expedition. 

     Imagine this, place yourself in a time where you are standing on the deck of a huge wooden ship. The air is cold and crisp, the type that starts to chatter your teeth and sting your nose every time you breathe in. The only sound you’re constantly hearing is the cry of seagulls right above you. Your crew is shouting to one another as they work together to pull the ropes tight and get the sails up. The year is 1845, and two ships are preparing to voyage. The HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, are getting ready to leave England with the belief of mapping out a new route and making history. 

     At the heart of all of this is Sir John Franklin, a British naval officer and a respected explorer. He had set out on a mission that was on the bolder side, he wanted to find the Northwest passage which was a sea route that went through the Arctic to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. If it were successful this would make trade and travel between Asia and Europe much faster and turn Franklin into a well known name in history. 

     At that time the Arctic remained a mystery to the Europeans. There were large blank spaces where land could possibly fill maps. People heard that it was cold and filled with ice and even dangerous. But at that time no one really fully understood the extent of it. Franklin and his crew believed they were prepared and ready for this. They made sure their ships were strong and reinforced them with iron. Their ships were equipped with steam engines. They packed canned foods and acquired new technology that was meant to last them years. They even had a library full of books and a barrel organ to provide them with entertainment. Compared to what they knew about earlier explorers they felt more than ready. 

     There were 129 men who were accounted for between the two ships, most of them were young, teenagers at that or men in their early twenties. Some hadn’t ever been this far North before this. Many of them felt excited, and some were also nervous, but all of them believed they were becoming a part of something important, something bigger than them. 

Captain Francis Crozier; 16 May 1845 on H.M.S. Erebus at Greenhithe, Kent

     In the beginning, the journey went well. The ships took off and sailed across the Atlantic and began in the Arctic waters near Canada. Then in the summer of 1845, they were last seen by European whaling ships. They were said to have been spotted sailing confidently into a labyrinth of ice-filled channels. After this, they slowly and quietly vanished into the depths. This is the last time they were seen or heard from again. 

     At first people weren’t too worried or concerned. It was common for expeditions to disappear for a year or two while exploring. But after three years had passed and no letters, or ships turning up, and no signs of life, fear started to strike. People started to wonder what had happened to Sir John Franklin and his crew.

     Search parties started to come together. Dozens of ships set out to explore the Arctic over a plethora of years. They were driven by their curiosity and even their own promises and hope of fame for discovering them. They went through frozen coastlines, they sailed icy uncharted waters and spoke to indigenous Inuit communities who had lived in the surrounding areas in the Arctic for years. Slowly as they gathered more information they were able to piece together clues that started to appear. But instead of answers they started to uncover an even bigger mystery.

     They were able to uncover abandoned camps where they found empty food tins, and graves in the frozen ground. One of the graves belonged to a sailor who they believed died earlier on in the journey. His body seemed to be preserved by the cold, and looked as though it was almost untouched, like he was merely sleeping. This shocked just about everybody and turned the story into something much bigger. 

     A few years had now passed and researchers discovered a single piece of paper that was left behind by one of the crew mates. It pieced together more of the story. It had said that the ships had become trapped in ice for many years and Sir John Franklin had died around 1847. The small amount of the crew that was left had abandoned the ships the following year and attempted to walk across the frozen shore. They set out a plan to travel south toward known trading posts. They dragged along boats and supplies behind them but none of them survived. 

     However, we haven’t even hit the tip of the iceberg. Some of the more unsettling news that was discovered came from the Inuit. Stories that were passed down through generations to follow. Some of the Inuit elders spoke of white men that wandered across the ice, and described them as starving and desperate. They spoke about bodies that were found along the coast. They also spoke of cannibalism, men who were so hungry they had to eat those who had already passed. 

A daguerreotype of Lieutenant James Fitzjames (later Captain) of the Royal Navy, taken by Richard Beard at his temporary dockside studio in Greenhithe, England, shortly before the Northwest Passage expedition's departure on 19 May 1845

     However, for a long time people did not want to believe these stories. They seemed too far-fetched and horrible to believe. But, later scientific studies did show bones found in that same area that showed clear cut marks, proving that these stories were true. The Franklin expedition was forced to end in a tragedy far beyond what anyone had expected. 

     Before the Franklin expedition became famously known for its disappearance, it had already been considered as one of the most important voyages that had ever been planned. To understand why this story is still being told today and why so many people back then cared about it, we’re going to look at what exactly exploration meant during the 1800s. During this time the British empire was one of the most powerful empies in the world. It was extremely common for its ships to travel across different oceans, almost always carrying soldiers and a wide variety of goods. Exploration at this time was not just about curiosity it was also heavily about trade and control. 

     Finding the Northwest Passage was a goal that was talked about for centuries. Explorers made attempts again and again to find a working route through the Arctic, but their lack of knowledge about the brutal weather and the thick ice prevented them from making any progress, every time they set out. But, with every failed attempt it still created progress in adding new information to maps. So, by the time Franklin was ready to set sail, a lot of the Arctic coastline was already explored in chunks. But what remained was one final stretch, and many put their faith in Franklin to complete it. 

     Now Franklin was no stranger to the Arctic. He led even earlier expeditions and was able to survive the extremely harsh conditions. On one of his journeys, his crew nearly starved to death, this earned him the nickname “the man who ate his boots.” But in lieu of this, Franklin was still respected for his leadership and what he was able to endure. This led him to be chosen to take on the 1845 expedition, and when he was appointed, the public trusted that his crew and his ships were in the right hands. 

     The ships that were hand picked for the mission were also seen as impressive. The Erebus and the Terror had already been used in multiple dangerous voyages, including trips to Antarctica which proved themselves worthy. They were reinforced with iron plates to withstand the ice and steam engines were added to be able to move even when the wind died down. For this time period the technology was considered advanced and gave a sense of reassurance.

     As the expedition got deeper and deeper into the Arctic, they were met with the same outcome of not even knowing what was ahead of them. The environment started to challenge even the best planning. The ice conditions turned out to be way worse than they had anticipated. Channels that were mapped as open passageways were now frozen solid. Rather than their plan of moving steadily forward, the ships started to become trapped, they were locked in place by thick sheets of ice that refused to break off.

Map of the probable routes taken by HMS Erebus and HMS Terror during Franklin's lost expedition. Disko Bay is about 3,200 km (2,000 mi) from the mouth of the Mackenzie River.

     Time started to pass slowly. One winter turned into the next and the next. Supplies started to dwindle. The men eventually growing weaker, and being cut off from any kind of communication with anyone on shore, they had no clue that the people back home were starting to search for them. Back in England, Franklin's wife, Lady Jane Franklin, refused to ever give up hope. She forced the government to continue sending search mission after search mission, she helped fund expeditions, and ensured that the public interest was kept alive. Without her contribution and her determination the mystery probably would have faded much quicker than this. 

     But, at the same time the disappearance just so happened to unfold in the same era as when news traveled slowly which allowed people's imagination to travel faster. The expedition also became one of the first exploration disasters to happen in the age of mass media. Newspapers, public lectures, pamphlets, all closely followed every little rumor that came out, turning the missing ships into a national obsession. With each new search expedition came alongside it a report with the public eagerly waiting for updates that could possibly take months or even years to come. Artists started creating dramatic illustrations of ice-choked seas and sailors battling the engulfed waters. This had a huge role in how people pictured the Arctic without ever even seeing it for themselves.

     These images usually emphasized bravery and the crew's endurance instead of uncertainty or any mention of possible failure. Which reinforced this idea that exploration was a noble sacrifice to the public eye. Public exhibitions also displayed artifacts that were uncovered from the Arctic and allowed people to physically engage with the mystery. They even discussed this mystery in schoolbooks and literature that referenced Franklin and ingrained the story into everyday culture. The constant attention that this story was getting placed a bit of pressure on search crews to find answers and sometimes even encouraged risky decisions in already dangerous situations. 

     The expedition's fame also blurred the lines between what was being put out into the media and if it were fact or just speculation. Exaggerated accounts started to come out and the expedition marked a shift in how media was consumed by the public not just in a way that expressed geographical progress but also as entertainment and tragedy. The Arctic was starting to become less of a distant place and more of a shared imagined space amongst the people. This media focused fascination is also what helped keep the story alive far beyond practical hopes of rescue started to fade. 

     Search expeditions were able to uncover more than just clues. In this process they actually were expanding their knowledge of the Arctic themselves. Ironically, even though Franklin's attempt to find the Northwest Passage did not end in a success, the search for him helped map a huge part of the region. Ships that went searching for the lost crew were able to chart coastlines, document wildlife, and record ice patterns.

     This period of time became known as one of the largest search efforts in exploration history. A lot of ships were lost during their searches. Some crews barely made it out alive. But, the effort continued on for decades. A big reason as to why the story remained so prevalent was not just because the men died, but also because of how long it took them to understand what happened.      The Arctic preserved some of the evidence, yes, but it also hid a lot of it. Snow covered some of the camps and ice swallowed the ships. Only piece by piece did things start to surface over time. 

As time went on, historians started to tell the story slightly differently. Instead of solely focusing on the bravery that was experienced they also examined the mistakes. The expedition relied too heavily on European tactics. The articles of clothing the men wore were heavy wool uniforms instead of lighter fur clothing. They depended on poorly stored food instead of resorting to hunting. These seemingly small choices made their survival ten times harder. 

     One of the main questions still is being raised: how did everything go so wrong? One of the big reasons was ice. The Arctic sea’s ice is not like frozen lakes or frozen ponds. It’s continuously moving, it cracks, crushes ships and is constantly changing with the seasons. Franklin's ships did pose as strong but not strong enough to be able to escape being frozen in place time after time. Another problem they ran into was food. Although they tried to be prepared and the ships carried thousands of cans, a lot of them were very poorly sealed. Some of the cans contained lead, which slowly started to poison the men. What lead poisoning can do is cause confusion, poor decision making and weakness. Which is exactly what you don’t want to experience when trying to survive in the Arctic. 

     But, one of their biggest mistakes was not listening and taking advice from the Inuit. The Inuit were familiar with the land and knew how to survive in the Arctic. They were able to hunt

seals, travel across the ice, build warm shelters, and read the land. Franklin's crew who were familiar and trained in European ways, relied more on ship supplies and heavy clothing. They were not equipped enough nor did they adapt enough, and the Arctic was not forgiving of that. 

     For more than 150 years, the Franklin Expedition continued to be one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in history. People went on to write books and sing songs about it. Paintings depicted ghostly ships that were locked in ice. As the lore of the expedition started to grow deeper, so did the efforts to understand it not just as a vanished voyage but also how this fits in as a historical event that could be examined through a new lens, a scientific lens and an ethical lens. Looking past the disappearance and eventual discoveries the expedition had also become a landmark case in modern archaeology and historical science.

     In more recent decades, researchers began to apply forensic methods that just did not exist in the nineteenth century. And what this did was it allowed new insight into how the crew lived and how exactly they died. Studies of the preserved remains showed evidence of scurvy, severe malnutrition, and even tuberculosis. Which suggested that starvation was not the only thing these men faced. The dental analysis done of these men showed their signs of chronic stress and their bone chemistry showed just how long these deficiencies went on for. The crew was trapped in an environment that punished all of these small mistakes and left no room for recovery. 

     Then a new discovery was able to shift the trajectory of the story. In 2014, researchers were able to use a combination of Inuit knowledge and modern technology to discover the wreck of the HMS Erebus that just so happened to be resting beneath Arctic waters. Just about two years after this, they found the HMS Terror as well. Though they found it unexpectedly well preserved as if the crew had just found its way safely off of it. The ships had been there the entire time, hidden under ice.

     This discovery marked a shift in how exploration is understood. Indigenous knowledge started to be recognized as essential instead of secondary. This wanting to know more is exactly what was keeping the Franklin Expedition alive for nearly two centuries. The story never really stopped unraveling. New clues kept appearing, long after the last sailor died and the ships disappeared. Each piece that got discovered added a new layer, and it slowly built a more clear picture of what actually happened. 

     Some today might still wonder why explorers were so determined to find the Northwest Passage in the first place. Why subject yourself to freezing temperatures, unpredictable seas filled with moving ice, or months of darkness? The answer seems to be more practical than you would think. In the 1800s, to travel from Europe to Asia by ship could take years. Vessels had to sail around the most southern part of either Africa or South America. Finding a route through the Arctic could promise a much faster trek, greater power for the territory that found it, and stronger trade connections. For Franklin and his crew the passage was not just a mere line on a map it was a strategic goal.

     However the main problem that arose was that this goal encouraged people to underestimate the land surrounding the Arctic. Once the ships became trapped the environment showed just how unforgiving the Arctic could be. Arctic winters are not just depicted as just cold, they are physically and mentally exhausting to those that encounter them. Temperatures are able to drop so fast that frostbite can happen in minutes. The darkness can last for months. Snow covered landmarks and any lasting tracks, which made it more difficult to travel and made it disorienting. The men were trained to rely on commands, equipment and schedules. This kind of training and environment made even the simplest tasks harder over time.

     Living life on the ships became more and more difficult. Months started to pass without sunlight. Illness began spreading as food supplies began to spoil or run low. There was no way to send any kind of messages including asking for help. To keep them focused the crew followed routines. They kept themselves busy by reading, playing music, and tried to keep to some sort of structure. But as the years passed and the ice was not budging to release the ships, it started to become clear that waiting wasn’t an option anymore. 

     Abandoning the ships was a hard but desperate decision. Taking the risk of walking those hundreds of miles was extremely dangerous but choosing to remain on the ships meant certain death. Many of the men already weak from sickness and hunger still had that fighting hope to try to find a way out. As they traveled they were forced to lighten the load. Items were left behind in the trek. A spoon, a bit of rope that froze to the ground, even some of their boots. These objects, discovered years later, played a crucial role in helping piece together evidence. Each one marked a moment when one of the men could no longer carry what they thought they would need. 

     One of the more troubling discoveries that was come across was a boat that was found on a sled. It was filled with household items like soap, silverware and even books. Some believed that these objects were not meant for survival but mere everyday life. It was pieced together just how much the men were struggling to think clearly and were holding onto their familiar routines even as their state became significantly worse. 

Poster offering a reward for help in finding Franklin's lost expedition

     For a long time people in Europe refused to believe the full truth of what had happened. For pride in their people or denial. Franklin was still widely respected, and people did not want to accept that his expedition had failed so abruptly. Some still believed that rescue ships had just barely missed the crew. It was highly believed that some of the survivors found their way into Inuit communities much farther north.

     However, the Inuit account remained the same years after years. That realization changed more than just the Franklin story. Even until this day, a new perspective is offered when traveling somewhere unknown. To follow those who have become familiar with that land and engage with the locals' knowledge.

     Today the Arctic remains to be a place of wonder and danger. It is home to many polar bears, whales, a plethora of different wildlife and people who have been able to thrive there for years. It is also constantly changing as the climate begins to warm and ice starts to melt faster than it ever has before. The Northwest Passage that Franklin set out for is now occasionally open in the summer which is a twist that some still say feels almost unbelievable. 

     Now why does the Franklin expedition still matter? It is because it continues to teach us about curiosity but also about humility. It shows the outcome of what can happen when we begin to believe that we can conquer nature rather than learn from it. It reminds us that listening to Indigenous knowledge can mean the smallest difference between disaster and survival. It can also prove that real life stories can be just as thrilling and emotional as anything that is produced in fiction. 

     If you tend to gravitate more towards mysteries, the Franklin Expedition offers a real one, unanswered questions, scattered clues, missing ships. If you’re drawn to adventure, it shows how far people are willing to go to explore places no one even really understood. And if you’re simply curious about the world, it lets you put yourself in a position to picture what it might be like to see the Arctic up close with your own eyes. The icy oceans, and even the skies lit up by the northern lights. 

     Some of those who learn about this story grow up to study the past as historians or archaeologists. Others feel a pull toward becoming writers or filmmakers who tell stories about the histories of the world. And some grow to be curious people who continue to ask questions and who stay wondering about how the world works and how stories are formed. The story of the Franklin expedition endures not simply because it is about ships mysteriously vanishing into the ice, but also because it captures a turning point in how humans understood exploration and our relationship with the natural world.

Photograph of John Irving, Third Lieutenant on HMS Terror during the Franklin Expedition

     What started out as a confident mission that was backed by the strongest empire at that time slowly turned into a lesson regarding knowing our limits, about technology, control and even our certainty. Franklin and his crew saw themselves to be prepared for everything the Arctic was about to throw at them. At the root, the expedition reflected the mindset that the nineteenth century was known for, a time when exploration was closely related to empire and economic advantage. The northwest passage was not merely just a geographical goal. It also symbolized dominance and progress, it also was a common belief that nature could be dealt with, with enough planning and technology.

     In European systems of knowledge, they were ready to take on what they were used to and what they already knew. But these same systems are what put them at risk when they were faced by an environment they could have never imagined. One that behaved as no one expected. The ice moved differently than the maps suggested. The land did not bend to their needs. The Arctic did not defeat Franklin's expedition from a place of cruelty it simply existed on its own terms as it always has.

Understanding and progress does not depend on conquering the unknown head on with little to no knowledge but listening to the land you are going into and having some prior knowledge when going in. Maybe someday you’ll think back to this story, not just while reading, but while looking out into cold Arctic water and being able to imagine two ships pushing into the ice and being able to put yourself in this story and wonder what it felt like to be there.