Canadian officials from Parks Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard have discovered fragments of copper in the Queen Maud Gulf (Canadian Arctic Archipelago) that is believed to have belonged to one of the two ships in the doomed Franklin expedition of the mid-1800s.

The Franklin expedition was one of the largest efforts by the British Empire to find the famous Northwest Passage and a viable trade route to the Far East.  Unfortunately, Sir John Franklin and all 128 crew members vanished and their story has become one of the most sought after maritime mysteries in the public-eye.  It is believed that the two ships (Erebus and Terror) got trapped in sea ice in the vicinity of Queen Maud Gulf and issues of lead poisoning and the remote location essentially sealed the fate of the entire expedition.

Canadian officials re-opened the search to solve the maritime mystery as means for Canadian heritage and as a program to assert Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic.  The research program into the Franklin expedition lasted six weeks (August through September) this year and is expected to resume through the next two summers.  

                                                                                                                   Painting of the two Franklin ships (Erebus and Terror)                                                    

Credit: Vancouver Sun

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Probe finds signs of doomed Franklin expedition – Vancouver Sun