It must have been a miserable struggle for survival that occurred more than 170 years ago in northern Canada. In the end, not one has won this fight: all 129 members of the legendary polar expedition of Sir John Franklin died.
The ships "HMS Terror" and "HMS Erebus", with which the Briton set out in Great Britain in 1845 to explore the Arctic's Northwest Passage, had been lost for decades and were only discovered a few years ago. What happened once on board is still material for scientists, filmmakers and book authors - and still not exactly understood.
Researchers have now done new research. The Canadian National Park Administration has released shots taken by divers inside the sunken "HMS Terror". The wreck was found in 2016 at a depth of 24 meters in a bay off King William Island, now known as Terror Bay.
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Underwater archaeologists explored the "terror" for seven days. On their expeditions, they penetrated into the well-preserved lower deck of the ship for the first time. The wreck lay upright on the seabed, no anchor had been ejected, reported Project Manager Ryan Harris. Everything indicates that the ship had sunk unexpectedly and "left very, very quickly".
Cabin of the captain remained unreachable
The researchers were able to examine more than 90 percent of the lower deck. The pictures from the ship show, among other things, beds and tables, shelves with porcelain and glass bottles in the wardroom and measuring instruments. Only the sleeping quarters of Captain Francis Crozier remained unreachable because of a locked door.
In Crozier's cabin are still his desk and card cabinets and boxes that could possibly contain records or even the logbook. Thanks to the cold polar water and the low oxygen content, organic material such as paper remains very well preserved, the researchers said.
"Records could shed light on what happened - the chronology of events, when the two ships split up, and how they got to where they were eventually found abandoned," Project Leader Harris said. The prospect of unraveling the secrets of the fate of "terror" was "very exciting". The researchers want to continue their investigations in the coming summer.
Earlier, fourteen years after the ships left for the polar expedition, a crew of a ship chartered by Franklin's widow Lady Jane found a handwritten message on King William Island. Franklin and 23 other expedition members died already on June 11, 1847 in unspecified circumstances.
The ships were then apparently stuck on April 22, 1848 in the pack ice and were left by the remaining 105 crew members on foot over the ice. Nobody survived.
The investigation of the later found remains of some expedition members indicate, according to Canadian scientists, that they died from the consequences of cold, hunger and lead poisoning by lead-containing food cans.