Canadian Expedition Seeks to Solve Arctic Mystery

Canada is sending an expedition to the Arctic hoping to solve a mystery that dates back to 1845. They will be searching for the two lost ships of British explorer Sir John Franklin.
Canadian Expedition Seeks to Solve Arctic Mystery
A map of the probable routes taken by HMS Erebus and HMS Terror during Franklin’s lost expedition. Disko Bay (5) to Beechey Island and around Cornwallis Island (1) in 1845. Beechey Island down Peel Sound between Prince of Wales Island (2) and Somerset Island (3) and the Boothia Peninsula (4), to near King William Island in 1846. Wikimedia Commons/Finetooth/Kennonv, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
Joan Delaney
Joan Delaney
Senior Editor, Canadian Edition
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<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/uvic+team.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-285073" title="Research engineers Emmett Gamroth, Alison Proctor, and Jeff Kennedy with University of Victoria's Ocean Technology Lab pose with the lab's autonomous underwater vehicle. The three are participating in the Parks Canada effort to locate Sir John Franklin's lost ships. (UVic/Bluefin) " src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/uvic+team-676x450.jpg" alt="Research engineers Emmett Gamroth, Alison Proctor, and Jeff Kennedy with University of Victoria's Ocean Technology Lab pose with the lab's autonomous underwater vehicle. The three are participating in the Parks Canada effort to locate Sir John Franklin's lost ships. (UVic/Bluefin) " width="590" height="393"/></a>
Research engineers Emmett Gamroth, Alison Proctor, and Jeff Kennedy with University of Victoria's Ocean Technology Lab pose with the lab's autonomous underwater vehicle. The three are participating in the Parks Canada effort to locate Sir John Franklin's lost ships. (UVic/Bluefin)

VICTORIA, Canada—For the fourth straight season, Parks Canada is sending an expedition to the Arctic hoping to solve a mystery that dates back to 1845.

They will be searching the vast territory for the two lost ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, of British explorer Sir John Franklin. The ill-fated Franklin expedition set out to chart the Northwest Passage and find a safe and reliable route from Europe to the Orient.

The expedition was to last three years, but after 18 months the vessels went missing along with the 129 men on board. Although traces of the expedition have been found, the ships’ final resting places remain unknown.

A team of engineers from the University of Victoria’s Ocean Technology Lab in Canada will be using the lab’s autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to assist the Parks Canada team in its search.

Joan Delaney
Joan Delaney
Senior Editor, Canadian Edition
Joan Delaney is Senior Editor of the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times based in Toronto. She has been with The Epoch Times in various roles since 2004.
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