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{{short description|British expedition of Arctic exploration}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
[[File:Franklin's-Lost-Expedition.png|thumb|Map of the probable routes taken by [[HMS Erebus (1826)|HMS ''Erebus'']] and [[HMS Terror (1813)|HMS ''Terror'']] during Franklin's lost expedition. Disko Bay is about {{cvt|3,200|km}} from the mouth of the Mackenzie River.]]
[[File:The Arctic Council planning a search for Sir John Franklin by Stephen Pearce.jpg|thumb|''The Arctic Council planning a search for Sir John Franklin'' by [[Stephen Pearce]], 1851. Left to right are: Sir [[George Back]]; Sir [[William Edward Parry]]; [[Edward Joseph Bird]]; Sir [[James Clark Ross]]; Sir [[Francis Beaufort]] (seated); Sir [[Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet|John Barrow]], Jnr.; Sir [[Edward Sabine]]; [[William Baillie-Hamilton|William A. Baillie-Hamilton]]; [[John Richardson (naturalist)|Sir John Richardson]]; and [[Frederick William Beechey]].]]
[[File:John Franklin 1845.JPG|thumb|upright|Sir [[John Franklin]] was Barrow's reluctant choice to lead the expedition.]]
[[File:LadyJaneFranklin.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of [[Jane Franklin|Jane Griffin]] (later Lady Franklin), 24, in 1815. She married John Franklin in 1828, a year before he was knighted.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Franklin, Jane, Lady (1792–1875) |encyclopaedia=[[Dictionary of Australian Biography]] |publisher=Angus and Robertson |year=1949 |via=[[Project Gutenberg Australia]] |url=http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks15/1500721h/0-dict-biogF.html#franklin1 |access-date=2 March 2008 |first1=Percival |last1=Serle}}</ref>]]
[[File:FrancisCrozier.jpg|thumb|upright|Captain [[Francis Crozier]], executive officer for the expedition, commanded {{HMS|Terror|1813|6}}.]]
[[File:James Fitzjames.jpg|thumb|upright|Commander [[James Fitzjames]] commanded the expedition's flagship, {{HMS|Erebus|1826|6}}.]]
'''Franklin's lost expedition''' was a failed British voyage of [[Arctic exploration]] led by [[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]] Sir [[John Franklin]] that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, {{HMS|Erebus|1826|6}} and {{HMS|Terror|1813|6}}, and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the [[Northwest Passage]] in the [[Canadian Arctic]] and to record magnetic data to help determine whether a better understanding could aid navigation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/franklin-expedition-canadian-artic-1845/|title = The Franklin Expedition: What happened on the ill-fated Victorian voyage?}}</ref> The expedition met with disaster after both ships and their crews, a total of 129 officers and men, became icebound in [[Victoria Strait]] near [[King William Island]] in what is today the Canadian territory of [[Nunavut]]. After being icebound for more than a year ''Erebus'' and ''Terror'' were abandoned in April 1848, by which point two dozen men, including Franklin, had died. The survivors, now led by Franklin's second-in-command, [[Francis Crozier]], and ''Erebus''{{'}}s captain, [[James Fitzjames]], set out for the Canadian mainland and disappeared, presumably having perished.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Neatby |first1=Leslie H. |last2=Mercer |first2=Keith |name-list-style=amp |title=Sir John Franklin |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-john-franklin/ |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=18 September 2015}}</ref>

Pressed by Franklin's wife, [[Jane Franklin|Jane]], and others, the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] launched a search for the missing expedition in 1848. In the many subsequent searches in the decades afterwards, several artefacts from the expedition were discovered, including the remains of two men, which were returned to Britain. A series of scientific studies in modern times suggested that the men of the expedition did not all die quickly. [[Hypothermia]], [[starvation]], [[lead poisoning]]<ref name="Battersby">{{cite journal |last1=Battersby |first1=William |url=http://www.hakluyt.com/PDF/Battersby_Franklin.pdf |title=Identification of the Probable Source of the Lead Poisoning Observed in Members of the Franklin Expedition |journal=[[Journal of the Hakluyt Society]] |year=2008 |access-date=25 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503045149/https://www.hakluyt.com/PDF/Battersby_Franklin.pdf |archive-date=3 May 2018}}</ref> or [[zinc deficiency]]<ref name=witze2016 /> and diseases including [[scurvy]], along with general exposure to a hostile environment while lacking adequate clothing and nutrition, killed everyone on the expedition in the years after it was last sighted by Europeans in 1845. Cut marks on some of the bones recovered during these studies also supported allegations of [[Human_cannibalism#Among_settlers,_sailors,_and_explorers|cannibalism]] reported by Franklin searcher [[John Rae (explorer)|John Rae]] in 1854.

Despite the expedition's notorious failure, it did succeed in exploring the vicinity of what was one of the many Northwest Passages to eventually be discovered. [[Robert McClure]] led [[McClure Arctic expedition|one of the expeditions]] that investigated the fate of Franklin's expedition, a voyage which was also beset by great challenges and later controversies. McClure's expedition returned after finding an ice-bound route that connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.<ref name=Armstrong1>{{cite book|last = Armstrong|first = A.|date = 1857|title = A Personal Narrative of the Discovery of the Northwest Passage|url = https://archive.org/details/apersonalnarrat00armsgoog|location = London|publisher = Hurst & Blackett|oclc = 1083888725}}</ref> The Northwest Passage was not navigated by boat until 1906, when [[Roald Amundsen]] traversed the passage on the ''[[Gjøa]]''.

In 2014, a search team led by [[Parks Canada]]<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/franklin-expedition-ship-found-in-arctic-id-d-as-hms-erebus-1.2784268 | title=Franklin expedition ship found in Arctic ID'd as HMS Erebus | date=1 October 2014 | publisher=CBC News | access-date=4 January 2019}}</ref> located the wreck of ''Erebus'' in the eastern portion of [[Queen Maud Gulf]]. Two years later, the Arctic Research Foundation found the wreck of ''Terror'' south of King William Island, in the body of water named [[Terror Bay]].<ref name="Guardian" /> Research and dive expeditions are an annual occurrence at the [[Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site|wreck sites]], now protected as a combined [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site]].

==Background==
The search by Europeans for a western shortcut by sea from Europe to Asia began with the voyages of Portuguese and Spanish explorers such as [[Bartolomeu Dias]], [[Vasco da Gama]] and [[Christopher Columbus]] in the 15th century. By the mid-19th century numerous exploratory expeditions had been mounted, originating mainly from England. These voyages, when successful, added to the sum of European geographic knowledge about the [[Western Hemisphere]], particularly North America. As that knowledge grew, exploration gradually shifted towards the [[Arctic]].

Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century voyagers who made geographic discoveries about North America included [[Martin Frobisher]], [[John Davis (English explorer)|John Davis]], [[Henry Hudson]] and [[William Baffin]]. In 1670 the incorporation of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC) led to further exploration of the Canadian coastlines, interior and adjacent Arctic seas. In the 18th century explorers of this region included [[James Knight (explorer)|James Knight]], [[Christopher Middleton (navigator)|Christopher Middleton]], [[Samuel Hearne]], [[James Cook]], [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Alexander MacKenzie]] and [[George Vancouver]]. By 1800 their discoveries had conclusively demonstrated that no [[Northwest Passage]] between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans existed in the temperate latitudes.{{sfn|Savours|1999|pp=1–38}}

In 1804 Sir [[Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet|John Barrow]] became Second Secretary of the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]], a post he held until 1845. Barrow began pushing for the [[Royal Navy]] to find a Northwest Passage over the top of Canada and to navigate toward the [[North Pole]], organising a major series of expeditions. Over those four decades explorers including [[John Ross (Royal Navy officer)|John Ross]]; [[David Buchan]]; [[William Edward Parry]]; [[Frederick William Beechey]]; [[James Clark Ross]] (nephew of John Ross); [[George Back]]; [[Peter Warren Dease]] and [[Thomas Simpson (explorer)|Thomas Simpson]] led productive expeditions to the [[Northern Canada|Canadian Arctic]]. Among those explorers was [[John Franklin]], who first travelled to the region in 1818 as second-in-command of an expedition towards the North Pole on the ships ''Dorothea'' and ''Trent''. Franklin was subsequently leader of two overland expeditions to and along the Canadian Arctic coast, in 1819–1822 and 1825–1827.{{sfn|Savours|1999|pp=39–166}}

By 1845 the combined discoveries of all these expeditions had reduced the unknown parts of the Canadian Arctic that might contain a Northwest Passage to a quadrilateral area of about {{cvt|181300|km2}}.{{sfn|Savours|1999|p=169}} It was in this unexplored area that the next expedition was to sail, heading west through [[Lancaster Sound]], then west and south – however ice, land and other obstacles might allow – with the goal of finding a Northwest Passage. The distance to be navigated was roughly {{cvt|1670|km}}.{{sfn|Cyriax|1939|pp=18–23}}

==Preparations==

===Command===
Barrow was now 82 years old and nearing the end of his career. He felt that the expeditions were close to finding a Northwest Passage, perhaps through what Barrow believed to be an ice-free [[Open Polar Sea]] around the North Pole. Barrow deliberated over who should command the next expedition. Parry, his first choice, was tired of the Arctic and politely declined.{{sfn|Sandler|2006|pp=65–74}} His second choice, James Clark Ross, also declined because he had promised his new wife that he had finished [[polar exploration]].{{sfn|Sandler|2006|pp=65–74}} His third choice, [[James Fitzjames]], was rejected by the Admiralty for his youth.{{sfn|Sandler|2006|pp=65–74}} Barrow also considered Back but thought he was too argumentative.{{sfn|Sandler|2006|pp=65–74}} [[Francis Crozier]], another possibility, was of humble birth and [[Irish people|Irish]], which counted against him.{{sfn|Sandler|2006|pp=65–74}} Reluctantly, Barrow settled on the 59-year-old Franklin.{{sfn|Sandler|2006|pp=65–74}}

The expedition was to consist of two ships, {{HMS|Erebus|1826|6}} and {{HMS|Terror|1813|6}}, both of which had been used for [[Ross expedition|James Clark Ross' expedition to the Antarctic]] in 1839–1843, during which Crozier had commanded ''Terror''. Franklin was given command of ''Erebus'', with Fitzjames as the vessel's second-in-command; Crozier was appointed his [[executive officer]] and was again made [[Commander (Royal Navy)|commander]] of ''Terror''. Franklin received command of the expedition on 7 February 1845, and his official instructions on 5 May 1845.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gibson |first1=William |title=Sir John Franklin's Last Voyage: A brief history of the Franklin expedition and the outline of the researches which established the facts of its tragic outcome |journal=The Beaver |page=48 |date=June 1937}}</ref>

===Ships, provisions and personnel===
{{Further|Personnel of Franklin's lost expedition}}
[[File:John Franklin expedition crew 1845.jpg|thumb|''Erebus'' officers. Top row left to right: Lt. Edward Couch (mate); James Walter Fairholme; Charles Hamilton Osmer (purser); Charles Frederick Des Voeux (2nd mate). 2nd row from top Left to right: Francis Crozier (HMS ''Terror''); Sir John Franklin; James Fitzjames. 3rd row from top left to right: Graham Gore (commander); Stephen Samuel Stanley (surgeon); 2nd Lt. Henry Thomas Dundas Le Vesconte. Bottom row left to right: Robert Orme Sergeant (1st mate); James Reid (master); Harry Duncan Goodsir (assistant surgeon); Henry Foster Collins (2nd master), sketches from daguerreotypes by [[Richard Beard (photographer)|Richard Beard]] – ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'' (1845)]]
[[File:Franklin Expedition 1845 - HMS Terror - Erebus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Engraving of HMS ''Erebus'' and HMS ''Terror'' departing for the Arctic in 1845]]
''Erebus'' (378 tons [[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]) and ''Terror'' (331 tons bm) were sturdily built and well equipped, including several recent inventions.{{sfn|Sandler|2006|p=70}} [[Steam engine]]s were fitted, driving a single [[screw propeller]] in each vessel; these engines were converted former [[steam locomotive|locomotives]] from the [[London & Croydon Railway]]. The ships could make {{cvt|7.4|km/h|kn|lk=out}} on steam power, or travel under wind power to reach higher speeds and/or save fuel.{{sfn|Savours|1999|p=180}}

Other advanced technology in the ships included reinforced [[bow (ship)|bow]]s constructed of heavy beams and iron plates, an internal steam heating system for the comfort of the crew in polar conditions, and a system of iron wells that allowed the screw propellers and iron rudders to be withdrawn into the hull to protect them from damage. The ships also carried libraries of more than 1,000&nbsp;books and three&nbsp;years' supply of food,{{sfn|Sandler|2006|pp=71–73}} which included [[canning|tinned]] soup and vegetables, [[salt-cured meat]], [[pemmican]], and several live cattle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/nu/epaveswrecks/culture/histoire-history/expedition/mange-eat |title=Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site – Food on board an Arctic expedition |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=27 May 2019 |publisher=Government of Canada – Parks Canada |access-date=13 March 2021}}</ref> The tinned food was supplied from a provisioner, Stephen Goldner, who was awarded the contract on 1 April 1845, a mere seven weeks before Franklin set sail.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=25, 158}} Goldner worked frantically on the large order of 8,000 tins. The haste required affected [[quality control]] of some of the tins, which were later found to have {{not a typo|[[Solder#Lead-based|lead soldering]]}} that was "thick and sloppily done, and dripped like melted candle wax down the inside surface".{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=113}}

Most of the crew were English, many from [[Northern England]], with smaller numbers of Irish, [[Welsh people|Welsh]] and [[Scottish people|Scottish]] members. Two of the sailors were not born in the British Isles: Charles Johnson was from [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]], Canada, and Henry Lloyd was from [[Kristiansand]], Norway.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Keenleyside|first1=Anne|last2=Stenton|first2=Douglas R.|last3=Newman|first3=Karla|date=October 2021|title=The integration of isotopic and historical data to investigate the identification of crew members of the 1845 Franklin expedition|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports|volume=40| page=103200 | doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103200 |bibcode=2021JArSR..40j3200K | s2cid=240256345}}</ref> The only officers with prior experience of the Arctic were Franklin, Crozier, ''Erebus'' [[Lieutenant commander (Royal Navy)|First Lieutenant]] [[Graham Gore]], ''Terror'' [[Ship's doctor|assistant surgeon]] [[Alexander McDonald (Royal Navy assistant surgeon)|Alexander McDonald]], and the two [[Master (naval)|ice-masters]], James Reid (''Erebus'') and Thomas Blanky (''Terror'').<ref>{{cite journal |date=Fall 2006 |editor-last=Potter |editor-first=Russell A. |editor-link=Russell Potter |title=Interview with Michael Smith, author of ''Captain Francis Crozier: Last Man Standing?'' |url=http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/abr/Smith_Interview.htm |journal=The Arctic Book Review |volume=8 |pages=1–2 |access-date=14 February 2008}}</ref>

== Outward journey and loss ==
[[File:Franklin exp.jpg|thumb|Relics of the Franklin expedition found in 1857 by McClintock]]

[[File:Model of the HMS Erebus (1826) trapped in the ice, Nattilik Heritage Centre, Gjoa Haven, September 2019.jpg|thumb|Model of ''Erebus'' trapped in the ice, [[Nattilik Heritage Centre]], [[Gjoa Haven]], [[Nunavut]]]]
The expedition set sail from [[Greenhithe, Kent|Greenhithe]], [[Kent]], on the morning of 19 May 1845, with a crew of 24&nbsp;officers and 110&nbsp;men. The ships stopped briefly to take aboard fresh water in [[Stromness]], [[Orkney Islands]], in northern Scotland. From there they sailed to [[Greenland]] with {{HMS|Rattler|1843|6}} and a transport ship, ''[[Barretto Junior]]''; the passage to Greenland took 30 days.{{sfn|Cookman|2000|p=74}}

At the Whalefish Islands in [[Disko Bay]], on the west coast of Greenland, ten oxen carried on ''Barretto Junior'' were slaughtered for fresh meat which was transferred to ''Erebus'' and ''Terror''. Crew members then wrote their last letters home, which recorded that Franklin had banned swearing and drunkenness.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Owen |first1=Roderick |title=The fate of Franklin |publisher=[[Hutchinson (publisher)|Hutchinson]] |year=1978 |location=London |page=236 |isbn=978-0-09-131190-2}}</ref> Five men were discharged due to sickness and sent home on ''Rattler'' and ''Barretto Junior'', reducing the final crew to 129 men.<ref name="cyriax1958"/>{{Failed verification|reason=probably mixed up somewhere during editing|date=January 2021}} In late July 1845 the [[whaler]]s ''Prince of Wales'' (Captain Dannett) and ''Enterprise'' (Captain Robert Martin) encountered ''Terror'' and ''Erebus''<ref>{{cite news|title=Sir John Franklin's Expedition|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24992474/sir_john_franklins_expedition/|newspaper=[[The Morning Post]]|date=25 October 1845|page=5|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = 31 October 2018}}</ref> in [[Baffin Bay]], where they were waiting for good conditions to cross to [[Lancaster Sound]].{{sfn|Cyriax|1939|pp=66–68}} The expedition was never seen again by Europeans.

Only limited information is available for subsequent events, pieced together over the next 150&nbsp;years by other expeditions, explorers, scientists and interviews with [[Inuit]]. The only first-hand information on the expedition's progress is the two-part ''Victory Point Note'' {{See below}} found in the aftermath on King William Island. Franklin's men spent the winter of 1845–46 on [[Beechey Island]], where three crew members died and were buried. After travelling down Peel Sound through the summer of 1846, ''Terror'' and ''Erebus'' became trapped in ice off [[King William Island]] in September 1846 and are thought never to have sailed again. According to the second part of the Victory Point Note dated 25 April 1848 and signed by Fitzjames and Crozier, the crew had wintered off King William Island in 1846–47 and 1847–48 and Franklin had died on 11 June 1847. The remaining crew had abandoned the ships and planned to walk over the island and across the sea ice towards the [[Back River (Nunavut)|Back River]] on the Canadian mainland, beginning on 26 April 1848. In addition to Franklin, eight further officers and 15 men had also died by this point. The Victory Point Note is the last known communication of the expedition.<ref name="Stenton 2018 pp. 197–212"/>

From archaeological finds it is believed that all of the remaining crew died on the subsequent {{cvt|400|km}} long march<ref name="Stenton 2018 pp. 197–212"/> to Back River, most on the island. Thirty or forty men reached the northern coast of the mainland before dying, still hundreds of miles from the nearest outpost of [[Western culture|Western civilisation]].{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=19–50}}

===The Victory Point Note===
[[File:Franklinexpeditionnote.jpg|thumb|upright|The "Victory Point" note]]
The Victory Point Note was found eleven years later in May 1859 by William Hobson (lieutenant on the [[McClintock Arctic expedition]])<ref name="stenton2014">{{cite journal |last1=Stenton |first1=Douglas R. |title=A most inhospitable coast: the report of Lieutenant William Hobson's 1859 search for the Franklin expedition on King William Island |journal=Arctic |date=2014 |volume=67 |issue=4 |pages=511–522 |doi=10.14430/arctic4424|doi-access=free }}</ref> placed in a cairn on the north-western coast of King William Island. It consists of two parts written on a pre-printed Admiralty form. The first part was written after the first overwintering in 1847 and the second part was added one year later. From the second part it can be inferred that the document was first deposited in a different cairn previously erected by James Clark Ross in 1830 during [[John Ross (Royal Navy officer)#1829: Second Arctic expedition|John Ross's Second Arctic expedition]] – at a location Ross named ''Victory Point''.<ref name="cyriax1952">{{cite journal |last1=Cyriax |first1=Richard J. |title=The position of Victory Point, King William Island |journal=Polar Record |date=1952 |volume=6 |issue=44 |pages=496–507|doi=10.1017/S0032247400047288 |bibcode=1952PoRec...6..496C |s2cid=129585567}}</ref> The document is therefore referred to as the ''Victory Point Note''.

The first message is written in the body of the form and dates from 28 May 1847.
{{Quote frame|H.M.S ships 'Erebus' and 'Terror' wintered in the Ice in lat. 70 05' N., long. 98 23' W. Having wintered in 1846–7 at Beechey Island{{ref label|wrongdate|a}}, in lat. 74 43' 28" N., long. 91 39' 15" W., after having ascended Wellington Channel to lat. 77°, and returned by the west side of Cornwallis Island. Sir John Franklin commanding the expedition. <u>All well.</u>
Party consisting of 2 officers and 6 men left the ships on Monday 24th May, 1847.

(Signed) GM. GORE, Lieut.
(Signed) CHAS. F. DES VOEUX, Mate.}}

The second and final part is written largely on the margins of the form owing to a lack of remaining space on the document. It was presumably written on 25 April 1848.

{{Quote frame|[25th April 1]848 H.M. ships 'Terror' and 'Erebus' were deserted on the 22nd April, 5 leagues N.N.W. of this, [hav]ing been beset since 12th September, 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the command [of Cap]tain F.R.M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 69˚ 37' 42" N., long. 98˚ 41' W. [This p]aper was found by Lt. Irving under the cairn supposed to have

been built by Sir James Ross in 1831–4 miles to the Northward{{snd}}where it had been deposited by the late Commander Gore in {{S|May}} June 1847. Sir James Ross’ pillar has not however been found and the paper has been transferred to this position which is that in which Sir J. Ross’ pillar was erected{{snd}}Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June, 1847; and the total loss

by deaths in the expedition has been to this date 9 officers and 15 men.
(Signed) JAMES FITZJAMES, Captain H.M.S. Erebus.

(Signed) F.R.M. CROZIER, Captain & Senior Offr.
and start on tomorrow, 26th, for Back's Fish River.<ref name="cyriax1958">{{cite journal|last1=Cyriax|first1=Richard J.|title=The Two Franklin Expedition Records Found on King William Island|journal=The Mariner's Mirror|year=1958|volume=44|issue=3|page=186|doi=10.1080/00253359.1958.10658393}}</ref>}}

[[File:Graham Gore Franklin 1845.jpg|thumb|Lieutenant [[Graham Gore]], who alongside Charles Frederick Des Voeux signed and deposited the Victory Point Note in May 1847.]]
In 1859 Hobson found a second document using the same Admiralty form containing an almost identical duplicate of the first message from 1847 in a cairn a few miles southwest at Gore Point. This document did not contain the second message. From the handwriting it is assumed that all messages were written by Fitzjames. As he did not take part in the landing party that deposited the notes originally in 1847, it is inferred that both documents were originally filled in by Fitzjames on board the ships, with Lieutenant [[Graham Gore]] and Mate [[Charles Frederick Des Voeux]] adding their signatures as members of the landing party. This is further supported by the fact that both documents contain the same factual errors {{en dash}} namely the wrong date of the wintering on Beechey Island. In 1848, after the abandonment of the ships and subsequent recovery of the document from the Victory Point cairn, Fitzjames added the second message signed by him and Crozier and deposited the note in the cairn found by Hobson eleven years later.<ref name="cyriax1958"/>

==19th century expeditions==
===Early searches===
[[File:A chart illustrative of the cruise of the American Arctic expedition in search of sir John Franklin in the years 1850 %26 51 fitted out by Henry Gunnell - UvA-BC OTM HB-KZL 101.14.13.jpg|thumb|Searches in 1850–1851]]
After two years had passed with no word from Franklin, public concern grew and [[Jane Franklin|Jane, Lady Franklin]], as well as members of Parliament and British newspapers, urged the Admiralty to send a search party. Although the Admiralty said it did not feel any reason to be alarmed,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sir John Franklin's Expedition |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28026736/sir_john_franklins_expedition/ |newspaper=Sheffield and Rotherham Independent |date=13 November 1847 |page=3 |via =[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=4 February 2019}} {{free access}}</ref> it responded by developing a three-pronged plan which in the spring of 1848 sent an [[Rae–Richardson Arctic expedition|overland rescue party]], led by [[John Richardson (naturalist)|John Richardson]] and [[John Rae (explorer)|John Rae]], down the [[Mackenzie River]] to the Canadian Arctic coast.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Richardson |first1=John |title=Arctic Searching Expedition: A Journal of a Boat-voyage Through Rupert's Land and the Arctic Sea, in Search of the Discovery Ships Under Command of Sir John Franklin |publisher=Harper & Bros. |year=1852 |isbn=9781108057707 |location=New York, NY |pages=27}}</ref>

Two expeditions by sea were also launched {{ndash}} one, led by James Clark Ross, entering the Canadian Arctic archipelago through Lancaster Sound and the other, commanded by Henry Kellett, entering from the Pacific.{{sfn|Savours|1999|pp=186–189}} In addition, the Admiralty offered a reward of £20,000 (£{{formatnum:{{inflation|UK|20000|1848|r=-2}}}} as of {{CURRENTISOYEAR}}) "to any Party or Parties, of any country, who shall render assistance to the crews of the Discovery Ships under the command of Sir John Franklin".{{sfn|Sandler|2006|p=80}} When the three-pronged effort failed, British national concern and interest in the Arctic increased until "finding Franklin became nothing less than a crusade."{{sfn|Sandler|2006|pp=87–88}} Ballads such as "[[Lady Franklin's Lament]]", commemorating Lady Franklin's search for her lost husband, became popular.{{sfn|Sandler|2006|p=266}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Potter |first1=Russell A |title=Songs and Ballads About Sir John Franklin |url=http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/ballad.html |access-date=26 February 2008}}</ref>

Many joined the search. In 1850, eleven British and [[First Grinnell expedition|two American ships]] cruised the Canadian Arctic, including the [[Breadalbane (ship)|''Breadalbane'']] and her sister ship {{HMS|Phoenix}}.{{sfn|Sandler|2006|p=102}} Several converged off the east coast of Beechey Island, where the first relics of the expedition were found, including remnants of a winter camp from 1845 to 1846. [[Robert Anstruther Goodsir|Robert Goodsir]], surgeon on the brig ''Lady Franklin'', found the graves of [[John Torrington]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Geiger |first1=John |title='Iceman' Torrington Was Last of His Line |work=The Edmonton Sun |date=9 December 1984}}</ref> [[John Hartnell]] and [[William Braine]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Strachan|first1=Graeme|title=The Terror: Covid puts brakes on search for Harry Goodsir sunken treasures|url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/nostalgia/2384956/terror-harry-goodsir/|access-date=2021-07-20|website=The Courier|date=19 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Freebairn|first1=Alison|date=2021-01-04|title=Robert Goodsir and the Franklin graves on Beechey Island|url=https://finger-post.blog/2021/01/04/robert-goodsir-beechey-island/|access-date=2021-07-20|website=THERE STOOD NO FRIENDLY FINGER-POST TO GUIDE US}}</ref> No messages from the Franklin expedition were found at this site.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Geiger |first1=John |title=Was Murder Uncovered? |work=The Edmonton Sun |date=3 October 1984}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Picard |first1=Carol |title=Iceman Wasn't 'Iced' – Autopsy on Seaman Reveals No Evidence of Foul Play |work=The Edmonton Sun |date=10 October 1984}}</ref>

In the spring of 1851, passengers and crew aboard several ships observed a huge iceberg off [[Newfoundland]], which bore two vessels, one upright and one on its beam ends.{{sfn|Gould|1928|pp=52–81}} The ships were not examined closely. It was suggested at the time that the ships could have been ''Erebus'' and ''Terror'' but it is now known that they were not; it is likely that they were abandoned whaling ships.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/digital/abb/1852k.html |title=Arctic Blue Books – British Parliamentary Papers Abstract, 1852k. |publisher=Great Britain House of Commons |access-date=10 September 2014 |date=1852 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref>

In 1852 [[Edward Belcher]] was given command of the government Arctic expedition in search of Franklin. It was unsuccessful; Belcher's inability to render himself popular with his subordinates was peculiarly unfortunate on an Arctic voyage and he was not wholly suited to commanding vessels among ice. Four of the five ships ({{HMS|Resolute|1850|6}}, ''Pioneer'', {{HMS|Assistance|1850|2}} and ''Intrepid''){{sfn|Mowat|1973|p=285}} were abandoned in [[pack ice]], for which Belcher was [[court-martial]]led but [[acquittal|acquitted]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Edward Belcher collection - Archives Hub |url=http://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb15-edwardbelcher |access-date=2024-01-22 |website=archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk}}</ref>

One of these ships, HMS ''Resolute'', was eventually recovered intact by an American whaler and returned to the United Kingdom. Timbers from the ship were later used to manufacture three desks, one of which, the [[Resolute desk|''Resolute'' desk]], was presented by [[Queen Victoria]] to [[President of the United States|US President]] [[Rutherford B. Hayes]]; it has often been chosen by presidents for use in the [[Oval Office]] in the [[White House]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Treasures of the White House: "Resolute" Desk |url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/treasures-of-the-white-house-resolute-desk |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=WHHA (en-US)}}</ref>

===Overland searches===
{{Main|Rae–Richardson Arctic expedition|McClintock Arctic expedition}}
[[File:Reward for finding Franklin Expedition.jpg|thumb|upright|Poster offering a reward for help in finding the expedition]]
In 1854, Rae, while surveying the [[Boothia Peninsula]] for the HBC, discovered further evidence of the expedition's fate. Rae met an [[Inuit|Inuk]] near Pelly Bay (now [[Kugaaruk, Nunavut]]) on 21 April 1854, who told him of a party of 35 to 40 white men who had died of [[starvation]] near the mouth of the Back River. Other Inuit confirmed this story, which included reports of [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]] among the dying sailors. 

The Inuit showed Rae many objects that were identified as having belonged to members of the Franklin expedition. In particular, Rae bought from the Inuit several silver forks and spoons later identified as belonging to Franklin; Fitzjames; Crozier; and [[James Walter Fairholme]] and Robert Orme Sargent, two crewmembers from ''Erebus''. Rae's report was sent to the Admiralty, which in October 1854 urged the HBC to send an expedition down the Back River to search for other signs of Franklin and his men.{{sfn|Klutschak|Barr|1989|pp=xv–xvi}}{{sfn|Savours|1999|pp=270–277}}

Next were Chief Factor James Anderson and HBC employee James Stewart, who travelled north by canoe to the mouth of the Back River. In July 1855, a band of Inuit told them of a group of ''qallunaat'' ([[Inuktitut]] for "whites" or "Europeans", perhaps best translated as "foreigners") who had starved to death along the coast.{{sfn|Klutschak|Barr|1989|pp=xv–xvi}} In August, Anderson and Stewart found a piece of wood inscribed with "Erebus" and another that said "Mr. Stanley" (surgeon aboard ''Erebus'') on [[Montreal Island (Nunavut)|Montreal Island]] in [[Chantrey Inlet]], where the Back River meets the sea.{{sfn|Klutschak|Barr|1989|pp=xv–xvi}}

Despite the findings of Rae and Anderson, the Admiralty did not plan another search of its own. The Royal Navy officially labelled the crew deceased in service on 31 March 1854.{{sfn|Cookman|2000|p=2}} Lady Franklin, failing to convince the government to fund another search, personally commissioned [[McClintock Arctic expedition|one more expedition]] under [[Francis Leopold McClintock]]. The expedition ship, the steam [[schooner]] ''[[Fox (ship)|Fox]]'', bought via public subscription, sailed from [[Aberdeen]] on 2 July 1857.

In April 1859, [[sled]] parties set out from ''Fox'' to search on King William Island. On 5 May, the party led by Lieutenant William Hobson discovered the ''Victory Point Note'', which detailed the abandonment of ''Erebus'' and ''Terror'', death of Franklin and other crewmembers, and the decision by the survivors to march south to the mainland.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/arctic/note-transcript.html |title=NOVA Arctic Passage – The Note in the Cairn (transcript) |access-date=31 January 2008 |work=PBS |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331205033/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/arctic/note-transcript.html |archive-date=31 March 2015 |url-status=live |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref> On the western extreme of King William Island, Hobson also discovered a [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboat]] containing two human skeletons and relics from the Franklin expedition. In the boat was a large amount of abandoned equipment, including boots, silk handkerchiefs, scented soap, sponges, slippers, hair combs and many books, among them a copy of ''[[The Vicar of Wakefield]]'' by [[Oliver Goldsmith]].{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=34–40}}

Elsewhere, on the island's southern coast, McClintock's searchers found another skeleton. Still clothed, it was searched, and some papers were found, including a seaman's certificate for Chief Petty Officer [[Harry Peglar]] of ''Terror''. However, since the uniform was that of a ship's steward, it is more likely that the body was that of Thomas Armitage, gun-room steward on ''Terror'' and a shipmate of Peglar, whose papers he carried.{{sfn|Savours|1999|pp=295–296}} McClintock himself took testimony from the Inuit about the expedition's disastrous end.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=34–40}}

Two expeditions between 1860 and 1869 by [[Charles Francis Hall]], who lived among the Inuit near [[Frobisher Bay]] on Baffin Island and later at [[Repulse Bay, Nunavut|Repulse Bay]] on the Canadian mainland, found camps, graves and relics on the southern coast of King William Island, but he believed none of the Franklin survivors would be found among the Inuit. In 1869, local Inuit took Hall to a shallow grave on the island containing well-preserved skeletal remains and fragments of clothing.<ref>Woodman, D.C. Unravelling the Franklin Mystery: Inuit Testimony. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1991</ref> These remains were taken to England and interred beneath the Franklin Memorial at [[Greenwich Royal Naval College|Greenwich Old Royal Naval College]], [[London]]. 

The eminent [[biologist]] [[Thomas Henry Huxley]] examined the remains and concluded that they belonged to [[Henry Thomas Dundas Le Vesconte]], second lieutenant on ''Erebus''.<ref>Owen, R., The Fate of Franklin. London, Hutchinson, 1978</ref> An examination in 2009 suggested that these were actually the remains of [[Harry Goodsir]], assistant surgeon on ''Erebus''.<ref>Mays, S., et al., New light on the personal identification of a skeleton of a member of Sir John Franklin’s last expedition to the Arctic, 1845, Journal of Archaeological Science (2011), {{doi|10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.022}}</ref> Although Hall concluded that all of the Franklin crew were dead, he believed that the official expedition records would yet be found under a stone cairn.{{sfn|Schwatka|1965|pp=12–15}} With the assistance of his guides [[Ipirvik]] and [[Taqulittuq]], Hall gathered hundreds of pages of Inuit testimony.

[[File:Durand-brager-453.png|thumb|upright=1.1|William Hobson and his men finding the cairn with the "Victory Point" note, Back Bay, King William Island, May 1859]]
Among these materials were accounts of visits to Franklin's ships, and an encounter with a party of white men on the southern coast of King William Island near Washington Bay. In the 1990s, this testimony was extensively researched by [[David C. Woodman]] and was the basis of two books, ''Unravelling the Franklin Mystery'' (1992) and ''Strangers Among Us'' (1995), in which he reconstructs the final months of the expedition. Woodman's narrative challenged existing theories that the survivors all perished over the remainder of 1848 as they marched south from Victory Point, arguing instead that Inuit accounts point strongly to most of the 105 survivors cited by Crozier in his final note actually surviving past 1848, re-manning at least one of the ships and managing to sail it down along the coast of King William Island before it sank, with some crew members surviving as late as 1851.{{sfn|Woodman|1992|pp=6–8}}

The hope of finding other additional expedition records led Lieutenant [[Frederick Schwatka]] of the [[United States Army]] to organise an expedition to King William Island between 1878 and 1880. Travelling to [[Hudson Bay]] on the schooner ''Eothen'', Schwatka, assembling a team that included Inuit who had assisted Hall, continued north by foot and [[dog sled]], interviewing Inuit, visiting known or likely sites of Franklin expedition remains, and wintering on the island. Although Schwatka failed to find the hoped-for papers, in a speech at a dinner given in his honour by the [[American Geographical Society]] in 1880, he said that his expedition had made "the longest sledge journey ever made both in regard to time and distance"{{sfn|Schwatka|1965|pp=115–116}} of eleven months and four days and {{cvt|4360|km}}, that it was the first Arctic expedition on which the whites relied entirely on the same diet as the Inuit, and that it established the loss of the Franklin records "beyond all reasonable doubt".{{sfn|Schwatka|1965|pp=115–116}} However, Schwatka was successful in locating the remains of one of Franklin's men, identified by personal effects as [[John Irving (Royal Navy officer)|John Irving]], third lieutenant aboard ''Terror''. Schwatka had Irving's remains returned to Scotland, where they were buried with full honours at [[Dean Cemetery]] in [[Edinburgh]] on 7 January 1881.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/grave-of-lieutenant-john-irving|title=Grave of Lieutenant John Irving|website=Atlasobscura.com|access-date=25 August 2023}}</ref>

The Schwatka expedition found no remnants of the Franklin expedition south of a place now known as Starvation Cove on the [[Adelaide Peninsula]]. This was about {{cvt|40|mi|order=flip}} north of Crozier's stated goal, the Back River, and several hundred miles away from the nearest Western outpost, on the [[Great Slave Lake]]. Woodman wrote of Inuit reports that between 1852 and 1858 Crozier and one other expedition member were seen in the [[Baker Lake, Nunavut|Baker Lake]] area, about {{cvt|400|km}} to the south, where in 1948 [[Farley Mowat]] found "a very ancient cairn, not of normal Eskimo construction" inside which were shreds of a hardwood box with [[dovetail joint]]s.{{sfn|Woodman|1992|p=317}}<ref>Woodman was unable to track down the origin of these Inuit reports, and the builder or origins of the cairn found by Mowat are unknown.</ref>

===Contemporary search expeditions===
1848
* East: [[James Clark Ross]] ({{HMS|Enterprise|1848|6}}, {{HMS|Investigator|1848|6}}) only to Somerset Island because of ice.
* Centre: [[Rae–Richardson Arctic expedition]] Mackenzie River and along the coast.
* West: HMS ''Plover'', HMS ''Herald'' to Bering Strait; [[William Pullen]] reaches Mackenzie by whaleboat.
1850
* West: [[Richard Collinson]] (HMS ''Enterprise''), [[Robert McClure]] (HMS ''Investigator'') to Bering Strait. McClure frozen in at Banks Island and ''Investigator'' abandoned after two winters, [[McClure Arctic expedition|crew trek]] east to Belcher expedition ships, becoming first Europeans to cross the northwest passage. Collinson reaches Coronation Gulf, furthest east of any ship.
* East: [[Horatio Austin]] ({{HMS|Resolute|1850|6}}), [[Erasmus Ommanney]] ({{HMS|Assistance|1850|6}}), plus two steam tenders, ''Pioneer'' and ''Intrepid'' (Cpt. John Bertie Cator 1850). Ommanney finds Franklin's Beechey Island camp. Austin's four and the below ships gather around Beechey Island, are frozen in, and in spring send out sledge expeditions in all directions. They leave the Arctic before winter in 1851.
* East: Charles Forsyth (''Prince Albert'') financed by Lady Franklin; sledge on Somerset Island to Fury Beach.
* East: [[William Penny]] (''Lady Franklin'' and ''Sophia'')
* East: [[John Ross (Royal Navy officer)|John Ross]] (schooner ''Felix'')
* East: [[Edwin De Haven]] ({{USS|Rescue|1850|6}}, {{USS|Advance|1850|6}}) mounts the [[first Grinnell expedition]].
1851
* [[William Kennedy (explorer)|William Kennedy]] (''Prince Albert'' again) finds [[Bellot Strait]], proving that Somerset Island is an island.
1852
* [[Edward Augustus Inglefield]] in northern Baffin Bay.
* [[Edward Belcher]] in five ships: HMS ''Assistance'' (Belcher), HMS ''Resolute'' ([[Henry Kellett]]), ''Pioneer'' ([[Sherard Osborn]]), ''Intrepid'' ([[Francis Leopold McClintock]]), and depot ship {{HMS|North Star|1824|6}} (William Pullen); much sledge exploration; rescues crew of HMS ''Investigator''; all frozen in and abandoned except for ''North Star''. Joined by supply ships ''[[Breadalbane (ship)|Breadalbane]]'', which would be crushed by ice, and {{HMS|Phoenix|1832|6}}, which with ''North Star'' takes off crews of the other ships, including that of McClure's HMS ''Investigator'', in 1854.
* [[Elisha Kane]] leads the [[Second Grinnell expedition]].
* Boat expedition up the Wellington Channel under the command of R. M'Cormick, R.N., in HMB ''Forlorn Hope.''
1854
* [[John Rae (explorer)|John Rae]] learns where Franklin lost his ship.
1855
* Anderson and Stewart descend the [[Back River (Nunavut)|Back River]] and find relics in [[Chantrey Inlet]].
1857
* Francis McClintock [[McClintock Arctic expedition|finds relics]] at King William Island, including the sole surviving written records of the Franklin expedition (the Victory Point and Gore Point records), and a ship's boat on runners containing two corpses.
1869
* [[Charles Francis Hall]] at King William Island
1875
* [[Allen Young]] blocked at Peel Sound
1878
* [[Frederick Schwatka]] at King William Island

==Modern expeditions==
===King William Island excavations (1981–1982)===
In June 1981, [[Owen Beattie]], a professor of [[anthropology]] at the [[University of Alberta]], began the 1845–1848 Franklin Expedition Forensic Anthropology Project (FEFAP) when he and his team of researchers and field assistants travelled from [[Edmonton]] to King William Island, traversing the island's western coast as Franklin's men did 132 years before. FEFAP hoped to find artefacts and skeletal remains in order to use modern [[forensic science|forensics]] to establish identities and causes of death among the lost 129 crewmembers.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=51–52}}

Although the trek found archaeological artefacts related to 19th-century Europeans and undisturbed [[Disarticulation|disarticulated]] human remains, Beattie was disappointed that more remains were not found.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=58}} Examining the bones of Franklin crewmen, he noted areas of pitting and scaling often found in cases of [[vitamin C]] deficiency, the cause of [[scurvy]].{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=56}} After returning to Edmonton, he compared notes from the survey with James Savelle, an Arctic archaeologist, and noticed skeletal patterns suggesting cannibalism.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=58–62}} Seeking information about the Franklin crew's health and diet, he sent bone samples to the Alberta Soil and Feed Testing Laboratory for [[trace element]] analysis and assembled another team to visit King William Island. The analysis would find an unexpected level of 226 [[parts per million]] (ppm) of lead in the crewman's bones, which was ten times higher than the [[Scientific control|control]] samples, taken from Inuit skeletons from the same geographic area, of 26–36 ppm.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=83}}

In June 1982, a team made up of Beattie and three students (Walt Kowall, a graduate student in anthropology at the University of Alberta; Arne Carlson, an [[archaeology]] and [[geography]] student from [[Simon Fraser University]] in [[British Columbia]]; and Arsien Tungilik, an Inuk student and field assistant) was flown to the west coast of King William Island where they retraced some of the steps of McClintock in 1859 and Schwatka in 1878–79.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=63}} Discoveries during this expedition included the remains of between six and fourteen men in the vicinity of McClintock's "boat place" and artefacts including a complete boot sole fitted with makeshift cleats for better traction.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=77–82}}

===Beechey Island excavations and exhumations (1984–1986)===
After returning to Edmonton in 1982 and learning of the lead level findings from the 1981 expedition, Beattie struggled to find a cause. Possibilities included the lead solder used to seal the expedition's food tins, other food containers lined with lead foil, [[food colouring]], [[tobacco products]], [[pewter]] tableware, and lead-[[Candle wick|wicked]] candles. He came to suspect that the problems of lead poisoning compounded by the effects of scurvy could have been lethal for the Franklin crew. However, because skeletal lead might reflect lifetime exposure rather than exposure limited to the voyage, Beattie's theory could be tested only by forensic examination of preserved soft tissue as opposed to bone. Beattie decided to examine the graves of the buried crewmen on Beechey Island.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=83–85}}

After obtaining legal permission,{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=86–87}} Beattie's team visited Beechey Island in August 1984 to perform [[autopsy|autopsies]] on the three crewmen buried there.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=85}} They started with John Torrington, the first crew member to die.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://preservedremains.wikispaces.com/John+Torrington|title=Preserved Remains – John Torrington|date=27 July 2018|access-date=25 August 2023|archive-date=27 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727043328/https://preservedremains.wikispaces.com/John+Torrington|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>{{sps|certain=y|date=November 2023}} After completing Torrington's autopsy and exhuming and briefly examining the body of John Hartnell, the team, pressed for time and threatened by weather, returned to Edmonton with tissue and bone samples.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=111–120}} Trace element analysis of Torrington's bones and hair indicated that the crewman "would have suffered severe mental and physical problems caused by lead poisoning".{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=123}} Although the autopsy indicated that [[pneumonia]] had been the ultimate cause of the crewman's death, lead poisoning was cited as a contributing factor.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=122–123}}

During the expedition, the team visited a place about {{cvt|1|km}} north of the gravesite to examine fragments of hundreds of food tins discarded by Franklin's men. Beattie noted that the seams were poorly soldered with lead, which had likely come in direct contact with the food.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=158}}<ref name="LLTissues1">{{cite journal |last1=Kowall |first1=W. A. |last2=Krahn |first2=P. M. |last3=Beattie |first3=O. B. |name-list-style=amp |title=Lead Levels in Human Tissues from the Franklin Forensic Project |journal=International Journal Environmental Analytical Chemistry |volume=35 |issue=2 |page=121 |year=1989 |doi=10.1080/03067318908028385|bibcode=1989IJEAC..35..119K }}</ref> The release of findings from the 1984 expedition and the photo of Torrington, a 138-year-old corpse well preserved by Arctic [[permafrost]], led to wide media coverage and renewed interest in the Franklin expedition.

Subsequent research has suggested that another potential source for the lead may have been the ships' [[distilled water]] systems rather than the tinned food. K. T. H. Farrer argued that "it is impossible to see how one could ingest from the canned food the amount of lead, 3.3&nbsp;mg per day over eight months, required to raise the PbB to the level 80&nbsp;μg/dL at which symptoms of lead poisoning begin to appear in adults and the suggestion that bone lead in adults could be 'swamped' by lead ingested from food over a period of a few months, or even three years, seems scarcely tenable."<ref>{{cite journal |first1=K. T. H. |last1=Farrer |title=Lead and the Last Franklin Expedition |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=20 |issue=4 |year=1993 |pages=399–409 |doi=10.1006/jasc.1993.1024|bibcode=1993JArSc..20..399F}}</ref> In addition, tinned food was in widespread use within the Royal Navy at that time and its use did not lead to any significant increase in lead poisoning elsewhere.

However, and uniquely for this expedition only, the ships were fitted with converted railway locomotive engines for auxiliary propulsion which required an estimated one tonne of fresh water per hour when steaming. It is highly probable that it was for this reason that the ships were fitted with a unique [[desalination]] system which, given the materials in use at the time, would have produced large quantities of water with a very high lead content. William Battersby has argued that this is a much more likely source for the high levels of lead observed in the remains of expedition members than the tinned food.<ref name="Battersby"/>

A further survey of the graves was undertaken in 1986. A camera crew filmed the procedure, shown in a 1988 episode of the American programme ''[[Nova (American TV series)|Nova]]''.<ref>{{cite video |first1=Owen |last1=Beattie |title=Buried in Ice |medium=television |publisher=WGHB and NOVA |location=Beechey Island |date=1988}}</ref> Under difficult field conditions, Derek Notman, a [[radiologist]] and medical doctor from the [[University of Minnesota]], and radiology technician Larry Anderson took many [[X-ray]]s of the crewmen prior to autopsy. Barbara Schweger, an [[Arctic clothing]] specialist, and Roger Amy, a [[pathologist]], assisted in the investigation.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=130–145}}

Beattie and his team had noticed that someone else had attempted to exhume Hartnell. In the effort, a [[pickaxe]] had damaged the wooden lid of his coffin, and the coffin plaque was missing.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=116}} Research in Edmonton later showed that Sir Edward Belcher, commander of one of the Franklin rescue expeditions, had ordered the exhumation of Hartnell in October 1852, but was thwarted by the permafrost. One month later, [[Edward Augustus Inglefield|Edward A. Inglefield]], commander of another rescue expedition, succeeded with the exhumation and removed the coffin's plaque.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=116–118}}

Unlike Hartnell's grave, the grave of Private William Braine was largely intact.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=146–147}} When he was exhumed, the survey team saw signs that his burial had been hasty. His arms, body and head had not been positioned carefully in the coffin, and one of his undershirts had been put on backwards.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=150}} The coffin seemed too small for him; its lid had pressed down on his nose. A large copper plaque with his name and other personal data punched into it adorned his coffin lid.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=148}}

<gallery mode="packed">
File: 2018-09-30 01 Franklin Camp grave images, Nunavut Canada 2015-09-11.jpg|The four graves at Franklin Camp near the harbour on [[Beechey Island]], [[Nunavut]], Canada.
File:2018-09-30 02 Franklin Camp grave images, Nunavut Canada 2015-09-11.jpg|(L–R) Three grave stones commemorate [[John Torrington]], [[William Braine]] and [[John Hartnell]] of the Franklin Expedition. A fourth headstone marks the grave of a sailor named Thomas Morgan who came later in a Franklin search expedition and died at the camp.
</gallery>

[[File:Map Remains of Franklin's Lost Expedition.svg|thumb|Sites of remains of Franklin's Lost Expedition]]

===NgLj-2 excavations (1992)===
In 1992, Franklin scholar Barry Ranford and his colleague, Mike Yarascavitch, discovered human skeletal remains and artefacts of what they suspected to be some of the lost crewmen of the expedition.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Finding Franklin: the untold story of a 165-year search|last1=Potter |first1=Russell A.|date=September 2016|isbn=978-0-7735-9961-1|edition=DesLibris e-book|location=Montreal [Quebec]|oclc=959865229}}</ref>{{sfn|Savours|1999}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Exploring polar frontiers: a historical encyclopedia|last1=Mills|first1= William J.|date=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=1-57607-422-6|location=Santa Barbara, California|oclc=52948935}}</ref> The site matches the physical description of McClintock's "boat place". In 1993, a team of archaeologists and [[forensic anthropologist]]s returned to the site, which they referenced as "NgLj-2", on the western shores of King William Island, to excavate these remains. These excavations uncovered nearly 400 bones and bone fragments, and physical artefacts ranging from pieces of clay pipes to buttons and brass fittings. Examination of these bones by Anne Keenleyside, the expedition's forensic scientist, showed elevated levels of lead and many cut-marks "consistent with de-fleshing". On the basis of this expedition, it has become generally accepted that at least some of Franklin's men resorted to cannibalism in their final distress.<ref name="Keenleyside" />

A study published in the ''International Journal of Osteoarchaeology'' in 2015 concluded that in addition to the de-fleshing of bones, thirty-five "bones had signs of breakage and 'pot polishing', which occurs when the ends of bones heated in boiling water rub against the cooking pot they are placed in", which "typically occurs in the end stage of cannibalism, when starving people extract the [[bone marrow|marrow]] to eke out the last bit of calories and nutrition they can."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ghose |first1=Tia |title=Cracked Bones Reveal Cannibalism by Doomed Arctic Explorers |url=http://www.seeker.com/cracked-bones-reveal-cannibalism-by-doomed-arctic-explorers-1770042202.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529100011/http://www.seeker.com/cracked-bones-reveal-cannibalism-by-doomed-arctic-explorers-1770042202.html |archive-date=29 May 2016 |date=22 July 2015 |publisher=Discovery Communications |access-date=9 July 2018}}</ref>

===King William Island (1994–1995)===
In 1994, Woodman organised and led a land search of the area from Collinson Inlet<ref>{{cite cgndb|OADQR|Collinson Inlet|2020-07-13}}</ref> to (modern) Victory Point<ref>{{cite cgndb|OARLP|Victory Point|2020-07-13}}</ref> in search of the buried "vaults" spoken of in the testimony of the contemporary Inuit hunter Supunger. A ten-person team spent ten days in the search, sponsored by the [[Royal Canadian Geographical Society]] and filmed by the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] (CBC). No trace of the vaults was found.<ref name="woodman1995">{{cite magazine |last1=Woodman |first1=David C. |title=Probing the Franklin mystery |magazine=Canadian Geographic |url=https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/sites/cgcorp/files/images/web_articles/2014-victoria-strait-expedition/docs/1995_marapr_canadian_geographic.pdf |access-date=22 January 2021 |volume=115 |issue=2 |publisher=Canadian Geographic Enterprises |date=1995 |pages=90–92 |ref=none |archive-date=25 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025005323/https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/sites/cgcorp/files/images/web_articles/2014-victoria-strait-expedition/docs/1995_marapr_canadian_geographic.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1995, an expedition was jointly organised by Woodman, George Hobson and American adventurer Steven Trafton {{ndash}} with each party planning a separate search. Trafton's group travelled to the [[Clarence Islands]] to investigate Inuit stories of a "white man's cairn" there but found nothing. Hobson's party, accompanied by archaeologist Margaret Bertulli, investigated the "summer camp" found a few miles to the south of Cape Felix, where some minor Franklin relics were found. Woodman, with two companions, travelled south from Wall Bay to Victory Point and investigated all likely campsites along this coast, finding only some rusted cans at a previously unknown campsite near Cape Maria Louisa.{{Citation needed|date=September 2016}}

===Wreck searches (1997–2013)===
In 1997, a "Franklin 150" expedition was mounted by the Canadian film company Eco-Nova to use [[sonar]] to investigate more of the priority magnetic targets found in 1992. The senior archaeologist was Robert Grenier, assisted by Margaret Bertulli, and Woodman again acted as expedition historian and search coordinator. Operations were conducted from the [[CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier|Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker ''Laurier'']]. Approximately {{cvt|40|km2}} were surveyed, without result, near Kirkwall Island. When detached parties found Franklin relics – primarily copper sheeting and small items – on the beaches of [[islet]]s to the north of O'Reilly Island the search was diverted to that area, but poor weather prevented significant survey work before the expedition ended. A documentary, ''Oceans of Mystery: Search for the Lost Fleet'', was produced by Eco-Nova about this expedition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oceansdiscovery.com/about-us/impressum/oceans-of-mystery-documentary.html |title=Oceans Of Mystery Documentary |work=Oceans Discovery |access-date=10 September 2014 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200101/http://www.oceansdiscovery.com/about-us/impressum/oceans-of-mystery-documentary.html |archive-date=10 September 2014}}</ref>

Three expeditions were mounted by Woodman to continue the magnetometer mapping of the proposed wreck sites: a privately sponsored expedition in 2001, and the Irish-Canadian Franklin Search Expeditions of 2002 and 2004. These made use of sled-drawn magnetometers working on the sea ice and completed the unfinished survey of the northern (Kirkwall Island) search area in 2001, and the entire southern O'Reilly Island area in 2002 and 2004. All of the high-priority magnetic targets were identified by sonar through the ice as geological in origin. In 2002 and 2004, small Franklin artefacts and characteristic explorer tent sites were found on a small islet northeast of O'Reilly Island during shore searches.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moore |first1=Charles |url=http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/woodman/2004_Field_Report_short.htm |title=Irish-Canadian Franklin Search Expedition, 2004 |publisher=Rhode Island College |access-date=10 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605015105/http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/woodman/2004_Field_Report_short.htm |archive-date=5 June 2015 |url-status=live |date=2004}}</ref>

<!--this paragraph is out of date; what, if anything, was done/found/concluded?-->
In August 2008 a new search by [[Parks Canada]] was announced, to be led by Grenier. This search hoped to take advantage of the improved ice conditions, using [[side-scan sonar]] from a boat in open water. Grenier also hoped to draw from newly published Inuit testimony collected by oral historian [[Dorothy Harley Eber]].<ref>{{cite web |first1=Robert |last1=Grenier |title=Full Proposals for IPY 2007–2008 Activities |date=1 May 2009 |url=http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=330 |publisher=International Polar Year |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429214941/http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=330 |archive-date=29 April 2011}}</ref> Some of Eber's informants placed the location of one of Franklin's ships in the vicinity of the [[Royal Geographical Society Island]], an area not searched by previous expeditions. The search was to also include local Inuit historian Louie Kamookak, who had found other significant remains of the expedition and would represent the indigenous culture.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gilles |first1=Rob |title=Canada to Search for Arctic Explorer's Ships |agency=Associated Press |date=16 August 2008 |url=http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080816/D92J5FK00.html |publisher=IAC Search & Media |access-date=17 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080826031138/http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080816/D92J5FK00.html |archive-date=26 August 2008}}</ref>

HMS ''Investigator'' became icebound in 1853 while searching for Franklin's expedition and was subsequently abandoned. It was found in shallow water in [[Mercy Bay]] on 25 July 2010, along the northern coast of [[Banks Island]] in Canada's western Arctic. The Parks Canada team reported that it was in good shape, upright in about {{cvt|11|m}} of water.<ref name="ncoll073010">{{cite news |last1=Collins |first1=Nick |title=Sir John Franklin search ship found |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/7917134/Sir-John-Franklin-search-ship-found.html |access-date=1 August 2010 |newspaper=Telegraph |date=30 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110152955/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/7917134/Sir-John-Franklin-search-ship-found.html |archive-date=10 January 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

A new search was announced by Parks Canada in August 2013.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1208845/on-the-hunt-for-a-missing-piece-of-canadian-history-parks-canada-continues-search-for-lost-franklin-ships |date=9 August 2013 |title=On the Hunt for a Missing Piece of Canadian History: Parks Canada Continues Search for Lost Franklin Ships |publisher=CNW Group |access-date=19 May 2014 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |archive-date=20 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520055048/http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1208845/on-the-hunt-for-a-missing-piece-of-canadian-history-parks-canada-continues-search-for-lost-franklin-ships |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Victoria Strait Expedition: wreck of ''Erebus'' (2014)===
[[File:Franklin's Lost Expedition - Sonar Image of First Ship Found - Sept 2014.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Side-scan sonar images of ''Erebus'' at the bottom of [[Wilmot and Crampton Bay]], September 2014]]
On 1 September 2014, a larger search by a Canadian team under the banner of the "Victoria Strait Expedition"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/cp-nr/release_e.asp?bgid=1799&andor1=bg |title=Victoria Strait Expedition |publisher=[[Parks Canada]] |date=1 May 2015 |access-date=20 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004010237/http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/culture/franklin/recherche-search/exp2014.aspx |archive-date=4 October 2015 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Staff Writer |date=2022-10-27 |title=Norstrat Consulting is a Key Partner in Implementing the Canadian Northern Strategy |url=https://idfspokesperson.com/norstrat-consulting-northern-strategy/ |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=International Daily Finance US}}</ref> found two items on [[Hat Island (Victoria Strait)|Hat Island]] in the Queen Maud Gulf near King William Island:<ref>{{cite web |title=Franklin Expedition Ship Pieces Believed Discovered in Arctic |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/franklin-expedition-ship-pieces-believed-discovered-in-arctic-1.2759925 |publisher=[[CBC News]] |date=8 September 2014 |access-date=9 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006065319/http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/franklin-expedition-ship-pieces-believed-discovered-in-arctic-1.2759925 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=live |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref> a wooden object, possibly a plug for a deck [[Hawsehole|hawse]], the iron pipe through which the ship's chain cable would descend into the chain locker below; and part of a boat-launching [[davit]] bearing the stamps of two Royal Navy broad arrows.

On 9 September 2014, the expedition announced that on 7 September it had located one of Franklin's two ships.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Australian Associated Press |last2=Berney |first2=Leila |name-list-style=amp |title=1800s British Expedition Shipwreck Found in the Arctic |url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2014/09/1800s-british-expedition-shipwreck-found-in-the-arctic |access-date=18 November 2014 |journal=Australian Geographic |date=12 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908013215/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2014/09/1800s-british-expedition-shipwreck-found-in-the-arctic |archive-date=8 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=CBC_Found>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lost-franklin-expedition-ship-found-in-the-arctic-1.2760311 |title=Lost Franklin Expedition Ship Found in the Arctic |publisher=[[CBC News]] |date=9 September 2014 |access-date=9 September 2014 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x25m7ya_british-ship-lost-in-arctic-170-years-ago-found_news |title=British Ship Lost in Arctic 170 Years Ago Found |work=Dailymotion |access-date=13 September 2014 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref> The ship is preserved in good condition, with side-scan sonar picking up even the deck planking. The wreck lies in about {{cvt|11|m}} of water at the bottom of [[Wilmot and Crampton Bay]] in the eastern part of Queen Maud Gulf, west of O'Reilly Island. On 1 October at the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]], [[Prime Minister of Canada|Canadian Prime Minister]] [[Stephen Harper]] confirmed the wreck was that of HMS ''Erebus''.<ref name=globe>{{cite news |title=Finding of Franklin Ship Fuels Harper's New Nationalism |first1=Steven |last1=Chase |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |location=Ottawa |date=9 September 2014 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/finding-of-franklin-ship-fuels-harpers-new-nationalism/article20508270/ |access-date=10 September 2014 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/09/10/inuit-were-right-shipwreck-find-confirms-168-year-old-oral-history-156837 |title=The Inuit Were Right: Shipwreck Find Confirms 168-Year-Old Oral History |publisher=[[Indian Country Today Media Network|Indian Country Today]] |date=10 September 2014 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |access-date=12 September 2014 |archive-date=27 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027131523/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/09/10/inuit-were-right-shipwreck-find-confirms-168-year-old-oral-history-156837}}</ref><ref name=cbc-2014oct01>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/franklin-expedition-ship-found-in-arctic-id-d-as-hms-erebus-1.2784268 |title=Franklin Expedition Ship Found in Arctic ID'd as HMS ''Erebus'' |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=[[CBC News]] |date=1 October 2014}}</ref> A documentary, ''Hunt for the Arctic Ghost Ship'', was produced by Lion Television for [[Channel 4 (United Kingdom)|Channel 4]]'s ''[[Secret History (TV series)|Secret History]]'' series in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.liontv.com/Our-Work/Specialist-Factual/Hunt-for-the-Arctic-Ghost-Ship|title=Hunt for the Arctic Ghost Ship|website=Lion Television|access-date=3 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hunt-for-the-arctic-ghost-ship|title=Hunt for the Arctic Ghost Ship|date=4 August 2015|website=[[Channel 4]]|access-date=3 January 2019}}</ref>

In September 2018, Parks Canada announced that ''Erebus'' had deteriorated significantly. "An upwards buoyant force acting on the decking combined with storm swell in relatively shallow water caused the displacement", according to a spokesperson. The underwater exploration in 2018 totalled only a day and a half due to weather and ice conditions and was to continue in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/63704-franklin-expedition-artifacts-recovered.html|title=Infamous Wreck of Ill-Fated Franklin Expedition Yields More Artefacts, But No Ship's Log|date=28 September 2018 |website=Living Science|access-date=2 May 2019}}</ref> Also in September 2018, a report provided specifics as to ownership of the ships and contents: the United Kingdom will own the first 65 artefacts brought up from ''Erebus'', while the wreck of both ships and other artefacts will be jointly owned by Canada and the Inuit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/franklin-erebus-terror-parks-canada-arctic-dive-artifacts-ice-gjoa-haven-1.5072435|title=Parks Canada battles Arctic ice to explore crumbling wreck|last1=Beeby|first1=Dean|date=31 March 2019|website=CBC News|access-date=2 May 2019}}</ref>

===Arctic Research Foundation Expedition: wreck of ''Terror'' (2016)===
On 12 September 2016, it was announced that the [[Arctic Research Foundation]] expedition had found the wreck of HMS ''Terror'' to the south of King William Island in Terror Bay, at {{coord|68|54|13|N|98|56|18|W|scale:1000000}} at a depth of {{cvt|24|m}}, and in "pristine" condition.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/12/hms-terror-wreck-found-arctic-nearly-170-years-northwest-passage-attempt |first1=Paul|last1=Watson|title=Ship found in Arctic 168 years after doomed Northwest Passage attempt |work=The Guardian |date=12 September 2016 |access-date=12 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/culture/franklin/photos/confirmation|title=Confirming the identity of HMS Terror|date=August 2017|website=Parks Canada|access-date=14 December 2018}}</ref>

In 2018, a team examined the wreck of ''Terror'' using a [[remotely operated underwater vehicle]] (ROV) that collected photos and video clips of the ship and a number of artefacts. The group concluded that ''Terror'' had not been left at anchor, since anchor cables were seen to be secured along the bulwarks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/culture/franklin/mission2017/printemps-spring-2017|title=Exploration|date=6 September 2018|website=Parks Canada|access-date=2 May 2019}}</ref>

==Scientific conclusions==
===Reasons for failure===
The FEFAP field surveys, excavations and exhumations spanned more than ten years. The results of this study showed that the Beechey Island crew had most probably died of pneumonia<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Amy |first1=Roger |last2=Bhatnagar |first2=Rakesh |last3=Damkjar |first3=Eric |last4=Beattie |first4=Owen |name-list-style=amp |title=The Last Franklin Expedition: Report of a Postmortem Examination of a Crew Member |journal=[[Canadian Medical Association Journal]] |volume=135 |issue=2 |pages=115–117 |date=15 July 1986 |pmid=3521821 |pmc=1491204}}</ref> and perhaps [[tuberculosis]], which was suggested by the evidence of [[Pott disease]] discovered in Braine.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Notman |first1=Derek N.H. |last2=Anderson |first2=Lawrence |last3=Beattie |first3=Owen B. |last4=Amy |first4=Roger |name-list-style=amp |title=Arctic Paleoradiology: Portable Radiographic Examination of Two Frozen Sailors from the Franklin Expedition (1845–48) |journal=American Journal of Roentgenology |volume=149 |issue=2 |pages=347–350 |year=1987 |issn=0361-803X |doi=10.2214/ajr.149.2.347 |pmid=3300222|s2cid=1380915 |doi-access=}}</ref> Toxicological reports pointed to lead poisoning as a likely contributing factor.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kowall |first1=Walter |last2=Beattie |first2=Owen B. |last3=Baadsgaard |first3=Halfdan |name-list-style=amp |title=Did Solder Kill Franklin's Men? |journal=Nature |volume=343 |issue=6256 |pages=319–320 |date=25 January 1990 |doi=10.1038/343319b0 |bibcode=1990Natur.343..319K|s2cid=4348259}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kowall |first1=W.A. |last2=Krahn |first2=P.M. |last3=Beattie |first3=O. B. |name-list-style=amp |title=Lead Levels in Human Tissues from the Franklin Forensic Project |journal=International Journal Environmental Analytical Chemistry |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=119–126 |date=29 June 1988 |doi=10.1080/03067318908028385|bibcode=1989IJEAC..35..119K }}</ref> Blade cut marks found on bones from some of the crew were seen as signs of cannibalism.<ref name="Keenleyside">{{cite journal |last1=Keenleyside |first1=Anne |last2=Bertulli |first2=Margaret |last3=Fricke |first3=Henry C. |name-list-style=amp |title=The Final Days of the Franklin Expedition: New Skeletal Evidence |journal=Arctic |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=36–46 |year=1997 |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic50-1-36.pdf |access-date=30 April 2010 |issn=0004-0843 |doi=10.14430/arctic1089 |archive-date=16 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216122748/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic50-1-36.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Evidence suggested that a combination of cold, starvation and disease including scurvy, pneumonia and tuberculosis, all made worse by lead poisoning, killed everyone in the Franklin expedition.{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=161–163}} It was also discovered that the cans of provisions mainly eaten by officers, were soldered poorly, causing food to rot.  This weakening of their immune systems was compounded by the fact that animals caught and eaten by the crew of the expedition contained botulism Type-C.

More recent chemical re-examination of bone and nail samples taken from Hartnell and other crew members has cast doubt on the role of lead poisoning.<ref name=witze2016>{{Cite journal|last1= Witze |first1= Alexandra |title= Fingernail absolves lead poisoning in death of Arctic explorer |url= https://www.nature.com/news/fingernail-absolves-lead-poisoning-in-death-of-arctic-explorer-1.21128 |date= 8 December 2016 |journal= [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |access-date= 15 May 2018 |doi= 10.1038/nature.2016.21128 |s2cid= 131781828}}</ref> A 2013 study determined that the levels of lead present in the crew members' bones had been consistent during their lives, and that there was no [[Isotopes of lead|isotopic]] difference between lead concentrated within older and younger bone materials.<ref name=martin2013>{{Cite journal|first1= Ronald Richard |last1= Martin |first2= Steven |last2= Naftel |first3= Sheila |last3= Macfie |first4= Keith |last4= Jones |first5= Andrew |last5= Nelson |title= Pb distribution in bones from the Franklin expedition: synchrotron X-ray fluorescence and laser ablation/mass spectroscopy |journal= Applied Physics A |year= 2013 |volume= 111 |issue= 1 |pages= 23–29 |doi= 10.1007/s00339-013-7579-5 |bibcode= 2013ApPhA.111...23M |s2cid= 55225554 |url= https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/biologypub/42}}</ref> Had the crew been poisoned by lead from the solder used to seal the canned food or from the ships' water supplies, both the concentration of lead and its isotopic composition would have been expected to have "spiked" during their last few months.<ref name=witze2016 /> This interpretation was supported by a 2016 study that suggested the crew's ill health may in fact have been due to [[malnutrition]], and specifically [[zinc deficiency]], probably due to a lack of meat in their diet.<ref name=witze2016 /> This study used [[micro-X-ray fluorescence]] to map the levels of lead, copper and zinc in Hartnell's thumbnail over the final months of his life, and found that apart from during his last few weeks lead concentrations within Hartnell's body were within healthy limits.<ref name=christensen2016>{{Cite journal|first1= Jennie R. |last1= Christensen |first2= Joyce M. |last2= McBeth |first3= Nicole J. |last3= Sylvain |first4= Jody |last4= Spence |first5=Hing Man |last5= Chan |title= Hartnell's time machine: 170-year-old nails reveal severe zinc deficiency played a greater role than lead in the demise of the Franklin Expedition |journal= Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports |year= 2016 |volume= 16 |pages= 430–440 |doi= 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.11.042}}</ref> In contrast, levels of zinc were far lower than normal and indicated that Hartnell would have been suffering from chronic zinc deficiency, sufficient to have severely suppressed his immune system and left him highly vulnerable to a worsening of the tuberculosis with which he was already infected.<ref name=pope2016>{{Cite web|last1= Pope |first1= Alexandra |title= Thumbnail 'time machine' provides new insight into demise of Franklin expedition |url= https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/thumbnail-time-machine-provides-new-insight-demise-franklin-expedition |date= 16 December 2016 |website= [[Canadian Geographic]] |access-date= 15 May 2018}}</ref> In the last few weeks of his life, his illness would have caused his body to start breaking down bone, fat and muscle tissues, releasing lead previously stored there into his bloodstream and giving rise to the high lead levels noted in previous analysis of soft tissues and hair.<ref name=witze2016 /> 

Franklin's chosen passage down the west side of King William Island took ''Erebus'' and ''Terror'' into "a ploughing train of ice ... [that] does not always clear during the short summers",{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=42}} whereas the route along the island's east coast regularly clears in summer{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|p=42}} and was later used by Roald Amundsen in his successful navigation of the Northwest Passage. The Franklin expedition, locked in ice for two winters in Victoria Strait, was naval in nature and therefore not well-equipped or trained for land travel. Some of the crewmembers heading south from ''Erebus'' and ''Terror'' hauled in many items not needed for Arctic survival. McClintock noted a large quantity of heavy goods in the lifeboat at the "boat place" and thought them "a mere accumulation of dead weight, of little use, and very likely to break down the strength of the sledge-crews".{{sfn|Beattie|Geiger|1987|pp=39–40}} The winter of 1846–1847 was unusually harsh for its time, meaning the ship was completely stuck in ice for two successive winters.

===Other findings===
In 2017, [[Douglas Stenton]], an adjunct professor of anthropology at the [[University of Waterloo]] and former director of Nunavut's Department of Heritage and Culture, suggested that four sets of human remains found on King William Island could possibly be women. He initially suspected that [[DNA]] testing would not offer up anything more, but to his surprise they registered that there was no [[Y chromosome|'Y' chromosomal]] element to the DNA. Stenton acknowledged that women were known to have served in the Royal Navy in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, but he also pointed out that it could be that the DNA had simply degraded as further tests proved ambiguous and he concluded the initial findings were "almost certainly incorrect".<ref name=stenton2017>{{cite journal| last1 = Stenton| first1 = Douglas| last2 = Keenleyside| first2 = A.| last3 = Fratpetro| first3 = S.|last4= Park| first4 = R.| year = 2017| title = DNA analysis of human skeletal remains from the 1845 Franklin expedition| journal = Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports| volume = 16| pages = 409–419| url = https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352409X17301943 |url-access = subscription| doi = 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.03.041| bibcode = 2017JArSR..16..409S}}</ref>

In 1993, three bodies were found at site NgLj-3 near Erebus Bay. The remains had originally been found by McClintock's expedition in 1859, and were rediscovered and buried by Schwatka two decades later. In 2013, a team led by Stenton had the remains exhumed for DNA testing and [[forensic facial reconstruction]]. The team's report, published in ''Polar Journal'' in 2015, indicated that the reconstructions of the two intact skulls from the remains resembled Lieutenant Gore and Ice-Master Reid of the ''Erebus''; however, it was determined the remains could not have belonged to Gore, as the Victory Point note stated that Gore had died before the abandonment of the ships in April 1848.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/06/04/face-to-face-with-two-doomed-franklin-members.html |title=Face to face with two doomed Franklin members |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=4 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/polar-record/article/faces-from-the-franklin-expedition-craniofacial-reconstructions-of-two-members-of-the-1845-northwest-passage-expedition/40FE5AD95E09A983F5457A1D3F7F517E|title=Faces from the Franklin expedition? Craniofacial reconstructions of two members of the 1845 northwest passage expedition|last1=Stenton|first1=Douglas|last2=Keenleyside|first2=Anne|last3=Trepkov|first3=Diana P.|last4=Park|first4=Robert W.|date=28 May 2015|journal=Polar Record|volume=52}}</ref>

In May 2021, one of the bodies was positively identified as that of Warrant Officer [[John Gregory (engineer)|John Gregory]], an engineer aboard ''Erebus''. A genealogy team tracked down Gregory's great-great-great-grandson, Jonathan Gregory, residing in [[Port Elizabeth]], [[South Africa]], and confirmed the familial match through DNA testing.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/dna-analysis-franklin-expedition-1.6017100|last1=Turner|first1=Logan|title=DNA used to ID sailor from doomed 1845 Franklin Expedition with living relative|work=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]|date=7 May 2021|access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref>

==Timeline==
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Date
!Event
|-
|rowspan="8"|1845
|12 May
|Expedition leaves [[Woolwich]], England.<ref name = "Roobol">Roobol, M. J. (2019) ''Franklin's Fate: An investigation into what happened to the lost 1845 expedition of Sir John Franklin.'' Conrad Press.</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|
|At [[Greenhithe, Kent|Greenhithe]], the crews are given a pay advance for their families.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|19 May
|Expedition leaves Greenhithe with 134 men, a monkey (Jacko), a [[Newfoundland dog]] (Neptune), a cat, and several live cattle.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|26 May
|Expedition passes [[Sheerness]].<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|
|Expedition docks at [[Stromness]], Scotland for water. Cattle killed in a storm at sea are replaced, and some letters are sent. [[Sir John Franklin]] writes [[Jane Franklin|his wife]] that he has taken a great liking to [[Graham Gore]], and that he has barely seen [[Francis Crozier]] due to rough weather.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|Early July
|Expedition reaches [[Disko Island]], Greenland. Five men sick with [[tuberculosis]] are sent home, along with another batch of letters.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|12 July
|Expedition leaves Greenland.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|26 July
|Expedition sighted by whaling ships while awaiting passage into [[Lancaster Sound]].<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|rowspan="2"|1845–46
|
|Expedition ascends [[Wellington Channel]] and returns by west side of [[Cornwallis Island (Nunavut)|Cornwallis Island]].<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|
|Expedition winters on [[Beechey Island]].<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|rowspan="6"|1846
|1 January
|[[John Torrington]] dies and is buried at Beechey Island.<ref name = "Spindler">Spindler, K. et al. (1996) ''Human Mummies. A Global Survey of Their Status and the Techniques of Conservation.'' Springer Vienna, 296 pages.</ref>
|-
|4 January
|[[John Hartnell]] dies and is [[autopsy|autopsied]] before being buried at Beechey Island.<ref name = "Spindler"/>
|-
|3 April
|[[William Braine]] dies but is stored in the ship instead of buried immediately.<ref name = "Spindler"/>
|-
|c. 8 April
|Braine is buried at Beechey Island after his body is gnawed on by [[ship rat]]s.<ref name = "Spindler"/>
|-
|
|{{HMS|Erebus|1826|6}} and {{HMS|Terror|1813|6}} leave Beechey Island and sail down [[Peel Sound]] towards [[King William Island]].
|-
|{{no wrap|12 September}}
|Ships trapped in the ice off King William Island.
|-
|1846–47
|
|Expedition winters on King William Island.
|-
| rowspan="2" |1847
|28 May
|Six-man sledge party led by Lt. Graham Gore and Mate [[Charles Frederick Des Voeux]] leaves identical notes at Victory Point and Gore Point, both written by [[James Fitzjames]] and concluding "All well". They return without finding a message left by [[James Clark Ross]] in a [[cairn]] in 1831.<ref name="Roobol" />{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|11 June
|Franklin dies, leaving Crozier in charge of the expedition. Fitzjames becomes Captain of ''Erebus''.<ref name="Roobol" />{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|1847–48
|
|Expedition again winters off King William Island, after the ice fails to thaw in 1847.
|-
|rowspan="4"|1848
|22 April
|''Erebus'' and ''Terror'' abandoned after one year and seven months trapped in the ice. Men set camp at Victory Point (later Crozier's Landing).<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|25 April
|Second note left by Fitzjames on the margins of a 1847 one found by Lt. [[John Irving (Royal Navy officer)|John Irving]]: 24 men are dead, 9 of them officers including Franklin and Gore. Irving's role may imply Des Voeux was also dead or incapacitated. Ross's cairn was found destroyed and without message, possibly by Inuit. Crozier adds a footnote saying the 105 survivors plan to start marching south to the [[Back River (Nunavut)|Back River]] on 26 April.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|July
|Scheduled end of provisions. However many cans will be found unopened in the ships and outside.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|
|"Death camps" at [[Erebus Bay]] and [[Terror Bay]]. Two boats are abandoned and 20-28 men die in Erebus Bay; an unknown number dies at Terror Bay. Half of the men return to the ships while smaller parties continue south.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
| rowspan="2" |1850
|7 March<ref>[https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/poster-offering-a-reward-of-%C2%A320-000-for-the-discovery-of-sir-john-franklin-s-expedition/2gEYvPfW5VUYvQ?ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.348584381688183%2C%22y%22%3A0.7899818606697282%2C%22z%22%3A10%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A1.68625%2C%22height%22%3A0.47488921713441656%7D%7D Reward poster] signed by [[William Baillie-Hamilton|W. A. B. Hamilton]], [[Permanent Secretary to the Admiralty|Secretary of the Admiralty]]</ref>
|The British government offers £‎20,000 to anyone assisting members of the Expedition and £‎10,000 for ascertaining its fate. 13 ships search the area.<ref name="Roobol" />{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|19 August<ref name=JSTOR>Markham, Clements R.  "[https://www.jstor.org/pss/1775897 Two Arctic Veterans: Sir Erasmus Ommanney and Sir James Donnett]." ''[[Royal Geographical Society]]'' Journal 1904. Retrieved on 12 December 2008.</ref>
|[[Erasmus Ommanney]] locates the Franklin Expedition's camp on Beechey Island. Finding no messages, he searches north of the island and returns to Britain.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|rowspan="2"|1854
|
|Dr. [[John Rae (explorer)|John Rae]] interviews local Inuit and purchases items from the Expedition from them. His report of [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]] among survivors causes great outcry in Britain and tarnishes Rae's reputation as arctic explorer. The cannibalism is blamed on the Inuit and their testimony ignored for many years.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|1 March
|The members of the Expedition are officially declared dead.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|1859
|
|[[Francis Leopold McClintock]] finds the 1847–48 messages in cairns, an abandoned boat, and a skeleton on Erebus Bay. The body is found with Peglar's diary, but thought to be a different man because of his uniform. Inuit tell McClintock that a ship wreck came ashore and was much salvaged, and another with many dead bodies inside sank abruptly and was little salvaged; the Inuit who ate from tins in the second ship became ill and several died.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|1864–69
|
|[[Charles Francis Hall]] searches for survivors and interviews Inuit. He finds many items and a skeleton tentatively identified as [[Henry Thomas Dundas Le Vesconte]], which he returns to Britain.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|1878–1880
|
|[[Frederick Schwatka]] leads an overland search expedition, collects Inuit testimony, finds several items and buried remains, including the two boats at Erebus Bay. He repatriates one skeleton, later identified as John Irving.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|1949
|
|Human remains found near camp in Cape Felix, possibly from graves. A skull is taken and assigned to a 25-year-old white male.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|1984–86
|
|Beechey Island graves opened by [[Owen Beattie]]'s team, bodies examined and found to have suffered from [[lead poisoning]].<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|1995
|
|David Woodman publishes ''Strangers among Us'', a book on the Franklin Expedition that includes many notes from Hall and Inuit testimonies previously ignored.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|2014
|7 September
|Wreck of ''Erebus'' found in [[Wilmot and Crampton Bay]] off Utjulik, giving credence to Inuit testimony.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|2016
|3 September
|Wreck of ''Terror'' found in Terror Bay.<ref name = "Roobol"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2023}}
|-
|2020
|
|Archaeological efforts paused due to [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name = "NationalParks">{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2022/05/research-resumes-franklin-expedition-wreck-sites | title=Research Resumes at Franklin Expedition Wreck Sites}}</ref>
|-
|2021
|
|Body found by McClintock in 1859 identified by DNA as [[John Gregory (engineer)|John Gregory]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|last1=Davidson|first1=Janet|date=23 August 2021|title=DNA confirmed identity of engineer on HMS Erebus — and raises more questions in Franklin Expedition mystery|work=[[CBC News]]|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/erebus-terror-delay-research-john-gregory-identification-1.6140667|access-date=25 December 2021}}</ref>
|-
|2022
|May
|Research at wreck sites resumed in May, after two years of delays due to the pandemic.<ref name = "NationalParks"/>
|}

==Legacy==
===Historical===
The most meaningful outcome of the Franklin expedition was the mapping of several thousand miles of hitherto unsurveyed coastline by expeditions searching for Franklin's lost ships and crew. As Richard Cyriax noted, "the loss of the expedition probably added much more [geographical] knowledge than its successful return would have done".{{sfn|Cyriax|1939|p=198}} At the same time, it largely quelled the Admiralty's appetite for Arctic exploration. There was a gap of many years before the [[British Arctic Expedition|Nares expedition]] and Sir [[George Nares]]' declaration there was "no thoroughfare" to the North Pole; his words marked the end of the Royal Navy's historical involvement in Arctic exploration, the end of an era in which such exploits were widely seen by the British public as worthy expenditures of human effort and monetary resources. Given how difficult and risky it was for professional explorers to cross the Northwest Passage, it would be impossible for the average merchant ships of the day to use this route for trade.

As a writer for ''[[The Athenaeum (British magazine)|The Athenaeum]]'' put it, "We think that we can fairly make out the account between the cost and results of these Arctic Expeditions, and ask whether it is worth while to risk so much for that which is so difficult of attainment, and when attained, is so worthless."<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[The Athenaeum (British magazine)|The Athenaeum]] |date=1 October 1859 |title=Arctic Expeditions|page=315 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}<!-- note|(https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition#cite_note-89) there's nothing on page 315 (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c109524655&view=1up&seq=329&q1=arctic%20expeditions) or the Oct 1859 edition of a text search for this text --> The navigation of the Northwest Passage in 1903–05 by Roald Amundsen with the ''Gjøa'' expedition ended the centuries-long quest for the route.

=== The Northwest Passage discovered ===
{{main|McClure Arctic expedition}}
Franklin’s expedition explored the vicinity of what was ultimately one of many Northwest Passages to be discovered. While the more famous search expeditions were underway in 1850, [[Robert McClure]] set out on the little-known [[McClure Arctic expedition]] on HMS ''Investigator'' to also investigate the fate of Franklin’s voyage. While he did not find much evidence of Franklin’s fate, he did finally ascertain an ice-bound route that connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. This was the [[Prince of Wales Strait]], which was far to the north of Franklin’s ships.<ref name=Armstrong1/>

On 21 October 1850, the following entry was recorded in {{HMS|Investigator|1848|2}}’s log:

{{quote|October 31st, the Captain returned at 8.30. A.M., and at 11.30. A.M., the remainder of the parting, having, upon the 26th instant, ascertained that the waters we are now in communicate with those of Barrow Strait, the north-eastern limit being in latitude 73°31′, N. longitude 114°39′, W. thus establishing the existence of a NORTH-WEST PASSAGE between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.<ref name=Armstrong1/>}}

McClure was [[knighthood|knighted]] for his discovery. While the McClure expedition obviously fared much better than Franklin's voyage, it was similarly beset by immense challenges (including the loss of ''Investigator'' and four winters on the ice) and a number of controversies, including allegations of selfishness and poor planning on McClure’s part. His decision to place numerous message cairns along his route ultimately saved his expedition, who were ultimately found and rescued by the crew of {{HMS|Resolute|1850|6}}.<ref name=Armstrong1/>

In 1855, a British parliamentary committee concluded that McClure "deserved to be rewarded as the discoverer of a Northwest Passage". Today, the question of who actually discovered the Northwest Passage is a subject of controversy, as all the different Passages have varying degrees of navigability. Although he did confirm the first geographical Northwest Passage that is navigable by ship under ideal conditions, McClure is rarely credited in modern times due to his troubled expedition, his poor personal reputation, the fact that his expedition was after Franklin’s (who has a claim to be the first discoverer, see below) and the fact that he never traversed the strait that he found, instead choosing to portage over Banks Island.<ref name="Cavell">{{cite journal | last1=Cavell | first1=Janice | title=Who Discovered the Northwest Passage? | journal=Arctic | publisher=The Arctic Institute of North America | volume=71 | issue=3 | date=2018-09-17 | issn=1923-1245 | doi=10.14430/arctic4733 | doi-access=free}}</ref>

==== Simpson Strait ====
Members of the Franklin expedition crossed the southern shore of King William Island and made it onto the Canadian mainland; this is evident by the fact that human remains from the expedition have been found inland on the Adelaide Peninsula.<ref name="Stenton 2018 pp. 197–212">{{cite journal | last1=Stenton | first1=Douglas R. | title=Finding the dead: bodies, bones and burials from the 1845 Franklin northwest passage Expedition | journal=Polar Record | volume=54 | issue=3 | date=2018-10-30 | issn=0032-2474 | pages=197–212 | doi=10.1017/S0032247418000359| doi-access=free| bibcode=2018PoRec..54..197S }}</ref> This may have involved walking across the [[Simpson Strait]], which has since been recognised as one of the Northwest Passages to the Pacific.<ref name="Davis-Fisch 2012">{{cite book | last1=Davis-Fisch | first1=Heather | title=Loss and Cultural Remains in Performance | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US | location=New York | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-349-34290-7 | doi=10.1057/9781137065995}}</ref> As none of the members of the expedition survived, it is not known whether any member of the party had realised this. George Back had discovered the strait in 1834 but did not realise it was a Northwest Passage. In any case, by 1854, it was widely believed that the remnants of the expedition had crossed the strait, and Lady Franklin was informed of such on 12 January by the Admiralty.<ref name="Davis-Fisch 2012"/>

Franklin’s claim to having discovered the Passage was strengthened by [[Charles Richard Weld]]’s assertion that Franklin had long suspected that the Simpson Strait did connect the two oceans.<ref name="Cavell"/> In 1860, McClintock ascertained that the strait was indeed a Northwest Passage. Following this discovery, to honour Franklin’s legacy, the Royal Geographical Society declared that his lost expedition was the first expedition to discover the Passage. Lady Franklin was given a medal in his name.<ref name="Nourse 1879 p. 33">{{cite book | last1=Nourse | first1=J. E. | title=Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition made by Charles Francis Hall: His voyage to Repulse Bay, Sledge Journeys to the Straits of Fury and Hecla and to King William's Land | year=1879 | publisher= U.S. Naval Observatory|location=Washington|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQAza3JK4skC&pg=PR33 | access-date=2020-10-11 | page=33}}</ref>

The Northwest Passage would not be fully navigated by boat until 1906, when Roald Amundsen famously traversed the passage on the ''Gjøa'' via the Simpson Strait.

==Cultural depictions==
===Commemoration===
[[File:Franklin statue.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of [[John Franklin]] in his home town of [[Spilsby]], [[Lincolnshire]], England.]]
[[File:Francis Crozier monument in Banbridge, County Down, Ireland.JPG|thumb|upright|Statue of [[Francis Crozier]] in his home town of [[Banbridge]], County Down.]]
For years after the loss of the Franklin expedition, the Victorian media portrayed Franklin as a hero who led his men in the quest for the Northwest Passage. A statue of Franklin in his hometown bears the inscription "Sir John Franklin – Discoverer of the North West Passage", and statues of Franklin outside the [[Athenaeum Club, London|Athenaeum]] in London and in [[Tasmania]] bear similar inscriptions. Although the expedition's fate, including the possibility of cannibalism, was widely reported and debated, Franklin's standing with the Victorian public was undiminished. This was due in large part to efforts by Lady Franklin to protect her husband's reputation and dispel suggestions of cannibalism – with assistance from prominent figures like Charles Dickens, who asserted that "there is no reason whatever to believe, that any of its members prolonged their existence by the dreadful expedient of eating the bodies of their dead companions".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marlow |first=James E. |date=1982 |title=The Fate of Sir John Franklin: Three Phases of Response in Victorian Periodicals |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20082015 |journal=Victorian Periodicals Review |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=2–11 |jstor=20082015 |issn=0709-4698}}</ref> The expedition has been the subject of numerous works of non-fiction.

The mystery surrounding the expedition was the subject of three episodes of the [[PBS]] programme ''Nova'', broadcast in 1988, 2006 and 2015;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/arctic-ghost-ship|access-date=15 March 2019|title=Arctic Ghost Ship| website=[[PBS]]|date=23 September 2015 }}</ref> a 2007 television documentary, "Franklin's Lost Expedition", on ''Discovery HD Theatre''; as well as a 2008 Canadian documentary, ''[[Passage (2008 film)|Passage]]''. In a 2009 episode of the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] travel documentary series ''[[Billy Connolly: Journey to the Edge of the World]]'', presenter [[Billy Connolly]] and his crew visited Beechey Island, filmed the grave site and gave details of the expedition.

In memory of the lost expedition, one of Canada's [[Northwest Territories]] subdivisions was known as the [[District of Franklin]]. Including the high Arctic islands, this jurisdiction was abolished when the area was set off into the newly created Nunavut Territory on 1 April 1999.

On 29 October 2009, a special service of thanksgiving was held in the chapel at the [[Old Royal Naval College]] in Greenwich, to accompany the rededication of the national monument to Franklin there. The service also included the solemn re-interment of the only remains from ''Erebus'' to be repatriated to England, entombed within the monument in 1873 (previously thought to be Le Vesconte, but may actually have been Goodsir).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lewis-Jones |first1=Huw |url=http://www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/temp/HLJ_Franklin_Monument.pdf |title=Nelsons of Discovery: Notes on the Franklin Monument in Greenwich |access-date=19 May 2011}}</ref><ref name= "Mays">Mays, S., et al., New light on the personal identification of a skeleton of a member of Sir John Franklin’s last
expedition to the Arctic, 1845, Journal of Archaeological Science (2011), {{doi|10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.022}}</ref> The following day, a group of polar authors went to London's [[Kensal Green Cemetery]] to pay their respects to the Arctic explorers buried there.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Russell |last1=Potter |url=http://visionsnorth.blogspot.com/2010/07/thoughts-on-mcclure-and-hms.html |title=Online Blog at McClure's Memorial in London |publisher=Russell Potter (blog) |via=Visionsnorth.blogspot.com |date=30 July 2010 |access-date=19 May 2011}}</ref>

Many other veterans of the searches for Franklin are buried there too, including Admiral Sir [[Horatio Thomas Austin]], Admiral Sir George Back, Admiral Sir Edward Augustus Inglefield, Admiral [[Bedford Pim]], and Admiral Sir John Ross. Franklin's wife, Lady Franklin, is also interred at Kensal Green in the vault and commemorated on a marble cross dedicated to her niece, Sophia Cracroft.

===Literary works===
From the 1850s through to the present day, Franklin's lost expedition inspired numerous literary works. Among the first was a play, ''[[The Frozen Deep]]'', written by [[Wilkie Collins]] with assistance and production by [[Charles Dickens]]. The play was performed for private audiences at [[Tavistock House]] early in 1857, as well as at the [[Royal Gallery of Illustration]] (including a command performance for [[Queen Victoria]]) and for the public at the Manchester Trade Union Hall. News of Franklin's death in 1859 inspired elegies, including one by [[Algernon Charles Swinburne]].

[[File:'The English at the Noth Pole' by Riou and Montaut 002.jpg|thumb|left|Illustration by [[Édouard Riou]] for the title page of [[Jules Verne]]'s ''Voyages et aventures du capitaine Hatteras'' (''[[Journeys and Adventures of Captain Hatteras]]'')]]
Fictional treatments of the expedition begin with [[Jules Verne]]'s ''[[Journeys and Adventures of Captain Hatteras]]'', (1866), in which the novel's hero seeks to retrace Franklin's footsteps and discovers that the North Pole is dominated by an enormous volcano. Verne also remembers the efforts of Lady Franklin to discover the fate of her husband in ''[[Mistress Branican]]'' (1891), which stages a similar plot but situated in [[Oceania]] and Australia instead of the North Pole. [[Mark Twain]] briefly satirised the fate of the expedition and its subsequent searches in the beginning of the story "Some Learned Fables for Good Old Boys and Girls" (1875).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/1545/ |title=Full text |access-date=29 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305103939/http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/1545/ |archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> The German novelist [[Sten Nadolny]]'s ''[[The Discovery of Slowness]]'' (1983; English translation 1987) takes on the entirety of Franklin's life, touching only briefly on his last expedition.

Other recent novelistic treatments of Franklin include [[William T. Vollmann]]'s ''[[The Rifles (novel)|The Rifles]]'' (1994), John Wilson's ''North With Franklin: The Journals of James Fitzjames'' (1999); and [[Dan Simmons]]'s ''[[The Terror (novel)|The Terror]]'' (2007), the third of which was developed as a 2018 [[AMC (TV channel)|AMC]] television series [[The Terror (TV series)|of the same name]]. The expedition has also been the subject of a horror role-playing game supplement for ''[[Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)|Call of Cthulhu]]'', ''The Walker in the Wastes''. Most recently, [[Clive Cussler]]'s 2008 novel ''[[Arctic Drift]]'' incorporates the ordeal of the expedition as a central element in the story, and [[Richard Flanagan]]'s ''[[Wanting (novel)|Wanting]]'' (2009) deals with Franklin's deeds in both Tasmania and the Arctic. On 12 January 2012, [[BBC Radio 4]] broadcast ''Erebus'', a radio play based on the expedition by British poet [[Jo Shapcott]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0196td4 |title=Erebus |work=BBC |access-date=10 September 2014 |date=12 January 2012 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref> Kassandra Alvarado's 2013 novel ''The White Passage'' presents a vaguely [[science-fiction]] take on an alternative history of the expedition.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-white-passage-kassandra-alvarado/1115446649?ean=2940044544420|title=The White Passage|last1=Alvarado|first1=Kassandra|publisher=Smashwords|year=2013|isbn=978-1301113293|access-date=13 September 2014}}</ref>

[[Michael Palin]]'s 2018 book, ''Erebus, The Story of a Ship'', was described by ''The Guardian'' newspaper as 'lively and diligent.'<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-09-30|title=Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin – review|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/30/erebus-story-of-a-ship-review-michael-palin|access-date=2021-12-23|website=The Guardian}}</ref> He also produced a [[one man show]] based on his book.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Python Palin tells the story of a ship|url=https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/17679370.michael-palin-brings-erebus-story-ship-torch-theatre/|access-date=2021-12-23|website=Western Telegraph|date=2 June 2019}}</ref> A children's novel, ''Chasing Ghosts – An Arctic Adventure'' by [[Nicola Pierce]] featuring the expedition was published in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chasing Ghosts by Nicola Pierce |url=https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781788490177/isbn/Chasing-Ghosts-by-Nicola-Pierce.html |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=www.lovereading4kids.co.uk}}</ref>

In 2017, ''The Breathing Hole'', a play written by Colleen Murphy, premiered at the [[Stratford Festival]], directed by Reneltta Arluk. In this play, the fates of the crew of ''Erebus'' and ''Terror'' are featured within the context of an epic saga spanning five-hundred years.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Breathing Hole {{!}} Stratford Festival Official Site|url=https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/WhatsOn/PlaysAndEvents/Production/The-Breathing-Hole|access-date=2021-10-09|website=Stratford Festival}}</ref> Commissioned to mark Canada's 150th Anniversary and met with critical acclaim,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-08-29|title=Stratford's "Breathing Hole" is One for the Memory Books|url=https://thetheatretimes.com/stratfords-breathing-hole-one-memory-books/|access-date=2021-10-09|website=The Theatre Times-US}}</ref> the work involved artists from both Nunavut and the rest of Canada, including collaborations with Qaggiavuut Nunavut Performing Arts. In 2020, the play was published in a dual-language edition in English and in [[Natsilingmiutut]] syllabics—the Inuktitut dialect from where the story takes place in the central Arctic.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.playwrightscanada.com/Books/T/The-Breathing-Hole|title=The Breathing Hole|access-date=25 August 2023|website=Playwrightscanada.com}}</ref>

===Artistic works===
In the visual arts, the loss of Franklin's expedition inspired a number of paintings in both the United States and Britain. In 1861, [[Frederic Edwin Church]] unveiled his great canvas ''[[The Icebergs]]''; later that year, prior to taking it to England for exhibition, he added an image of a broken ship's mast in silent tribute to Franklin. In 1864, Sir [[Edwin Landseer]]'s ''[[Man Proposes, God Disposes]]'' caused a stir at the annual Royal Academy exhibition; its depiction of two polar bears, one chewing on a tattered ship's ensign, the other gnawing on a human ribcage, was seen at the time as in poor taste, but has remained one of the most powerful imaginings of the expedition's final fate. The expedition also inspired numerous popular engravings and illustrations, along with many [[panorama]]s, [[diorama]]s and [[magic lantern]] shows.{{sfn|Potter|2007}}

[[File:Manproposesgoddisposes.jpg|thumb|upright=2.80|''[[Man Proposes, God Disposes]]'' by [[Edwin Landseer]], 1864|left]]

===Musical works===
Franklin's last expedition also inspired a great deal of music, beginning with the ballad "Lady Franklin's Lament" (also known as "Lord Franklin"), which originated in the 1850s and has been recorded by dozens of artists, among them [[Martin Carthy]], [[Pentangle (band)|Pentangle]], [[Sinéad O'Connor]], and [[The Pearlfishers (band)|The Pearlfishers]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Lady Franklin's Lament / Lord Franklin|website=Mainly Norfolk|url=https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/ladyfranklinslament.html|access-date=4 September 2023}}</ref> The Scottish pirate metal band [[Alestorm]]'s song "Magnetic North" is dedicated to the expedition {{citation needed|date=September 2023}}. Other Franklin-inspired songs include [[James Taylor]]'s "Frozen Man" (based on Beattie's photographs of John Torrington) and [[Iron Maiden]]'s "[[Stranger in a Strange Land (Iron Maiden song)|Stranger In A Strange Land]]".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Adrian Smith Iron Maiden eonmusic Interview August 2020|url=https://www.eonmusic.co.uk/adrian-smith-iron-maiden-eonmusic-interview-august-2020.html|access-date=18 February 2020|website=eonmusic: music for life.}}</ref> German band [[ Janus_(musical_project)| Janus]] in 2021 released an over 30 minutes long song "Terror"<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.knochenhaus.de/es-ist-vollbracht-ist-es-vollbracht/ | title=Es ist vollbracht! Ist es vollbracht? | date=30 October 2020 }}</ref> and later an audiobook "Terror - Das Hörbuch" which contains Franklin's log entries.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.knochenhaus.de/das-terror-hoerbuch-kommt/ | title=Das Terror Hörbuch kommt | date=19 July 2022 }}</ref>

===Significance in Canada===
The influence of the Franklin expedition on [[Canadian literature]] and culture has been especially significant. Among the best-known modern Franklin ballads is "[[Northwest Passage (song)|Northwest Passage]]" by the late [[Ontario]] folksinger [[Stan Rogers]] (1981), which has been referred to as the unofficial Canadian national anthem.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Gudgeon |first1=Chris |first2=Andrew |last2=McIntosh |title=Stan Rogers |encyclopaedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |date=November 11, 2021 |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/stan-rogers |access-date=2 March 2008 |archive-date=6 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506122529/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0006907 |url-status=live}}</ref> The distinguished Canadian novelist [[Margaret Atwood]] has also spoken of Franklin's expedition as a sort of national myth of Canada, remarking that "In every culture many stories are told, (but) only some are told and retold, and these stories bear examining ... in Canadian literature, one such story is the Franklin expedition."{{sfn|Atwood|1995|p=11}} 

Notable treatments by Canadian poets include a verse play for radio, ''Terror and Erebus'' which was commissioned from [[Gwendolyn MacEwen]], broadcast by [[CBC Radio]] (10 January 1965) and subsequently published in her collection ''Afterworlds'' (1987);<ref>{{Cite book|title=Creative Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Creative and Performing Artists|editor=McGregor Rodney, Helen|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1971|pages=Vols. 1–2, 204–205}}</ref> and [[David Solway]]'s verse cycle, ''Franklin's Passage'' (2003). The events have also featured prominently in Canadian novels, including [[Mordecai Richler]]'s ''[[Solomon Gursky Was Here]]'' (1989) and [[Dominique Fortier]]'s 2008 French language novel, ''Du bon usage des étoiles'', which creatively considers the Franklin expedition from a variety of perspectives and genres<ref>[http://www.editionsalto.com/depots/Fiche-Usage.pdf Fiche] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305110107/http://www.editionsalto.com/depots/Fiche-Usage.pdf |date=5 March 2016}} (pdf, 3 p., French) for teachers)</ref> and was both shortlisted and a finalist for several literary awards in Canada ([[2009 Governor General's Awards#French|2009 Governor General's Awards]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.editionsalto.com/fiche.php?no_livre=582|title=Éditions Alto >> Du bon usage des étoiles|date=5 March 2016|access-date=25 August 2023|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305120359/http://www.editionsalto.com/fiche.php?no_livre=582|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Sheila Fischman]]'s translation of Fortier's novel, ''On the Proper Use of Stars'', was shortlisted for the [[2010 Governor General's Awards#French|2010 Governor General's Awards]] for French to English Translation. Irish-Canadian writer [[Ed O'Loughlin]]'s novel ''Minds of Winter'' was shortlisted for the 2017 [[Giller Prize]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/2017-longlist/ed-oloughlin/|title=Scotiabank Giller Prize {{!}} Ed O'Loughlin|website=Scotiabank Giller Prize|access-date=23 January 2018}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea]]

==Notes==
{{note|wrongdate|a}} The date given in the message is wrong, as Franklin wintered one year earlier at Beechey Island.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Atwood |first1=Margaret |author-link=Margaret Atwood |year=1995 |chapter=Concerning Franklin and His Gallant Crew |title=Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-811976-0 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/strangethingsmal00atwo}}
* {{cite book |last1=Beattie |first1=Owen |last2=Geiger |first2=John |author-link1=Owen Beattie |author-link2=John G. Geiger |name-list-style=amp |year=1987 |title=Frozen in Time: Unlocking the Secrets of the Franklin Expedition |url=https://archive.org/details/frozenintimeunlo00beat |url-access=registration |location=Saskatoon |publisher=Western Producer Prairie Books |isbn=978-0-88833-303-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cookman |first1=Scott |year=2000 |title=Ice Blink: The Tragic Fate of Sir John Franklin's Lost Polar Expedition |location=New York |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-471-37790-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/iceblinktragicfa00scot}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cyriax |first1=Richard |year=1939 |title=Sir John Franklin's Last Arctic Expedition; a Chapter in the History of the Royal Navy |location=London |publisher=Methuen & Co |oclc=9183074}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eGbmWr2AFQMC&pg=PP1 |title=Oddities a Book of Unexplained Facts |year=1928 |last1=Gould |first1=Rupert |author-link=Rupert Thomas Gould |location=London |publisher=P. Allan & Co. |access-date=19 May 2011 |isbn=978-0766136205}}
* {{cite book |last1=Klutschak |first1=Heinrich |last2=Barr |first2=William |name-list-style=amp |year=1989 |title=Overland to Starvation Cove |url=https://archive.org/details/overlandtostarva0000klut |url-access=registration |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-5762-4}}
* {{cite book |title=Ordeal by Ice; the Search for the Northwest Passage |last1=Mowat |first1=Farley |year=1973 |publisher=McClelland and Stewart Ltd |location=Toronto |chapter=The Fate of Franklin |oclc=1391959 |page=285}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Russell Potter |last1=Potter |first1=Russell |year=2007 |title=Arctic Spectacles: The Frozen North in Visual Culture |location=Seattle | publisher=University of Washington Press| isbn=978-0-295-98680-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Sandler |first1=Martin |year=2006 |title=Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin, and the Discovery of the Queen's Ghost Ship |location=New York |publisher=Sterling Publishing Co. |isbn=978-1-4027-4085-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/resoluteepicsear00sand}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/searchfornorth00savo_0|title=The search for the North West Passage|last1=Savours|first1=Ann|date=1999|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-22372-4|location=New York|oclc=41565005|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last1=Schwatka |first1=Frederick |author-link=Frederick Schwatka |year=1965 |title=The Long Arctic Search; the Narrative of Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, U.S.A., 1878–1880, Seeking the Records of the Lost Franklin Expedition |editor=[[Edouard A. Stackpole]] |location=New Bedford, Massachusetts |publisher=Reynolds-DeWalt |oclc=1012693}}
* {{cite book |last1=Woodman |first1=David C. |year=1995 |title=Strangers Among Us |location=Montreal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-1348-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Woodman |first1=David C. |year=1992 |title=Unravelling the Franklin Mystery: Inuit Testimony |location=Montreal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-0936-8}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal |title=Franklin Saga Deaths: A Mystery Solved? |date=1990 |journal=[[National Geographic]] |volume=178 |number=3 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}
* {{cite book |last1=Beardsley |first1=Martin |year=2002 |title=Deadly Winter: The Life of Sir John Franklin |location=London |publisher=Chatham Publishing |isbn=978-1-86176-187-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/deadlywinterlife0000bear}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Pierre Berton |last1=Berton |first1=Pierre |year=1988 |title=The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and The North Pole, 1818–1909 |location=Toronto |publisher=McClelland & Stewart |isbn=978-0-7710-1266-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/arcticgrailqu00bert}}
* {{cite book |last1=Brandt |first1=Anthony |year=2010 |title=The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |isbn=978-0-307-26392-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780307263926}}
* {{cite book |author-link=John Brown (geographer) |first1=John, F.R.G.S. |last1=Brown |year=1860 |title=The North-West Passage and the Plans for the Search for Sir John Franklin: A Review with maps, &c., Second Edition with a Sequel Including the Voyage of the Fox |location=London |publisher=Edward Stanford}}
* {{cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=E. C. |year=2006 |title=History of the Royal Navy and Polar Exploration: From Franklin to Scott: Vol. 2 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |isbn=978-0-7524-4207-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Davis-Fisch |first1=Heather |year=2012 |title=Loss and Cultural Remains in Performance: The Ghosts of the Franklin Expedition |location=Toronto |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-23034-032-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Edinger |first1=Ray |year=2015 |title=Love and Ice: The Tragic Obsessions of Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, Arctic Explorer |location=Savannah |publisher=Frederic C. Beil |isbn=978-1-929490-42-4}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Francis Leopold McClintock |last1=M'Clintock |first1=Francis L. |year=1860 |title=The Voyage of the Fox in the Arctic Seas: A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and His Companions |url=https://archive.org/details/voyagefoxinarct00cligoog |location=Boston |publisher=Ticknor and Fields}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Andrew Lambert |last1=Lambert |first1=Andrew |year=2010 |title=Franklin: Tragic Hero of Polar Exploration |location=London |publisher=Faber and Faber |isbn=978-0-571-23161-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mirsky |first1=Jeannette |year=1970 |title=To the Arctic!: The Story of Northern Exploration from Earliest Times |isbn=978-0-226-53179-3}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Ken McGoogan |last1=McGoogan |first1=Ken |year=2002 |title=Fatal Passage: The True Story of John Rae, the Arctic Hero Time Forgot |location=New York |publisher=Carroll & Graf Publishers |isbn=978-0-7867-0993-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/fatalpassagetrue00mcgo}}
* {{cite book |last1=McGoogan |first1=Ken |year=2005 |title=Lady Franklin's Revenge: A True Story of Ambition, Obsession and the Remaking of Arctic History |location=Toronto |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-00-200671-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=David |year=2004 |title=The Arctic Fox: Francis Leopold McClintock |location=Toronto |publisher=Dundurn Press |isbn=978-1-55002-523-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/arcticfoxfrancis0000murp}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Michael Palin|last1=Palin|first1=Michael|year=2018|title=Erebus: The Story of a Ship|location=London|publisher=Hutchinson|isbn=978-1847948120}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Russell Potter |last1=Potter |first1=Russell A | title=Finding Franklin: The Untold Story of a 165-Year Search |location=Montréal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0773547841|year=2016}}
* {{cite book |last1=Poulsom |first1=Neville W. |last2=Myers |first2=J. A. L. |name-list-style=amp |year=2000 |title=British Polar Exploration and Research; a Historical and Medallic Record with Biographies 1818–1999 |location=London |publisher=Savannah |isbn=978-1-902366-05-0}}
* {{cite news|author=Shapton, Leanne|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/03/20/magazine/franklin-expedition.html|date=20 March 2016|title=Artifacts of a Doomed Expedition|work=The New York Times|quote=In 1845, Sir John Franklin set out with two ships to chart the Northwest Passage. He and his crew were never heard from again. Until their belongings began turning up on the Canadian tundra.}}
* {{cite book |last1=Simmons |first1=Dan |author-link=Dan Simmons |year=2007 |title=The Terror |location=Armonk, New York |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |isbn=978-0-316-01744-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/terrornovel00simm_0}}
* {{cite book |title=Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition |year=2018 |first1=Paul |last1=Watson |publisher=W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0393355864}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|2=Franklin's lost expedition}}
* [https://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/franklin/voyage/voyageIntro_en.htm "Franklin's Last Voyage"] at ''CanadianMysteries.ca''
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxyTZ3F7mkA Video] of [[Parks Canada]] dive on the wreck of [[HMS Terror (1813)|HMS Terror]]
* {{Skeptoid | id=4482 | number=482 | title= Franklin's Cannibals| date= 1 September 2015| access-date=}}

{{Polar exploration}}
{{Royal Navy Arctic exploration}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Good article}}

[[Category:1840s missing person cases]]
[[Category:1845 in Canada]]
[[Category:1845 in the British Empire]]
[[Category:19th century in the Arctic]]
[[Category:Arctic expeditions]]
[[Category:Expeditions from the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Exploration of the Arctic]]
[[Category:Formerly missing people]]
[[Category:Franklin's lost expedition| ]]
[[Category:Geography of Canada]]
[[Category:History of Nunavut]]
[[Category:History of the Northwest Territories]]
[[Category:Incidents of cannibalism]]
[[Category:Lead poisoning incidents]]
[[Category:Maritime history of Canada]]
[[Category:Mass disappearances]]
[[Category:Missing person cases in Canada]]
[[Category:American Geographical Society]]
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