“Beneath the Water” is a 30-minute documentary about the Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site.
The film recounts the history of the Franklin Expedition, the vital role of Inuit in locating, interpreting, and cooperatively managing the wrecks, and Parks Canada’s leadership in underwater archaeology and conservation.
Over 170 years ago, British explorer Sir John Franklin and his crew went missing while searching for a Northwest Passage. Inuit living along the path of their travels were the last people to see them alive. Over time, Inuit Traditional Knowledge (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit) combined with new knowledge and modern technology, led to the location of the wreck sites of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in 2014 and 2016.
HMS Erebus and HMS Terror form the first national historic site co-managed by Inuit and Parks Canada. Discover how centuries of Inuit oral history guided searchers to the legendary shipwrecks of Sir John Franklin’s 1845 expedition.
Following the historic discoveries of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, archaeologists, Inuit partners, and researchers have shifted their efforts toward documenting and safeguarding the sites. Navigating freezing waters, shifting sea ice, and volatile weather makes this multi-partner operation one of Canada’s most formidable underwater archaeological investigations.
Aboout HMS Erubus and HMS Terror
Renowned for their ill-fated role in Sir John Franklin’s 1845 Arctic expedition, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were 19th-century Royal Navy bomb vessels sent to locate the elusive Northwest Passage.
Originally constructed as heavily reinforced 19th-century Royal Navy bomb vessels designed to absorb the immense recoil of heavy mortars, both HMS Terror (launched in 1813) and HMS Erebus (launched in 1826) possessed the structural durability required for extreme environments. Prior to their ill-fated Arctic voyage, the two ships gained extensive polar experience, most notably sailing together under James Clark Ross during his Antarctic expedition from 1839 to 1843, while Terror had also previously seen action in the War of 1812. To prepare the vessels for Sir John Franklin’s 1845 search for the Northwest Passage, workers retrofitted both hulls with iron plating along the bows to break through pack ice, installed internal steam-heating systems for the crew’s survival, and equipped each ship with a converted locomotive steam engine driving a retractable screw propeller.
Commanded by Sir John Franklin aboard HMS Erebus, along with Captain Francis Crozier leading HMS Terror, the 1845 Arctic expedition departed England in May with a total complement of 129 officers and crew. Disaster struck by September 1846 when both vessels became permanently locked in sea ice off the coast of King William Island. Following Franklin’s death in June 1847, the remaining crew members abandoned the icebound ships on April 22, 1848, in a desperate bid to march overland across the frozen Canadian tundra. None survived the retreat; all 129 men succumbed to a fatal combination of starvation, extreme cold, scurvy, lead poisoning, and severe exposure.
Conservation of the wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror is the focus for Parks Canada, the Government of Nunavut and designated Inuit organizations. The Government of Canada is committed to engaging Nunavut communities in the Franklin project and related initiatives over the long-term.