Canadian PM Stephen Harper confirms the wrecked Franklin expedition ship found last month in the Arctic has been identified as HMS Erebus.
The Victorian-era vessel became part of nautical folklore after it vanished in the mid-19th Century. Its captain, Sir John Franklin, had been searching for the fabled Northwest Passage.
Astern of the wreck, Parks Canada underwater archaeologist Filippo Ronca measures the muzzle bore diameter of one of two cannons found on the site, serving to identify this gun as a brass 6-pounder
Two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, were part of Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition in 1845 to find the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic Ocean to Asia.
The ships disappeared after they became locked in ice in 1846 and were missing for more than a century and a half until last month's discovery by a group of public-private searchers led by Parks Canada. It was not known until now which of the two ships had been found.
In a release, the Prime Minister's Office said the confirmation of the ship's identity was made Sept. 30 by those Parks Canada scientists, following a "meticulous review of data and artifacts" from the seabed and using high-resolution photo and video along with sonar measurements.
Ryan Harris, a senior underwater archeologist with Parks Canada and the lead on the project, was the first to venture down to the wreck along with his colleague Jonathan Moore.
- Log in to post comments
