Finding the Franklin Ships

The search for the Northwest Passage was an obsession for explorers in the 19th century and may help Canada lay claim to Arctic sovereignty.

The HMS Investigator settled on ice in the Arctic and her sixty-nine man crew were forced to abandon ship in 1854. The vessel was on its second mission to search for two other lost ships for ships lost under Sir John Franklin’s expedition in search of the Northwest Passage.

In August 2010, a team of Parks Canada scientists, archaeologists and surveyors, re-discovered the HMS Investigator. Parks Canada has lead the search for Franklin’s ships, which could help prove the Canadian sovereignty of the Northwest Passage. Canadian rights (and future oil wealth) are being challenged in today’s global economy. The September 9, 2014 discovery of one of the Franklin ships is just the beginning of the story. This discovery is an momentous event for Canada.