Published:
February 25, 2021 at 6:04 am
In May 1845, two British warships carrying more than 130 men set off from London for the Canadian Arctic, where they entered the fabled North-West Passage. Neither ship returned; nor did any of the men.
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The fate of the expedition became the greatest maritime mystery of the 19th century, sparking many search-and-rescue missions and inspiring a library of theories about what had happened to the ships and their crews. A highly effective public-relations exercise preserved the heroic reputation of expedition leader Captain Sir John Franklin, modifying the stated purpose of the voyage: rather than cutting-edge scientific research, it was redefined as geographical curiosity.