Soon after the Crystal Serenity became the largest passenger ship to successfully navigate the once-impassable Northwest Passage at the beginning of this month, the frigid Arctic waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic, another part of the history of that seaway was revealed some two weeks later.
“A more than 160-year-old Arctic mystery has come to resolution,” wrote Eyder Peralta in the US National Public Radio (npr) News. “The HMS Terror, a vessel from a doomed Royal Navy exploration to chart an unnavigated portion of the Northwest Passage, has been found.”
Canada’s Guardian, which first reported the story, said the vessel was in “perfect condition”. It added:
“A team from the charitable Arctic Research Foundation (manoeuvred) a small, remotely-operated vehicle through an open hatch and into the ship to capture stunning images that give insight into life aboard the vessel close to 170 years ago.
“‘We have successfully entered the mess hall, worked our way into a few cabins and found the food storage room with plates and one can on the shelves,’ said Adrian Schimnowski, the foundation’s operations director in an email from the research vessel Martin Bergmann.
“’We spotted two wine bottles, tables and empty shelving. Found a desk with open drawers with something in the back corner of the drawer.’”
The flagship vessel of British Captain Sir John Franklin's ill-fated 1845 expedition, the HMS Erebus, was found back in 2014 by a Parks Canada expedition. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), the HMS Terror was found just north of the HMS Erebus wreck in Nunavut’s Terror Bay.
The stuff of legend.
