#hms terror
Just an FYI - new popular fiction about the Erebus coming next week. It’s likely to be interesting becasue, well, Michael Palin. Yes I like Monty Python, and he is an amateur historian (I’ve heard this is the reason behind Monty Python and the Holy Grail). Terror had a pretty interesting career as well. It was launched to bomb Ft. McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812, was nearly crushed in the arctic under the command of George Back, captained by Francis Crozier in the Antarctic where it survived a collision with Erebus and finally settled in near pristine conditions in the arctic. At risk of getting annoyingly philosophical about it, I like finding the history of the vessels. They’re just inanimate objects but you can’t help but think of them silently serving their commanders until they reach their final resting place, either crushed and lost at the bottom of the ocean like Endurance or resting like a grand old lady like Fram. I like to think of Erebus and Terror waiting patiently to be listened to.
Anyway, here’s a plate from Terror’s original occupation as a bomb vessel. The ‘GR’ indicates its use under King George III.
Footage of the amazing state of preservation on the HMS Terror. Articles are saying every door was left open except Crozier’s, leading some to speculate that he was last off the ship.
Arctic ice crumbling HMS Erebus and blocking divers from researching the wreck | CBC News
Problems with last summer’s season
The Journal of the Hakluyt Society – Hakluyt Society
Took a while to find it, but here it is. Follow this link and scroll down until you see ’Captain Richard Campbell, RN: The Voyage of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror to the Southern and Antarctic Regions. Captain James Clark Ross, R.N. 1839–1843. The Journal of Sergeant William K. Cunningham, R.M. of HMS Terror April 2009
There you’ll find links to the three part PDF of the journal of William Cunningham, an unofficial account (being a personal journal) of James Clark Ross’s Antarctic expedition. Along with some great ‘extras’ thrown in by the editor in part 3. Even if you’re more interested in the Arctic instead of the Antarctic, this gives a great picture of what life was like on a discovery ship of the mid 19th century. A ship that happens to be the HMS Terror as well. Under Francis Crozier.
Back to the Arctic with the first part of a commission for @dramatic-opening-shot , a view from Erebus on icebound Terror
The wreck of HMS Erebus of Franklin’s doomed expedition, found by Parks Canada. HMS Terror was also discovered and in much better condition.
Plan of the HMS Terror with the necessary modifications necessary for the expedition.
Franklin relics - Divers found dishes in the steward’s pantry at the HMS Erebus shipwreck
A relic of Sir John Franklin’s last expedition 1845-48. Knife blade bought from the Inuit by the McClintock Search Expedition on 3 March 1859, near Cape Victoria, on the Boothia Peninsula. The item is made from materials salvaged from discarded equipment belonging to the Franklin expedition. It has a triangular steel blade with two reinforcing plates attached which retain one copper and two steel rivets. Referred to by McClintock as ‘one knife without a handle’. A Royal Naval Museum number has been painted in white on the handle ’(6)’. Date 1848-1859.
“They forged the last links with their lives”: Sir John Franklin’s men dying by their boat during the North-West Passage expedition. The original full title of this painting, under which it was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1895. Artist: Smith, William Thomas.
Relics of the lost Franklin Expedition, as found by McClintock in 1859. Watercolors on paper, artist by Kristina Gehrmann.
