129 Men Entered the Arctic in 1845 None Came Home

In 1845, Sir John Franklin entered the Arctic with 129 officers and men aboard HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. None of them returned. For more than 160 years, the disappearance became one of the greatest mysteries in exploration history. Then the ships were found — Erebus in 2014 and Terror in 2016. But finding the ships did not solve the case. This documentary follows the evidence from the expedition’s departure in 1845 to Beechey Island, the three early graves, the ships becoming trapped near King William Island, the Victory Point note, and the decision by 105 survivors to abandon the vessels in April 1848 and head south. We examine Inuit testimony, the evidence discovered by nineteenth-century search expeditions, the boat found on a sledge, human remains, competing theories about disease, lead exposure, scurvy, starvation and exposure, and the modern discoveries of Erebus and Terror. The ships are no longer missing. The final journey of Franklin’s men still is. #FranklinExpedition #HMSErebus #HMSTerror #ArcticHistory #HistoricalMystery #LostExpedition #Documentary