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Arctic Exploration
Sir John Franklin
F
ranklin made many Arctic expeditions. He died
looking for the Northwest Passage.
I
n 1818 the British Navy sent two separate expeditions in
four ships to the Arctic. War between England and
France had just finished and the Navy had many spare
ships. The Admiralty used them to search again for the
Northwest Passage.
John Franklin commanded one of these ships. He was
born in 1786 and had joined the Navy at 14. He fought
bravely at Copenhagen and Trafalgar and had been
promoted to lieutenant by the time he left for the Arctic. For
his first expedition Franklin went to the Greenland Sea.
Between 1819 and 1827 Franklin led overland
expeditions to explore the Arctic coast of North America.
He traveled more than 6,000 miles by canoe on grueling
journeys that taught him much about Arctic travel. When
he returned to England in 1827, Franklin was knighted for
his discoveries.
S
everal overland expeditions crossed the Canadian Arctic to try and find the
western end of the Northwest Passage.
Franklin’s Last Journey
Franklin returned to the Arctic in 1845. He was 58 years
old and he was again seeking the Northwest Passage. He
took two strong ships called
Erebus
and
Terror
, with food for
a three-year expedition and 134 officers and crew.
Franklin followed routes discovered in 1818 and
1819. The first winter was passed on Beechey Island, where
three men died. Continuing the next summer (1846) he
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