HMS Terror

**HMS Terror** was one of two ships used by the Franklin expedition.

## Naval Service

*HMS Terror* was launched in 1813 at the Davy shipyards in Devon. The ship was used by the Royal Navy for many campaigns in the war of 1812, most notably the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814. Afterwards, the *Terror* was laid up until 1828 when she served in the Mediterranean but this was short lived as she was damaged near Lisbon.

## Back's Expedition

In 1836, *Terror* was refitted as a Polar exploration ship and given to Captain George Back for use on an exploration to Hudson Bay. The expedition's goal was to reach Repulse Bay and send out landing parties to the Boothia Peninsula to confirm weather it was an island or a peninsula. However, the expedition never reached Boothia because the *Terror* got trapped in the ice off Southampton island. For ten months, the *Terror* was frequently damaged by ice. When they left in 1837, the *Terror* had been so damaged by the ice that it nearly sank, but Back beached her off the coast of Ireland before that could happen.

## Ross Expedition

In the spring of 1839, *Terror* was repaired and refitted and joined the HMS Erebus for Sir James Ross' expedition to the Antarctic. On this voyage, her captain was Francis Crozier. For three years, the two ships made three journeys to the Antarctic and the Ross Sea. A dormant volcano on Ross Island was named after the ship by the expedition's crew.

## Franklin Expedition

In the spring of 1845, *Terror* and *Erebus* were assigned to the Franklin expedition with Crozier resuming command of the *Terror*. For this expedition, the two ships were outfitted with a propeller and a steam engine. The expedition left Greenhithe Kent on May 15th, 1845, and the last European sighting of the two ships was in Baffin Bay that summer. In the fall of 1845, *Terror* and *Erebus* circumnavigated Cornwallis Island before stopping at Beechey Island for the winter. On January 1st 1846, Terror's chief stoker John Torrington died and was buried on the island. He was later joined by two sailors from *Erebus*. The two ships stayed at Beechey until late spring or early summer of 1846, after which they passed through Peel Sound and became stuck in the ice of King William Island on September 12th, 1846. On June 11th, 1847, Sir John Franklin died of unknown causes and overall command of the expedition was given to Captain Crozier. After being stuck in the ice for over a year, Crozier gave the order to desert the ships and begin marching south on April 22nd, 1848. However, they eventually changed their minds and went back to the ships as Inuit reported seeing the ships sailing along the west side of King William Island. The *Terror* eventually ended up in Terror Bay on the Island's southern shore and sank.

## Discovery Of The Wreck

In 2009, Inuit hunter and Canadian Ranger Sammy Kogvik discovered what appeared to be the mast of a ship in Terror Bay. Sammy took photos of the mast, but dropped his camera in the ice.

When the wreck of the *Erebus* was discovered in 2014, this prompted Parks Canada to begin searching for the *Terror*. They spoke to Sammy about the mast sighting and went to Terror Bay to investigate. On September 12th, 2016, (170 years to the day when the *Terror* became trapped in the ice) the wreck of the *HMS Terror* was discovered. The wreck is upright and intact but missing its masts. As of winter 2023, no artifacts have been recovered from the *Terror*.

In August 2019, Parks Canada divers took the first images of the inside of the *Terror*. The footage of the dive shows many interesting features such as, a blue willow plate on a shelf, two rifles hanging on one wall, intact bottle on shelves, closed drawers around the ship, a writing desk, overturned table and an armchair inside the great cabin, a tripod still in its case, the initials of a sailor carved onto a wall and many more impressive sights.

## Interesting Facts

* Due to the depth and the temperature of the water around the wreck, the ships paint is still preserved.

* All of the doors except the one to Captain Crozier's cabin are open on the wreck

## Gallery

The bombardment of Fort McHenry. The Terror was one of the ships that took part in itA sketch of the Terror under tow in 1845An anchor from the Terror found in the River Nore in 1881A map of the Terror's wreck siteCanvas from the Terror found on Cape Riley