Penny For Your Thoughts By: Nancy Whitaker
I have always been curious about things that took place in history. One interesting thing to me is the many ships that have sunk to the bottom of the oceans.
I always wonder what is or was on those ships, I also think of the people aboard the ships of yesteryear and where they were sailing to.
While reading some older headlines, I became interested in a disastrous ill fated ship expedition which happened in 1847. The trip included 2 ships, 2 captains and 129 men. The story of the tragic trip begins in England.
A prominent man by the name of John Franklin who was an experienced sailor and also a noted author, naval officer and a man who was famous for his expeditions and voyages in search of the northwest passage.
He was born in 1786 in England and had 12 brothers and sisters He signed up for the military at age 14 and had fought in different battles.
Franklin had also made other trips to the Artic looking for that NW passage. And in 1845 he was asked to lead another expedition. With Franklin’s experience what could go wrong?
The disastrous expedition set sail from Greenhithe in England in May 1845 on a voyage to map and transit the Northwest Passage—the long-sought-after waterway through Arctic Canada connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific.
From all reports the ship was sturdy and stocked with enough supplies for 3 years. But after a few months, cold winds and winter set in. Even though there was heat on board, there were reports of the men being bundled in overcoats as temperatures reached a frigid -45 degrees. Brrrrr.
There were cows, chickens and pigs on the ship which was to be consumed by the men on the ship. Also on board was a dog , a cat and a monkey. The monkey was given to Sir Franklin by his wife Lady Ann.
Reports are that the monkey, Jack O was an annoying thief, however, no one wanted him hurt so he was tolerated. Jacko passed away on ship and an autopsy revealed he had lead poisoning from eating food out of tinned cans.
A few weeks into the excursion, the Franklin Expedition was spotted in Baffin Bay by whalers, never to be seen again.
The story is a sad memory as all the men died and the ships came up missing.
It was in 1847 that the ships tried to sail and eventually got stuck in an ice berg. The poor guys could not get the ship out and supplies were running out.
There are theories and books about the fate of that failed expedition. After a couple years of not hearing from her husband Miss Ann got a group together to go search for the missing men.
A crew was put together to search for the lost ships and its passengers, but the British only found a few bones and no sign of the ships.
As the men died from scurvy and starvation eventually all were missing or assumed deceased.
It was reported that the guys on board the ships and some who tried to get back to land were so hungry they turned to cannibalism.
It would take 170 years to find the lost ships and some human remains of the lost men. It was in 2014 the two ships were located at the bottom of the ocean in Canada.
There have been books written, movies made and many theories about the ill fated expedition of John Franklin. It makes me cry just thinking about this event.
This is said to be one of the worst disasters in Polar History.
I am sorry to have put such a sad story on everyone, but sometimes we think we have it bad, just remember we all have problems and disasters. May God Bless the ill fated expedition and those who were with him.
Authors note: After some DNA testing on some remains, some family members were located.
Have you ever heard or read about this tragedy? Would you like to read the books? I wonder if the library has any copies? Let me know and I’ll give you a Penny for Your Thoughts.
