The Disturbing Disappearance of the Franklin Expedition

In 1845, two ships entered the dark waters of the frozen and barren Canadian Archipelago, in search of an elusive Northwest Passage. At the large mouth of channel, they were met by two whaling ships, who saw them off shortly afterward. These would be the last individuals to see the ships or the men on board ever again. For over a century, their whereabouts remained a mystery, but slowly over the past few decades, what happened to the ships and the men on board has been discovered, and it is far more horrifying than anyone could have imagined. This is Franklin’s Lost Expedition.

Attributions/Special Thanks for Photographs
Léna, Wellcome Images, J. J. O'Neill, Samuel Gurney Cresswell

Writing and research by Jordan Gottschick

And a huge thank you to the Scary Interesting team of writers, editors, captioners, and everyone else who make this channel possible.

[ScaryInteresting]

Hey everyone! There's a big surprise at the end of the video, so make sure to listen to the outro! Also, I'm a huge fan of historic polar expeditions and this is one that I knew of but had never really looked at in depth. It's much crazier than I realized. Have a great Sunday!

[pakde]

Crossing the Arctic in a passenger jet for the first time I was amazed by how cold, desolate and barren it appeared and it took hours to cross. I can't imagine the bravery or possibly insanity of people actually signing up to cross it back in the era of wooden ships.

[ceebee]

I really enjoy these stories. They are such great reminders to: never go mountain climbing, never go scuba diving, stay out of blue holes, stay out of caves, don't get drunk on cruise ships, don't jump off of cruise ships, don't go hiking alone, don't get into any situation where the "outside" pressure is different than 1 atmosphere, stay below 8000 meters, stay off the open ocean, stay well south of the arctic, and stay well north of the antarctic.

[SonuvaOre]

It's sad that one of the greatest Arctic explorers of the Victorian era is mentioned only in passing, despite the fact that he not only discovered the first physical evidence of the lost expedition but also connected the final segment of the fabled Northwest Passage. Dr. John Rae was vilified by no less a literary icon than Charles Dickens after his private report to the Admiralty was published, telling the tale of cannibalism amongst the survivors. He was the only Arctic explorer never to receive a knighthood in part because of Lady Franklin's smear campaign that started with the allegations of cannibal behavior. His name lives on with several Arctic map features such as Rae Strait, Rae River and the Rae Isthmus.

[MyNameHere]

"Oh the poor men! Scattered upon the ice!! Where shall we even begin to look?!!!"

Inuit: "Oh. They're over there. We saw 'em yesterday."

"OH HOW WILL WE EVER FIND OUR MEN IT IS TRULY A MYSTERY!"

[fossy]

'The Terror' by Dan Simmons is a fictional retelling of this lost expedition with some sci-fi elements blended in. It is an amazing book, one of my favorites.

[strategicarchitect]

I know of the Scottish surgeon, John Rae from the Orkney Islands. His reputation was destroyed thanks to Lady Franklin and her having Dickinson write those slander accounts on him when he reported the accounts and remains. Mercifully, the guy finally got recognition for his work and the Navy cut the guy slack so he's been memorialized in the islands plus in Westminster Abby a memorial was raised for him.

[gothngo]

The local natives actually did know the whole time where the ships were. They were finally taken seriously, leading to the rediscovery of them.

[bobibest]

19th century is so fascinating.
All the technological achievements, all the geographical discoveries, wars, disasters, literature, medical advancements, the invention of photography... So much in just 100 years.

[c.w.simpsonproductions]

“No expense spared.” Except when it came to the f-ing food.

[TheJuutai]

I'm an Inuk from Coral Harbour, though I'm currently working in Cambridge Bay this week.

I've been enjoying this channel for the cave diving stories which stress me out in a good way. Love that you covered the Franklin expedition as that just up the coast from me at the moment. It was a major step of progress to have Inuit oral accounts believed by the southerners. Oral tradition has always been the main way of intergenerational knowledge transfer and our culture values maintaining careful accuracy when conveying information. In the traditional context, accurate information would often be the difference between life and death and misleading someone out there could easily put their death on your soul.

[stargazersappho]

I've always had a morbid curiosity for mummies, the franklin expedition's frozen mummies always stuck in my mind for how well preserved and disturbing they looked. I never knew their full story so when i saw this it piqued my interest. Thanks for this!

[bingers]

Of the two men that reached chesterfield inlet. It's quite unbelievable to imagine the 694 km hike they endured. Whether or not these were Francis Crozier and Alexander McDonald we will probably never know, but braving freezing temperatures, the contsant struggle to find food, risk of dying from that food and constant danger of polar bears just shows a testament to the human will to survive. These men hiked for three years straight but the arctic was just too much

[SnyToprano]

There’s one scene that sticks with me when I watched “The Terror”. That officer yelling “Forward Men!!!”. And they start pulling the boats. Going into certain death.

[zackadamec]

These early explorers were built different man. You gotta be a special kind of human to hop on a ship in 1845 and head into an unknown arctic wasteland. Even with today's ships and technology this would still be an insane experience.

[mattblom]

As a Canadian, thanks for making this video. I remember being six years old seeing the wax dead bodies from the Franklin Expedition in the Victoria Wax Museum and besides the nightmares, I got really intrigued in the story. A lot of Canadians didn't like Stephen Harper's (our former Prime Minister's) obsession in finding the lost ships but I felt it was important to our history.

[Montasir]

The show The Terror is an incredible dramatic retelling of this story. I would highly recommend it.

[always_b_natural]

When the frozen bodies of Torrington and Hartnell were discovered, Beattie's expedition was extremely excited, as you can imagine. Everybody was so engrossed in the process of melting the ice away from the bodies that nobody was paying attention to the dogs barking like crazy. Finally, someone heard the dogs and looked up to see a polar bear! I can't remember if the bear was actually in the camp or very near, but the people that were supposed to be guarding were sent back to guard duty.

[buffoonustroglodytus]

I love the tale of Franklin’s lost expedition. It’s so macabre and not much is known about what actually happened despite it being perhaps the most infamous arctic expedition of all time. My fascination with this expedition will never wane and I hope researchers and historians will be able to uncover more details about what happened in the future

[frightfang]

We have a Franklin Expedition exhibit at our nearest city’s museum. It doesn’t have much, but it was an eerie thing to see nonetheless. This story really sticks with you because it’s as creepy as it is fascinating.