Posted on 09/08/2011 8:49:19 PM PDT by decimon
Canadian explorers have drawn a blank in the latest hunt for the remains of Captain Sir John Franklin's fatal expedition, 160 years after he took his crew of 129 men deep into the Arctic.
In 1845, Capt Franklin, an officer in the British Royal Navy, took two ships and 129 men towards the Northwest Territories in an attempt to map the Northwest Passage, a route that would allow sailors to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific via the icy Arctic circle.
Stocked with provisions that could last for seven years, and outfitted with the latest technology and experienced men, the two ships - the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror - were some of the biggest, strongest, vessels ever to make the journey.
But the men vanished into the frozen Arctic, leaving a few clues but no explanation as to what went wrong.
The first search party set off in 1848 and searches involving teams from Canada, the UK, and the US have continued ever since. Last week, representatives from Parks Canada announced the results from their search this summer, which proved unsuccessful.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Polar apposites ping.
Another search, another bupkis.
My mom told me that the local Inuit wanted to help, but were scared off by the Franklin men acting very irrational.
I'll bet no survivors were found.
I’ve read they were blocked in by the ice, so they set up a base with their seven years worth of provisions. They apparently came in contact with some indigenous creatures- perhaps polar bears- and the resultant offspring are what we now call “Yeti” or “Bigfoot”
I'll bet no survivors were found.
No current survivors, at any rate.
Maybe from the lead. Could be.
One of his best, IMHO
Dan Simmons wrote a great historical fiction on the Franklin Expedition called “The Terror.” It was an excellent read.
From the lead poisoning? (Tin cans of food were soldered/sealed with lead) Perhaps that grain mold related to LSD?
I saw one documentary on a visit to one known site from one of the attempts to find a Northwest Passage. Each succeeding expedition ran into ice earlier than the previous one.
Any way, they were shocked to find that the first of two corpses they were allowed to disinter for autopsy had already been autopsied - apparently by the ship's doctor. Things just didn't look right on the x-ray, the organs having been dumped randomly back into the body.
placemarker
That is even more the case today - Most folks couldn't survive in their current environment - the one they are familiar with - without a grocery store...
Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!
After reading this book I went on a Dan Simmons tear for a couple of months. Good times. I just picked up “Black Hills” at the library today.
The wrecks are out there, make no mistake.
HMS Breadalbane was discovered in ‘81 and HMS Investigator just last year. The Arctic waters preserve wooden ships amazingly well (no shipworms that far north).
I saw a documentary about this. The waters froze them in for a couple of years, and the canned food was a new thing and contained lead I think it was that made them sick.
Maybe they found proof for the Ancient Aliens and were not supposed to be found.
Yet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXYKmZNcZxs
James Taylor - Frozen Man
Just a guess mind you, but their ships got caught in the ice and were eventually crushed. The men probably were not as well equipped for the cold as they thought and their reported irrational behavior(Eskimos supposedly reported this)was a result of extreme cold causing them to die from foolish acts.
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