The Ships and the Crew
The Ships
HMS Erebus
HMS Terror
Class: Vesuvius bomb vesselDate launched: June 29th, 1813
Dimensions: 102 ft long, 27 ft wide, 22.5 ft draught
The HMS Terror was fairly similar to the HMS Erebus; a three-masted sailing ship armed with ten cannons and two mortars. The ship served in the War of 1812, participating in a few notable battles, such as the Battle of Baltimore in September of 1814 and the Battle of Fort Peter in January of 1815. Once the war ended, she was recommissioned to serve in the Mediterranean Sea. In the mid-1830s, she was once again recommissioned for polar exploration, being used in George Back's 1836 Arctic expedition and the 1839 Ross expedition with her sister ship, Erebus.
The Crew
Sir John Franklin - Captain of Erebus
Born: April 16th, 1786, in Spilsby, EnglandDied: June 11th, 1847. Remains yet to be found. Death recorded near King William Island (modern day Nunavut, Canada)
Franklin joined the Royal Navy at age 14, gaining experience over many voyages during his early career. He served in the Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the war of 1812, and an expedition charting the coast of Australia aboard the HMS Investigator. The first expedition he commanded was in 1818 on the HMS Trent starting from Spitsbergen (north of Norway) to the Bering Strait. They were trying to find a passage through the polar ice of the North Pole, but pack ice prevented them from finding such a passage.
The 1819 Coppermine Expedition would propel Franklin into the spotlight. This expedition was one of the hundreds of expeditions sent out by the British Admiralty to find the Northwest Passage and was the first expedition that Franklin would captain. It was a partial success; some of the coastline of northern Canada was mapped out, but not nearly to the extent the Admiralty hoped for. This was mainly due to the several issues that the crew of this expedition came across. From miscommunication, dwindling provisions and support, and the lack of experience of all the crew, 11 of the 20 men in his party died. Most of the deaths were most likely starvation or exhaustion, but there is at least one accounted murder and possible cannibalism involved. This expedition is where Sir John Franklin would gain the nickname “the man who ate his boots” after he resolved to boiling and eating the leather from his boots to survive.
His second polar expedition in 1825 was much more successful than the first. He charted nearly 2,000 kilometers (~1250 miles) of Canadian coastline and came back a hero. He was promoted to captain in the navy, was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and was knighted by King George IV in 1829. In 1836, Franklin became the Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land (modern day Tasmania). It wasn’t until he returned to London in 1843 that he was then considered to lead the next expedition to find the Northwest Passage.
Many recounted Franklin as a modest and private man, but a well-liked, inspiring, and hopeful captain. Despite the turmoil during his first expedition, he always tried to keep the spirits of his crew up and would not give up easily.
Francis Rawdon Moria Crozier - 2nd in Command & Captain of Terror
Died: Remains yet to be found. Last known date alive was April 26th, 1848
Francis Crozier joined the Royal Navy at age 13 in June of 1810, serving on a few ships before embarking on his first Artic expedition in 1821. Joining Captain William Parry to find the Northwest Passage, he befriended James Clark Ross, who would later locate the north magnetic pole and make many strides in exploration of the poles. The expedition was a success, and both him and Ross would join Captain Parry in two Artic voyages following the 1821 expedition. During these voyages Crozier conducted valuable astronomical and magnetic studies in the Artic, leading him to become a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Crozier was second-in-command to Ross on a few expeditions from 1835 to 1843. The most notable of these expeditions was the 1839 Ross expedition. The four-year voyage explored the Antarctic on the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror before returning in 1843. The expedition made significant progress in discovering large sections of Antarctica and making breakthroughs in understanding the magnetic properties of the South Pole. Crozier was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1843 for his contributions to magnetism research.
In the midst of the expedition, in 1840, the ships stopped at Hobart Town in Van Diemen’s Land (modern day Tasmania) to build an observatory with the help of Sir John Franklin, who was the governor at the time. It was during this time that Crozier became smitten with Franklin’s niece, Sophia Cracroft. He would later propose to Sophia twice within the years of 1844 and 1845, both of which were rejected. It is theorized the reason why Crozier decided to join the Franklin expedition was to possibly win Sophia’s favor, through there is no definitive proof of this.
James Fitzjames - Commander of Erebus
Died: May 1848. Remains found on King William Island
The very early life of James Fitzjames is somewhat murky. Being born the illegitimate son of Sir James Gambier, his relatives made an effort to keep his origins concealed. For his baptism his parents were listed as James Fitzjames and Ann Fitzjames, and while his father is known, the mother’s identity remains a mystery. It is also theorized that Fitzjames was born in Rio de Janeiro, not London, since his father was the Consul-General of Rio de Janeiro at the time of his birth. Fitzjames was given into the care of Reverend Robert Coningham and his wife Louisa Capper shortly after his birth.
Fitzjames joined the Royal Navy at age 12 on the HMS Pyramus, which was under the command of Robert Gambier, Fitzjames’ second cousin. Fitzjames traveled across the globe from 1825 to 1833 before joining the 1834 Euphrates expedition. The goal of the expedition was to establish a steamship line in Mesopotamia to make communication between India and England much quicker. The expedition was ultimately not a success, ridden with political conflict, disease outbreak, and the death of 22 crewmates after a terrible storm sunk one of the two steamships, Tigris, brought on the expedition. The other steamship, Euphrates, was unable to sail the shallow rivers after breaking its engine. Since the main task was to collect mail from the India Office and deliver it to London, Fitzjames took it upon himself to deliver the mail personally. For about six months, he walked 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) across modern day Iraq and Syria to the Mediterranean coast and then sailed to London.
Fitzjames would later fight in the Egyptian-Ottoman war of 1839 to 1840 and the first Opium war that occurred between 1839 and 1842. During the Opium war he was captured in Zhenjiang and was nearly killed after a musket ball passed through his arm and into his back. After being evacuated onto the HMS Cornwallis, the ship spent some time in Singapore, where Fitzjames encountered Sir George Barrow, son of Sir John Barrow, the Second Secretary to the Admiralty at the time. In short, George Barrow got caught up in some scandal that Fitzjames helped pay off and cover up to spare the Barrow family name. Because of this, Sir John Barrow, who would be credited for shaping the Franklin expedition, strongly recommended that Fitzjames help command the expedition.
James Fitzjames was known as a charming, humorous, and brave man. It seemed he was trying to prove himself despite his origins and always enjoyed being in the spotlight. A lot of the friends he made during his time as a sailor would join him on the Franklin expedition.
Below are the official muster lists for both ships. I will probably do posts about specific crewmates in the future, so when I do I'll add them here.
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