The thrilling discovery by sonar photography of a ship of the ill-fated Franklin expedition has been announced by Prime Minister Harper. Canadian explorers found the well-preserved wreck on the seabed where had drifted after being sunk by crushing ice. The tragic 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage had been one of the most enduring historical mysteries of the country. Sir John Franklin and his crew of 128 in the British ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror all perished in the venture. They became part of native mythology and tales of cannibalism. It is not yet known which of the two ships has been found. “I am delighted to announce that this year’s Victoria Strait expedition has solved one of Canada’s greatest mysteries, with the discovery of one of the two ships belonging to the Franklin Expedition,” the Prime Minister said in a statement. “Finding the first vessel will no doubt provide the momentum – or wind in our sails – necessary to locate its sister ship and find out even more about what happened to the Franklin Expedition’s crew.”
