Europeans’ craving for spices from the Far East, which were transported on a long, expensive overland journey, led to Columbus’ voyages in search of a better route.
His discovery of the New World provided a western route for sailing to the Spice Islands. But voyages from Europe required a long journey around the southern tip of South America, sparking the quest for a Northwest Passage that would take ships on a shorter route over the top of North America.
Great Britain was not particularly interested in spices, but it did seek to discover faster trade routes for its goods. Such exploration also meant the advancement of scientific knowledge that would help it retain its world prominence.
In the 16th century, British navigators began to probe the Arctic waters and ice barriers, attempting to chart the unknown top of the world and find a path to the Pacific.
In his book, “Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin, and the Discovery of the Queen’s Ghost Ship,” Martin W. Sandler provides an enthralling and detailed chronicle of the British Arctic expeditions of the 19th century.
The first of these, led by the renowned naval figure Sir John Franklin, sailed in 1845 and vanished. Franklin, 128 men and two ships were lost somewhere in the ice-clogged waters off northern Canada.
Franklin died in 1847 but his death was not confirmed until many years later. Some shipboard artifacts were found in the possession of local Inuits, but nothing more has been learned about the doomed expedition.
The disappearance inspired 39 rescue efforts, which experienced various fates, including shipwreck, hunger, murder and cannibalism. It’s remarkable that there were so many willing men and available resources to challenge the hardships of the Arctic with such little hope of success.
One expedition set out in 1854 to investigate the Franklin disappearance and to search for the Northwest Passage. Among its vessels was HMS Resolute, which was abandoned when it became locked in and immobilized by Arctic ice.
Imprisoned by the drifting ice pack, the Resolute was discovered a year later, 1,200 miles from where it was abandoned, by George Henry, a whaler from Connecticut. Henry manned the ship with a skeleton crew and sailed it with great difficulty to New London, Conn.
The U.S. government restored the Resolute to its original efficiency and returned it to the British Royal Navy. Queen Victoria was so touched by the gesture that in 1879, when the Resolute was retired and dismantled, she gave President Hayes a desk made from the ship’s finest timbers. The desk is still in use in the White House.
Sandler pulls off a significant historic and literary achievement in “Resolute” by melding the stories of two historic searches – both of which proved fruitless.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
