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Their routes through the Arctic in search of a northwest sea passage
were remarkably similar, but their fates could not have been more
different. Though Sir John Franklin was a celebrated English
explorer with decades of experience, 128 men, and two finely crafted
ships, his mission became tragically trapped in ice. A half-century
later, a young, comparatively inexperienced Norwegian named Roald
Amundsen, using a modest fishing vessel and a tiny crew, charted the
long-sought Northwest Passage with relative ease. On this
interactive map, compare key points on both expeditions and follow
their routes from beginning to end.—Lexi Krock
Franklin Expedition
1. May 19, 1845
Sir John Franklin and 128 men set sail from London in two modified
warships,
Terror and Erebus, with about three years' worth of
provisions.
2. July 26, 1845
The men aboard two whaling ships—the
Prince of Wales and the Enterprise—that are
cruising in Baffin Bay are the last Europeans to see Franklin's
ships.
3. Winter of 1845-1846
Franklin and his crew spend the winter camping on Beechey Island.
Three of the mission's men die of tuberculosis in 1846 and are
buried on the island.
4. September 1846
Thick sea ice traps Franklin's ships off the northwestern tip of
King William Island. Nine months later, on June 11, 1847, Sir John
Franklin dies here.
5. April 25, 1848
As described in a final message, the 105 surviving members of the
crew desert the immobilized ships on this day and come ashore on the
northwestern tip of King William Island. They mount several small
boats from the ships onto sleds and drag them south in search of
food and rescue. One of the boats, holding the remains of two
sailors and over 1,000 pounds of personal items, is later found just
south of this spot.
6. Spring/Summer 1848
No one knows exactly when the last of Franklin's men succumbed, but
some of their remains were found here, along the southern coast of
King William Island, still clothed in their naval uniforms. Many
years later, an Inuit elder named Iggiararjuk still remembered
having seen them during their final anguished weeks: "They had once
been many; now they were only few. ... They pointed to the south,
and it was understood that they wanted to go home overland. They
were not met with again, and no one knows where they went to."
Amundsen Expedition
1. June 16, 1903
Roald Amundsen and his crew of six men and six sled dogs sail from
Oslo in
Gjøa, a 70-foot herring boat. Amundsen sets himself a
maximum deadline of five years to chart a Northwest Passage and
carry out scientific measurements at the magnetic north pole.
2. Late July and early August, 1903
Gjøa makes two scheduled stops on the Greenland coast
to take on 10 more dogs and supplies that Scottish whalers have left
for them.
3. Late August, 1903
Amundsen and his crew arrive at Beechey Island, where they anchor in
Erebus Bay. They explore the island—finding, among other
things, the three graves from the Franklin expedition—and take
scientific measurements.
4. August 24, 1903
The expedition departs Beechey and sails and motors down Peel Sound,
past the eastern side of Prince of Wales Island. This is the same
route the Franklin expedition had taken before it became mired off
the northwest coast of King William Island.
5. Winter 1903-Summer 1905
On the southeast coast of King William Island, Amundsen finds a
protected bay in which to drop his anchor. He names the area Gjoa
Haven, and the expedition stays on King William Island until August
1905. During this time, Amundsen learns Arctic survival skills from
the Netsilik, a band of Inuit people. He and his men also fulfill
the scientific aims of their mission during these two years; they
take many geographical measurements and locate the magnetic north
pole.
6. August 13, 1905
Amundsen sails from Gjoa Haven. A few days later,
Gjøa encounters a whaling ship from San Francisco
coming towards it from the west in approximately this location.
Amundsen now knows he will complete the Northwest Passage. In his
diary, he notes, "The North West Passage was done. My boyhood
dream—at that moment it was accomplished. A strange feeling
welled up in my throat; I was somewhat over-strained and
worn—it was weakness in me—but I felt tears in my eyes.
'Vessel in sight... Vessel in sight.'"
7. August 17, 1905
Continuing to the south of Victoria Island, the
Gjøa clears the Arctic Archipelago on this date but
has to stop for the winter before going on to Nome on Alaska
Territory's Pacific coast. About 500 miles away, Eagle City, Alaska
has a telegraph station; Amundsen travels overland there (and back)
to wire a success message to Norway on December 5, 1905. The
Gjøa breaks through the final stretches of the
Northwest Passage and reaches Nome on August 30, 1906.
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