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. To open the
map, click on the image at left. —Lexi Krock
