Lost Ships of British Polar Exploration:
HMS Investigator and the Search for Franklin

Ryan Harris
Senior Marine Archaeologist
Parks Canada

24 April, 2012
6:30pm, dinner at 7:00pm
Al's Steak House, 327 Elgin Street (free parking in back, access from Lewis)

Abstract

In July 2010, Parks Canada undertook a marine remote-sensing survey to locate the wreck of HMS Investigator, one of the first two ships to be sent by the Royal Navy in search of the missing Franklin Expedition of 1845. Credited with identifying the final missing link in the elusive Northwest Passage, the Investigator's crew, led by Commander Robert McClure, was ultimately forced to abandon their vessel in 1853 after spending two harrowing winters beset in the ice-choked confines of Mercy Bay. After a brief search using towed side-scan sonar, the wreck was discovered in close proximity to its reported position of abandonment. Limited to a remote-sensing investigation in the initial field season, a return site visit was made in the summer of 2011 to conduct a more detailed diving inspection.

About the speaker

Ryan Harris is a Senior Marine Archaeologist with Park's Canada's Underwater Archaeology Service based in Ottawa, and is project director for the search and study of the HMS Investigator wreck site. He also directs Parks Canada's ongoing search for the lost Franklin ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. His research interests include 19th-century Royal Navy Arctic exploration, historic ship construction and naval architecture, and the application of remote-sensing technologies in maritime archaeology.