5 Famous Shipwrecks - Page 3 of 8

H.M.S. Erebus and H.M.S. Terror

In 1845, explorer Sir John Franklin commanded a British expedition to the Arctic whose goal was to locate the Northwest Passage, a theorized short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Franklin and his 128-person crew sailed in two former warships: H.M.S. Erebus and H.M.S. Terror. Both vessels were ensnared by sea ice (more than once, in fact), and the men were forced to abandon them. The ships ultimately sank. Dozens of missions were sent to find the men; all failed.