The 1850 Expeditions

Introduction:

In 1845 Franklin was once again sent out on an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage, this time being given very explicit instructions. It seems the ships left England on May 19, 1845 and reached Whalefish Islands off the west coast of Gronland. On July 26 they were seen by a whaler on their way to Lancaster Sound. They were never heard from again.

In 1848 relief expeditions were sent out and a three-way search was organized. When these expeditions returned unsuccessfully, concern in England turned to alarm. Numerous government and privately-funded search parties were sent out to search for the missing men. In their quests to find Franklin these parties contributed much to the knowledge of the Arctic.

Conclusion:

Although the discoveries of Franklin's final voyage were lost in the disaster which claimed he and his crew, the search which was prompted by the loss of his expedition produced tremendous results. For example, four possible routes of the Northwest Passage were discovered: via Prince of Wales Strait, via Bellot and Rae Straits, via Peel Sound and Rae Strait and via M'Clure Strait and Viscount Melville Sound. Also, much of the Arctic coasts were surveyed and charted and many new discoveries were made that may otherwise have been long-delayed.

Information taken from Arctic Canada, Volume I, Third Edition, 1982