Resolute

R
ESOLUTE

The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage
and John Franklin, and the Discovery
of the Queen's Ghost Ship

Martin W. Sandler

New York / London
www.sterlingpublishing.com

STERLING and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered trademarks of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016

© 2006 by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc
Text © 2006 Martin W. Sandler

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M6K
3H6
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IXU
Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
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Manufactured in the United States of America
All rights reserved

S
TERLING ISBN-13: 978-1-4027-4085-5
(
HARDCOVER
)
                  
ISBN-10: 1-4027-4085-9

S
TERLING ISBN-13: 978-1-4027-5861-4
(
PAPERBACK
)
                  
ISBN-10: 1-4027-5861-8

For information about custom editions, special sales, premium and corporate purchases, please contact Sterling Special Sales Department at 800-805-5489 or
[email protected]
.

Interior design by Russell Hassell
Maps by Nick Springer, Springer Cartographies

T
HIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
to seekers everywhere, a sentiment never better expressed than by Kenneth Roberts, who wrote: “On every side of us are men who hunt perpetually for their personal Northwest Passage, too often sacrificing health, strength, and life itself to the search; and who shall say they are not happier in their vain but hopeful quest than wiser, duller folks who sit at home, venturing nothing.”

Dramatis Personae

Foreword

Introduction

1        The Arctic Prize

2        First Attempts

3        The Man Who Ate His Boots

4        The Indomitable Parry

5        Ross Tries Again

6        All Hopes Rest on Franklin

7        Vanished

8        The Prize at Last

9        The Arctic Traffic Jam

10       Rescue and Abandonment

11       A Devastating Report and a Remarkable Journey

12       The
Resolute
Comes Home

13       The Triumph of the
Fox

14       Still Searching

15       Drifting and Seeking

16       The Search for the Records

17       Remarkable Gift, Enduring Mystery

Epilogue

Appendix I: Timeline

Appendix II: Plans of the HMS
Resolute

Appendix III: John Franklin's Orders

Notes

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Picture Credits

Arctic Theater
Endpapers

Lost Franklin Expedition,

McClure Finds Link to Northwest Passage,

Belcher's Five-Ship Search Expedition,

A
LEXANDER
A
RMSTRONG
,
doctor aboard the
Investigator
, among the first to view the final link in the Northwest Passage.

H
ORATIO
A
USTIN
,
commander of the five-vessel fleet sent in search of John Franklin in 1850.

G
EORGE
B
ACK
,
artist and explorer, accompanied John Franklin on his first two Arctic expeditions, led 1833 expedition in search of John Ross, commander of 1836 expedition in search of the Northwest Passage.

J
OHN
B
ARROW
,
second secretary of the Admiralty, and the “father of Arctic exploration.”

F
REDERICK
B
EECHEY
,
1825-28 commander of the
Blossom
, a supply ship for the Parry and Franklin passage-seeking expeditions.

E
DWARD
B
ELCHER
,
commander of five-vessel fleet, including the
Resolute
, organized in 1852-54 to search for lost Franklin expedition; court martialed for abandonment of the fleet.

J
OSEPH
R
EN
É B
ELLOT
,
French naval officer, member of William Kennedy's 1851 search for John Franklin, drowned on the Edward Inglefield expedition while attempting to bring supplies to the Belcher rescue fleet.

D
AVID
B
UCHAN
,
commander of 1818 expedition in search of the North Pole.

J
AMES
B
UDDINGTON
,
New London whaling captain of the
George Henry
and discoverer of the abandoned
Resolute.

R
ICHARD
C
OLLINSON
,
commander of the
Enterprise
in 1850 search for John Franklin.

S
AMUEL
C
RESWELL
,
artist and lieutenant aboard the
Investigator
sent in search of Franklin in 1850.

P
ETER
D
EASE
,
co-leader (with Thomas Simpson) of 1837 expedition in search of the Northwest Passage.

E
DWIN
D
E
H
AVEN
,
commander of the 1850 U.S. expedition in search of John Franklin.

J
ANE
F
RANKLIN
,
wife of John Franklin, leading instigator of the search for her husband.

J
OHN
F
RANKLIN
,
commander of the 1845
Erebus-Terror
expedition in search of the Northwest Passage; object of the most prolonged search and rescue effort in history.

C
HARLES
F
RANCIS
H
ALL
,
American leader of two expeditions (1860 and 1864) in search of John Franklin, leader of 1871 expedition in quest of the North Pole.

H
ENRY
J. H
ARTSTENE
,
American naval captain, commander of the crew that returned the
Resolute
to Great Britain.

I
SAAC
H
AYES
,
American surgeon on Elisha Kent Kane's 1853 search for John Franklin, leader of 1860 search for the North Pole.

W
ILLIAM
H
OBSON
,
second-in-command to Leopold M'Clintock on 1857
Fox
expedition; discover of only written evidence of lost Franklin expedition.

E
DWARD
I
NGLEFIELD
,
commander of the
Isabel
, sent by Lady Franklin in 1852 in search of her husband; commander of the
Phoenix
, supply ship for Belcher expedition.

J
OE (
E
BIERBING)
,
Inuit who served as guide and helpmate to Charles Francis Hall and Frederick Schwatka on their Arctic expeditions; husband of Tookoolito (Hannah).

E
LISHA
K
ENT
K
ANE
,
surgeon on the 1850 U.S. expedition in search of John Franklin, and leader of the 1853 Franklin-seeking expedition aboard the
Advance.

H
ENRY
K
ELLETT
,
commander of the
Plover
on an 1848-51 Franklin search, and commander of the
Resolute
on the Belcher expedition.

W
ILLIAM
K
ENNEDY
,
commander of the Lady Franklin-funded search for her husband in the
Prince Albert
, in 1851-52.

G
EORGE
F
RANCIS
L
YON
,
second-in-command on Edward Parry's second search for the Northwest Passage.

L
EOPOLD
M'C
LINTOCK
,
officer on James Clark Ross's 1848 Franklin search, officer on Horatio Austin's 1850 search, commander of the
Intrepid
during Belcher-led 1852 search, and commander of the 1859 Lady Franklin-financed search in the
Fox
that led to the discovery of the most conclusive evidence of John Franklin's fate.

R
OBERT
M
C
C
LURE
,
mate on George Back's 1836 passage search, officer of James Clark Ross's 1848 search for John Franklin, commander of the
Investigator
, and discoverer of the last link in the Northwest Passage.

G
EORGE
N
ARES
,
second mate on the
Resolute
, commander of the groundbreaking
Challenger
oceanographic expedition in the early 1870s, commander of the 1875 search for the North Pole.

S
HERARD
O
SBORN
,
commander of the
Pioneer
during Horatio Austin's 1850 search and Edward Belcher's 1852 search for John Franklin.

E
DWARD
P
ARRY
,
commander of the
Alexander
on John Ross's 1818 Northwest Passage search, commander of three expeditions (1819, 1821, 1824) in quest of the passage, commander of 1827 search for the North Pole.

W
ILLIAM
P
ENNY
,
whaling captain, commander of the
Lady Franklin
and the
Sophia
in the 1850 Franklin search.

B
EDFORD
P
IM
,
lieutenant aboard the
Resolute
, rescuer of Robert McClure and the crew of the
Investigator.

W. J. S. P
ULLEN
,
lieutenant on the
Plover
and
Herald
expedition sent in support of the search for John Franklin, 1848-51.

J
OHN
R
AE
,
surgeon/explorer for the Hudson's Bay Company, second-in-command on John Richardson's 1848 search for John Franklin, and discoverer, in 1853, of Franklin relics and Inuit reports of cannibalism among Franklin's men.

J
OHN
R
ICHARDSON
,
surgeon/naturalist/explorer, member of John Franklin's first and second overland Arctic expeditions, commander of 1848 Franklin search.

J
OHN
R
OSS
,
commander of 1818 passage-seeking expedition, commander of 1829 search for the passage, commander of 1850 private search for John Franklin.

W
ILLIAM
S
CORESBY
,
early Arctic expert and renowned whaleman.

T
HOMAS
S
IMPSON
,
co-leader (with Peter Dease) of 1837 expedition in search of the Northwest Passage.

T
OOKOOLITO
(Hannah), Inuit woman who served as guide and helpmate to Charles Francis Hall on his Arctic expeditions, wife of Joe (Ebierbing).

F
REDERICK
S
CHWATKA
,
American leader of the 1878 expedition in search of the records of the Franklin expedition.

P
ARKER
S
NOW
,
member of Lady Franklin's privately funded 1850 expedition in search of her husband in the yacht
Prince Albert.