How a remote Arctic island became the final resting place for a lost expedition

Countries & Cities · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: King William Island, a desolate expanse in the Canadian Arctic, holds the secrets of the ill-fated 1845 Franklin expedition. Once dismissed by Victorian society, Inuit oral histories eventually guided modern explorers to the long-lost wrecks of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, finally solving a mystery that spanned nearly 170 years.

Located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, King William Island is a cold desert defined by its tundra climate and long, harsh winters. In 1830, explorer James Clark Ross named the land for King William IV, initially mistaking it for a peninsula. It was not until 1834 that George Back recognized it as an island. The territory is historically significant for its role in the search for the Northwest Passage, most notably as the site where Sir John Franklin’s 1845 expedition met its tragic end.

The expedition, comprising 129 officers and crew on the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, became trapped in ice off the island in 1846. Following Franklin’s death in June 1847, the survivors abandoned their ships in a desperate attempt to reach the Canadian mainland. Forensic evidence from recovered remains suggests the men suffered from starvation, scurvy, and lead poisoning, likely from contaminated food supplies. Inuit accounts, which reported the crew’s extreme suffering and cannibalism, were initially rejected by British authorities as scandalous, only to be vindicated over a century later.

The mystery of the ships remained unsolved until the 2010s. By integrating Inuit oral traditions with modern sonar technology, researchers finally located the HMS Erebus in Queen Maud Gulf in 2014 and the HMS Terror in Terror Bay in 2016. These discoveries have transformed our understanding of the disaster, proving that local knowledge was the key to unlocking the truth. Today, the island is also known for its population of barren-ground caribou and its only community, Gjoa Haven, where Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen famously wintered while successfully navigating the Northwest Passage in the early 20th century.

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