Finding the Northwest Passage
What was the name of the first explorer to successfully navigate through the Northwest Passage?
- The Norwegian explorer Amundsen finally made it through the Passage on a fishing boat called the Gjøa. He vanished in 1928 while trying to reach the North Pole.
What year was the Northwest Passage finally navigated successfully?
- At the end of a three-year journey, the first explorers finally made it across the Passage to Nome, Alaska, in 1906.
What were the names of the two ships under John Franklin that vanished into the Passage in 1845?
- The HMS Erebus was built in 1826 for exploration and the HMS Terror was built earlier, to be used as a bomb vessel in the War of 1812.
The ships John Franklin took to find the Northwest Passage were used in previous discovery missions. What expedition were they known for?
- The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were previously used in James Clark Ross' Antarctic expedition from the years of 1839 to 1843.
What happened to the two ships under Franklin's lost expedition?
- Due to the shifting ice floes and icebergs found in northern Canada, the ships became trapped in the ice for two separate winters. While this was expected, provisions finally ran out before spring came.
When was the last expedition sent to find survivors, bodies, or relics from Franklin's mission?
- 34 years after the ships went missing, the American Geographical Society sent a party under Frederick Schwatka for a final search. They found several bodies and items, but no further documentation, ending the search.
What ultimately became of the two lost ships under John Franklin's expedition?
- In 2014, Parks Canada found the wreck of the HMS Erebus, and the Arctic Research Foundation located the HMS Terror's remains in 2016.
Why was the Northwest Passage important for explorers to find?
- It would be easier for Europeans to have a route through the north of Canada rather than sailing around Cape Horn to access Asian trade hubs.
Where does the Northwest Passage start and end, winding through the islands in the north of Canada?
- Entirely situated within the Arctic Circle, the whole of the Northwest Passage weaves through the ice and snow of northern Canada from Baffin Island to the Beaufort Sea
Approximately how long is the Northwest Passage?
- The 900 mile-long oceanic route runs from east to west across Canada and is less than 1,200 miles from the northern-most part of the Arctic Circle.
