The fate of the Franklin expedition – an update

One year on – what is happening now?

As reported in the October 16 School newsletter, Prof Adrian Bowman is involved in a rather unusual research project linked to the fate of the Franklin expedition of 1845 to find the North-West passage across the Canadian arctic in 1845.

The research carried out by Adrian, with Professor Keith Millar, Emeritus Professor and Honorary Senior Research Fellow of the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, is featured in the National Maritime Museum’s current exhibition “Death in the Ice”.

Professor Millar said: “The exhibition charts the history of the Franklin expedition up to the present day, including the very recent discovery of the wrecks of Erebus and Terror, and presents fascinating relics from the expedition, some being shown for the first time.

“Our research into the health of Royal Naval Arctic crews represents the illnesses that probably affected Franklin’s men and is presented by an interactive touch screen which allows visitors to examine a sailor’s virtual body and view the numbers in a typical crew who would succumb to conditions including cardiovascular, respiratory, gastro-intestinal and central nervous system disorders, and to frostbite and injuries. The curators of the exhibition deserve credit for their very imaginative presentation of our data.”

“Death in the Ice” is open daily at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich until January 2018 when it transfers to Canada. Booking information for the exhibition is available at http://www.rmg.co.uk/see-do/franklin-death-in-the-ice.