Canada, Britain formalize agreement on Franklin expedition wrecks - Sensationalist Headlines

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/franklin-expedition-hms-erebus-terror-1.4636222 https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQTJ3QCv4TykbyHpIfDXhi2ve8YkOyDQV498Sx68iarMxXy-uXQsQ Canada and Britain have reached a formal agreement on ownership of the Franklin expedition wreckage which allows the U.K. to keep all 65 artifacts already discovered by Parks Canada's diving teams. The wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, along with any yet-to-be-discovered artifacts, will be formally transferred to Canada and the Inuit Heritage Trust. Canada will not be seeking compensation from Britain for the recovery and restoration the Franklin relics, which cost millions of dollars. The deal was announced last year but has now been finalized.

Fun fact, the Terror was one of the vessels that bombarded Stonington, Connecticut during the War of 1812. Stonington repelled two naval bombardments from the British. The first was a smaller during the Revolution, and then the one during the War of 1812. During the latter war the Americans managed to inflict a decent amount of casualties on the British sailors. They actually have a couple of the cannons used during the bombardment (by the Militia) on display (or at least replicas) and a couple of the mortar bombs that most likely came from the Terror. And of course, when talking about Franklin's expedition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVY8LoM47xI

She was also present at the battle of Baltimore/Fort McHenry, where the Star Spangled Banner was written. Oddly enough, an older ship also named the HMS Erebus was also present at that battle as a rocket vessel.

HMS Terror sounds like something a teenager would name their suped up subaru, but then dreadnaught was another one of those traditional british naval names

Brit naval ship names always gave me that kind of vibe. Other bomb vessels: HMS Vesuvius, HMS Devastation, HMS Volcano, HMS Belzebub. Hell, even Erebus was born in chaos. Reminds me of the Empire in Star Wars, but it is pretty cool I guess.

Another fun fact: one of the ships that went along with the search and rescue mission after the Franklin Expedition was the HMS Resolute. She got stuck in ice, and her crew abandoned to another vessel. She was later found by some American whalers. She was fixed up, and gifted to the Queen as a gift of good faith and friendship. When she was broken down, her timbers were turned into a series of desks. The biggest of which was gifted to the President of the United States, and currently sits in the Oval Office as the Resolute Desk. http://www.whitehouseholidays.com/whhimages/800/9cbcfc42-e91c-46f3-a1a2-5308a082ca66.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYg8rEDT1RU This is so cool. Barely started watching The Terror the other day after watching this clip. Amazing little piece of history here.

Reading The Terror by Dan Simmons is what really turned me on to arctic history. I had read that before they discovered the wrecks so it was actually pretty cool when they discovered them. I do enjoy the TV adaptation but I still highly recommend reading the book.