Exploration 2024

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• HMS Erebus
• HMS Terror
• Site management
• Next steps
• Image gallery

HMS Erebus

On August 30, 2024 members of Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team (UAT) departed Gjoa Haven (Uqsuqtuuq), Nunavut, aboard the RV David Thompson to resume archaeological fieldwork at the wreck of HMS Erebus. Over 13 days between August 31 and September 13, the team conducted 50 dives from Parks Canada’s diving and excavation support barge Qiniqtiryuaq to continue research and study of the Erebus, and carefully excavated artifacts.

As part of the 10th anniversary of the locating of HMS Erebus, representatives and elders from the Nattilik Heritage Society, Wreck Guardians, the community of Gjoa Haven (Uqsuqtuuq), and Parks Canada visited the Erebus site aboard the diving and excavation support barge Qiniqtiryuaq. Partners and community members were offered a guided tour of the wreck through the video feed of an underwater archaeologist.

UAT archaeologists continued excavating a seaman’s chest in the crew accommodation area (forecastle) on the lower deck, raising a variety of artifacts including a soldering iron, clothing items such as gloves and socks, a medicinal bottle, two pistols (out of more than 20 observed in the chest), and rolls of straight-edge shaving razors. In the area believed to represent the Captain’s Steward’s pantry on the lower deck, other objects related to officer life on board such as a pitcher, soap dish, and stemmed glasses were found. Excavation also continued in a small furniture drawer believed to be part of Third Lieutenant James Fairholme’s cabin, on the lower deck. Notable finds included an artificial horizon, a small pharmacy bottle, and a window frame with intact pane, likely from furniture or a skylight. It is worth mentioning the isolated discovery of a long leather raincoat folded on itself in the debris field at the stern, and a nearly complete sextant in the lower ranking officers’ cabin area. As usual, recovered artifacts, jointly owned by Parks Canada and the Inuit Heritage Trust, will be studied in Ottawa and undergo conservation treatment before a selection are returned for display at the Nattilik Heritage Centre in Gjoa Haven (Uqsuqtuuq).

The team also carried out remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives deeper inside the wreck to the orlop deck. This deck is underneath the lower deck accommodation level. It was used for storage but also housed equipment and the ship’s steam propulsion system installed in 1845. Here the UAT imaged the ship’s Sylvester patent heating apparatus, the ship’s engine room and two coal bunkers along the ship’s sides. The engine, substantially buried under silt and debris, sits within an engine room aft of the main mast. Thick cordage, likely from the ship’s rigging, is neatly coiled adjacent to the engine. Research on the specific identification of the engine and its features is ongoing. Two longitudinal “wing” coal bunkers that run either side of the main hold were entered with the ROV. These are devoid of any remaining coal that would have been used for propulsion, heating and cooking; they are empty as far as could be viewed down into the lower reaches of the hold. The absence of coal in these bunkers is not surprising given the prolonged duration of the ship’s voyage and its besetment in ice before the crew deserted the ship. Interestingly, shipwrights or the crew had cut a passageway through a transverse watertight bulkhead between the main hold and engine room, probably to facilitate the transfer of coal from the bunkers to the engine.

The archaeologists also conducted photogrammetric coverage of the excavation area and completed a new multi-beam echosounder survey of the site to better understand changes to the wreck’s structure and its surrounding debris field such as scouring and sediment deposition.

HMS Terror

The UAT continued archaeological investigations at the wreck of HMS Terror on September 14-15. This was the first return diving visit to the wreck since 2019. Archaeologists conducted an in-water site assessment, including photogrammetric coverage of the upper deck (taking hundreds of high-definition photos) to complete a detailed site plan and to generate a 3D model of the wreck. The UAT retrieved an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), an instrument used to measure water current direction and strength, from the seabed near the site. A similar instrument was previously deployed on HMS Erebus; the data collected from both instruments help describe site environmental conditions and factors affecting the long-term preservation of the wrecks.

The RV David Thompson returned to Gjoa Haven (Uqsuqtuuq) on September 16 for a crew change and equipment transfer, with the barge Qiniqtiryuaq in tow. The UAT flew back to Ottawa while the ship proceeded south via Fury and Hecla Strait towards its home port of Prescott, Ontario.

Site management

Parks Canada and Inuit are working in partnership to manage and protect the wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. The Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site is collaboratively managed by Parks Canada and Inuit, including the Inuit Heritage Trust and Nattilik Heritage Society with support from the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. The society also administers the Wrecks Guardian Program and the Nattilik Heritage Centre Expansion project that houses a new exhibition opened in 2025.

Next steps

Following more than a decade of on-site exploration of the wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, in 2025 Parks Canada is transitioning from active archaeological research to a regular, appropriate monitoring program, co-developed with Inuit, while supporting the development of a new research strategy. This will ensure the conservation and commemorative integrity of the Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site.

The community of Gjoa Haven (Uqsuqtuuq), the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, and the Inuit Heritage Trust will be involved in future on-site research and monitoring. The Nattilik Heritage Society and their Wrecks Guardians program will support future monitoring of the sites and provide benefits for the community.

Image gallery