[Gutenberg 17568] • The Arctic Queen

The Franklin Expedition set sail from Greenhithe, England on the morning of May 19, 1845, with a handpicked crew of 24 officers and 110 men (134). From there the ships travelled north to Aberdeen to pick up supplies. From Scotland, the ships sailed to Greenland with HMS Rattler and transport ship, Barretto Junior. After misjudging the location of Whitefish Bay, Disko Island, Greenland, the expedition backtracked and finally harbored in that far north outpost. There, they unloaded supplies from the supply ships; slaughtered the livestock that was carried to the destination as fresh meat; did scientific observations (for which the younger lieutenants helped Sir Franklin up the crags); tested a novel rubber inflatable boat; and wrote their last letters home. The expedition was last seen by Europeans on July 26, 1845, when Captain Dannett, of the whaler Prince of Wales, encountered them in Melville Bay moored to an iceberg.