HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, which disappeared on an 1840s mission to find the North-west Passage, were found in 2014 and 2016 in the Canadian Arctic

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Britain has announced it will give Canada the shipwrecks of the British explorer John Franklin, who perished with his crew while trying to chart the North-west Passage through the Arctic in the 1840s.

Ship found in Arctic 168 years after doomed Northwest Passage attempt Read more

HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were found in 2014 and 2016 about 30 miles (48km) apart near King William Island in the Canadian Arctic, about 1,200 miles north-west of Toronto.

Under an agreement between the two countries, the wrecks were the property of Britain although Canada had custody and control of them. The UK Ministry of Defence said on Monday it would transfer the ownership to Parks Canada, but retain a small sample of artefacts.

The British defence secretary, Michael Fallon, said the arrangement “will ensure that these wrecks and artefacts are conserved for future generations”.

Franklin and 128 hand-picked men set out in 1845 to find the passage – a shortcut to Asia that supposedly ran from the Atlantic to the Pacific by way of the Arctic. All of them died, making the voyage the worst tragedy in the history of Arctic exploration.

Historians believe the ships got trapped in thick ice in 1846, and Franklin and some other crew members died in the ensuing months. The survivors apparently abandoned the two ships in April 1848 in a hopeless attempt to reach safety overland. Inuit lore tells of “white men who were starving” in the area as late as the winter of 1850.

Dozens of searches by Britain and the US in the 1800s failed to locate the wrecks, and some of those expeditions ended in tragedy, too.

Franklin and his doomed voyage inspired songs, poems and novels, and the ships were among the most sought-after prizes in marine archaeology.

Canada announced in 2008 that it would look for the ships, and the Canadian government poured millions of dollars into the ultimately successful search.

The Terror was discovered last year in 24 metres (26 yards) of water in Terror Bay, west of the community of Gjoa Haven, right where an Inuit hunter said it was.

Canada’s government said Monday it recognized the invaluable contributions of Inuit people in helping find the wrecks. The environment minister, Catherine McKenna, said the ships would be co-owned with the local indigenous people.

“We will continue to work with our Inuit partners on the protection and presentation of the two wreck sites and artifacts for generations to come,” McKenna said in a statement.