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Franklin’s two ships left England in 1845 but eventually became stuck in the ice of Victoria Strait. With the ships still icebound in 1848, the survivors tried to go south over land to safety, but in the end all 129 men, including Franklin, died.

Erebus was found far to the south of where a last note from the doomed officers was left on land. For years searchers had looked near the northern part of King William Island, but it turned out in 2014 that Erebus sank south of the island, close to where Inuit tradition said it sank.

Now Terror, too, has apparently shown up far south of the original search area, though not as far south as Erebus. Terror lies in Terror Bay, a name that pre-dates this find.

The searchers say the hull is sitting upright in some 24 metres of water.

The historial narrative is that the sailors abandoned the ships after they became stuck in the ice and then died as they marched south.

But Schimnowski told the Guardian that the ship appeared to be locked down tight.

“This vessel looks like it was buttoned down tight for winter and it sank,” he told the paper. “Everything was shut. Even the windows are still intact. If you could lift this boat out of the water, and pump the water out, it would probably float.”

The condition of the ship led to Balsillie proposing a different version of events — that the Terror was shut down by the crew who then tried to sail Erebus south.

“This discovery changes history,” Balsillie told the Guardian. “Given the location of the find [in Terror Bay] and the state of the wreck, it’s almost certain that HMS Terror was operationally closed down by the remaining crew who then re-boarded HMS Erebus and sailed south where they met their ultimate tragic fate.”

tspears@postmedia.com